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In the Orthodox Church the congregation is strictly divided. Men take precedence but are kept clear of the women. The old women are forbidden to enter and have to hear the service from the church portico.
The priest did come out to waft some incence over them during the course of the service in recognition of their enduring piety.
This extraordinary ban on the old women of the village did not prevent them going into the church to clean it. The women adopt the head scarf upon marriage as a sign that they are no longer spinsters.
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