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 NUMEROUS THREATS FACING THE INSTITUTION OF MARRIAGE
AND THE TRADITIONAL FAMILY.
The Holy Bible and human history begin and end with weddings. Adam and Eve come together in marital union in Paradise, before the Fall, revealing marriage as a part of God’s eternal purpose for humanity in the midst of creation (Genesis 2:22-25). History closes with the marriage of the Bride to the Lamb (Revelation 19:7-9), earthly marriage being fulfilled in the heavenly, showing the eternal nature of the Mystery (Sacrament).
The marriage most prominently featured in the wedding ceremony, however, is the one at Cana of Galilee, described in the Gospel passage read at every Orthodox wedding (John 2:1-11). In attending this wedding and performing His first miracle there, Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Son of God, forever sanctifies marriage. As with all the Christian Mysteria (Sacraments), marriage is sacramental because it is blessed by God.
In modern society, as well as in Christendom, a recurring debate is going on. It deals with the tension between equality of the partners in marriage and Office or order in marriage. Often, this tension has turned into a polarity between men and women, and sometimes even breeds hostility. There are two elements in the Orthodox divine service of marriage which serve to heal such tension, while making clear the teaching of the Church on the twin themes of equality and order concerning husband and wife.
As to equality, during the divine ceremony crowns are placed on the heads of the bride and groom. This act is symbolic of their citizenship in the Kingdom of God, where "there is neither male or female" (Galatians 3:28) and of their dying to each other (the crown is often a symbol of martyrdom; see (Revelation 2:10). The words of Saint Paul are clear on marital equality: "The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise also the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does" (1 Corinthians 7:4). Husband and wife belong to each other AS MARTYRS, THEY BELONG TO GOD AS ROYALTY, AND THEY ARE CALLED TO TREAT EACH OTHER ACCORDINGLY.
But within marital equality there is also order. The epistle passage read at the Mystery of Marriage is Ephesians 5:20-33, the exhortation to husbands which begins with a call to submit to each other (Ephesians 5:21). The husband is to serve God as head of his wife, as Christ is the head of the Church (Ephesians 5:23). The wife is to be subject to her husband as the Church is subject to Christ (Ephesians 5:24). There is nothing here to suggest that the wife is oppressed in marriage, anymore than one would call the Church oppressed in relationship to Christ.
Thus, Christian marriage is A MYSTERY (SACRAMENT)–holy, blessed, and everlasting in the sight of God and His Church. Within the bonds of marriage, husband and wife experience a union with one another in love, and hopefully the fruit of children and one day the joy of grandchildren. And within the bonds of marriage there is both A FULLNESS OF EQUALITY BETWEEN HUSBAND AND WIFE, AND A CLARITY OF ORDER WITH THE HUSBAND AS THE ICON OF CHRIST, THE WIFE AS THE ICON OF THE CHURCH.
The above is an explanation and definition of the Christian marriage. It is a sacrament, it is holy, it is blessed, and everlasting in the sight of God and His Church. However, marriage in a non-Christian world and society, a civil marriage or something more secular is treated more as an emotional decision between two people who may have certain things in common as well as a financial security. It used to be that of a judge, a minister, a notary-republic, justices of the peace, and magistrates. Friends or relatives can often officiate if they become ordained online could conduct a marriage. Now I believe others such as mayors, county clerks may conduct marriages. Usually "vows" prepared by the couple are exchanged and the person conducting the marriage (i.e. a park, a beach, a barn, etc.) pronounces them married. The person performing the ceremony is responsible for signing and returning the marriage license to the appropriate county office. This type of matrimony is totally different from a Christian marriage performed in a church by an ordained priest who conducts the sacrament.
As one can clearly see, a marriage outside the Church most often excludes God and His blessing of the union between a man and a woman. There are no requirements, there is usually no marriage counseling or religious instruction. It is strictly a secular event. Marriage over the years has been compromised and its purpose and significance dilute. Under communism the groom and bride would go to the local state office sign their names and instantly and officially be married.
(To be continued)
__________
"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