My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God, and Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.
THE MYSTERY (SACRAMENT) OF MARRIAGE
"Marriage IS HONORABLE AMONG ALL, AND THE BED
UNDEFILED; but fornicators and adulterers God will
judge" [Hebrews 13:4].
In the Orthodox Church, marriage is a Mystery (Sacrament) that is considered a holy mystery and the oldest institution of Divine Law. It is a mystical union between a man a woman that is sanctified by an Orthodox Priest in a canonical Orthodox Church. The Mystery emphasizes Christ’s role in the couple’s lives and encourages them to make Christ the center of their marriage.
In the Mystery (Sacrament) of Marriage the Orthodox Church invokes the help of God on those being married, that they might understand, fulfill, and attain the aims set before them; namely, to be a "house Church" or in Greek "e katoikon ecclesia", to establish within the family truly Christian relationships, to raise children in faith and life according to the Holy Gospel,, to be an example of piety for those around one, and to bear with patience and humility the unavoidable sorrows and, often, sufferings which visit family life.
The beginning moment in the existence of the Christian family is the sacred action of Marriage. The chief part in the rite of the Mystery (Sacrament) of Marriage is the placing of the crowns upon those being married with the words: "The servant of God (name) is married to the handmaid of God (name) in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit," and then the common blessing of both with the thrice-repeated short prayer, "O Lord our God, crown them with glory and honor."
That marriage has the blessing of God upon it is said many times in the Holy Scripture. Thus in Genesis, 1:27-28) we read: "So God created man in His own Image, in the Image of God created He him; MALE and FEMALE created He them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth." Likewise, in Genesis 2:18-24), the writer of Genesis, having spoken of the creation of the woman from the rib of Adam and of how she was led to the man, adds: "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh."
Our Savior Jesus Christ Himself, commanding that FAITHFULNESS BE PRESERVED IN MARRIAGE AND FORBIDDING DIVORCE, mentions these words of the book of Genesis and instructs: "What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder" [Matthew 19:4-6). These words of the Lord clearly testify TO THE MORAL DIGNITY OF MARRIAGE. The Lord Jesus Christ SANCTIFIED MARRIAGE BY HIS PRESENCE IN CANA OF GALILEE, and here He performed His first miracle.
The Holy Apostle Paul compares the mystical character of the Church with marriage in these words" "Husbands, love your wives even as Christ also loved the Church, and gave Himself for it;" and further: "For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be our flesh. This is a great Mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the Church" (Ephesians 5:25. 31-32). The Holy Apostle Paul speaks more in detail about marriage and virginity in 1 Corinthians, the seventh chapter. Placing VIRGINITY ABOVE MARRIAGE, he does not condemn marriage, commanding that it be preserved and advising that once not be divorced even from an unbeliever, in hope OF CONVERTING THE OTHER ONE TO THE FAITH. Having indicated the highest impulses for remaining in virginity, in conclusion he says the following: "Such (those who marry) shall have trouble in the flesh; but I spare you" ( 1 Corinthians 7:28).
Having in mind the Christian purpose of marriage, the Orthodox Church FORBIDS ENTERING INTO MARRIAGE WITH HERETICS (Canons of the Fourth and Sixth Synods), and likewise with those of other religions. "The Orthodox Church in modern times has NOT been quite so strict. The present rule of the Russian Church Outside Russia, for example, allows marriage with the non-Orthodox who are closest in faith to Orthodoxy: Roman Catholics, Aremenians, Episcopalians, Lutherans, Presbyterians. Other Orthodox Churches today such as the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, have similar rules. In actual practice, "MIXED MARRIAGES" are not conducive to the formation of a "house church" or to the preservation of fervent Orthodoxy in the children of such unions, and the conversion to Orthodoxy of the non-Orthodox spouse is much to be prefered."
Marriages between Orthodox and other Christians: inter Christian marriages are those in which one of the spouses is Orthodox and the other is from another Christian Confession. Currently marriage is allowed so long as the future spouse has been baptized in the Name of the Holy Trinity: The Father, Son and Holy Spirit. If they have NOT been baptized the marriage cannot take place in the Orthodox Church. Orthodox Christians are prohibited from marrying a person who is NOT a Christian. Religions which are NOT of the Christian Tradition include adherents of Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism. Other Eastern religions, Cults or New Age movements, as well as Mormon (Latter Day Saints), Christian Scientists, Seventh day Advenstist, Jehovah's Witness, Assembly of God, Unitarian and Pentecostal. An Orthodox Christian who is determined and decides to marry outside the Orthodox Church he/she will immediately lose all her rights as an Orthodox Christian.
The Orthodox Church only in exceptional circumstances agrees to the dissolving of a marriage, chiefly when it has been DEFILED BY ADULTERY, or when it has been destroyed by conditions of life (for example, long absence of one spouse, without word). The entrance into a second marriage after the death of a husband or wife, or in general the loss of one spouse by the other, is allowed by the Church, although in the prayers for those being married the second time, FORGIVENESS IS ASKED FOR THE SIN OF A SECOND MARRIAGE. A third marriage is tolerated only as A LESSER EVIL TO AVOID A GREATER EVIL–IMMORAL LIFE (as Saint Basil the Great explains). [Source: Orthodox Dogmatic Theology]
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"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
– Saint John Chrysostomos
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With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George
The Eastern Orthodox Christian Ethos 