Basil the Great, impose a penance on widows or widowers who remarry. The consequences are plain for all to see: the family is disintegrating, legalized abortion is killing millions of unborn children, corrupt sexual behavior is rampant. “Submit yourselves one to another in the fear of God” (Ephesians 5:21). Marriages are not to be performed during the four fasting seasons, on the eves of Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, or on the eves of major holy days. ecclesial and public discourse on sexuality and marriage and concludes with a plea for privacy concerning human sexuality in order to honour the human subjectivity and preserve the human dignity of individuals. Both persons involved in a mixed marriage should pray for their unity in “one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all. Love unites in such a way that two lives become one life in perfect harmony. As the bearer of life in the conception of children, the wife has an immediate concern for life and its quality. Dear brothers and sisters in Christ: be true men and women. It is a rite of passage for individual and tribe, linking families within the tribe. Contact | THE EFFECTS OF THE SACRAMENT OF MATRIMONY 1638 "From a valid marriage arises a bond between the spouses which by its very nature is perpetual and exclusive; furthermore, in a … Parents should be involved in the marriage preparations of their children. . Marriage must be offered to God continually and consciously, and it must always be rooted in the life and teachings of the Church. The ceremony … Such an extreme circumstance is the definitely diagnosed danger to the life of the mother at childbirth. . We therefore appeal to all of you who are responsible for the life of our parishes and for the future of our youth to make a common effort to provide appropriate guidance and help to all in matrimonial matters, both through your own personal examples of pure and upright lives and undefiled marriages and also through words of exhortation and explanation, “knowing how you ought to answer everyone” (Colossians 4:6), and through programs of education. 5:22). Temporary Administrator of the Church, + JOHN No form of sexual relationship fulfills human life as created and sanctified by God except the relationship between one man and one woman in the community of marriage. Obviously, Christian marriage will never find its ultimate fulfillment and happiness in this world. In the litanies, petitions asking for the procreation of fair children immediately follow those invoking a blessing upon the couple being joined in the community of marriage. They deny that marriage must be the living image of the relationship between Christ and His Church: all-encompassing, unique and eternal. . Pastors must make concrete efforts through preaching and teaching to make members of the Church aware of the corporate character of the sacraments. Our task is to show them the vision that this Service reveals, a vision of marriage as an icon of the Trinitarian life of God Himself, and to indicate the responsibility and commitment that this vision of marriage implies. The husband is the head of this community, as God is the head of Christ (1 Corinthians 11:3) and as Christ “is the head of the Church” (Ephesians 5:23). This view of marriage, opposed to all religious indifference, is the basis for the canons of the Church which forbid mixed marriages. The moral foundations of society are collapsing. With the help of God, the wife will be capable of being a source of purity, holiness and love for the entire family. Faithfulness and confidence must reign in marriage, for there can be no deception in love. In the image of God who brings forth life in love, the Christian marriage, a unity in love established by God, brings forth holy and good life (1 Cor. The Lord Himself specifically condemned divorce: Those who do not accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, who do not confess the Holy Trinity which His coming revealed to the world, who have not sealed this acceptance and confession in Trinitarian baptism, cannot freely and without hypocrisy accept the blessing which the Church bestows on marriage. The spouses’ personal decision comes to be accepted, protected, and reinforced by society itself, especially by the ecclesial … We do not make this proclamation in the name of an outdated conservatism or because we consider our present society intrinsically more corrupt than the past generations. - Marriage introduces one into an ecclesial order, and creates rights and duties in the Church between the spouses and towards their children; - Since marriage is a state of life in the … For this reason the Orthodox Marriage Service is devoid of any oaths or marriage vows on the part of the couple. In all cases, however, the parents should be informed of the marriage in advance and counseled appropriately, in keeping with the general principle that no sacrament of the Church is to be performed “in secret.”. Both should agree to pray, study, discuss and seek such unity until their dying day, making no final arrangements and accommodations to the contrary. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. All rights reserved. theology have retrieved to underline the ecclesial status of marriage and family life. The priest should publicly announce the date of each wedding and the names of the persons being married. With faith in God, the husband will be truly capable of leading the family in the way of salvation toward the Kingdom of God, loving his wife and his children more than himself. An Orthodox Christian who excludes his marriage from this gracious union with Christ in the Church certainly excludes himself from the communion of the Church. Twitter | The Church … A pastor sometimes discovers that communicant members of his parish have not been married in the Orthodox Church. In such a union, described by St. Paul as “a great mystery” (Ephesians 5:32), human love and desire for companionship become a love pervaded and sanctified by divine grace: water is transformed into the good wine, as it was at the wedding feast in Cana of Galilee. An Orthodox Christian who marries outside the Orthodox Church, i.e., in some other church or civil ceremony, forfeits his membership in the Church and may no longer receive Holy Communion. In all of the cases thus … Love never ends. Alexander; Diary of a Russian Priest Home / In his analysis he must consider not only the formal status, but also the total spiritual condition of the persons involved. 1. In addition, pastors should make available literature that conveys the Orthodox Christian vision of marriage, such as: St. John Chrysostom; Homily 20: Ephesians d. He should give a sermon proclaiming the true nature of Christian marriage at each wedding, drawing upon the main liturgical actions of the Marriage Service for the obvious themes. A period of penance may be imposed on one or both partners of a marriage that has ended in divorce. 19:9). Archbishop of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania Pastors must meet with and counsel couples in such circumstances, urging them in every way, with gentleness and love, yet with firmness and conviction, to a true and perfect union in Christ in the Church, “which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all” (Eph. In effect, the discernment becomes not only personal and communal but ecclesial as well. Their desire and freely given consent are certainly necessary for the marriage, for sacraments are not acts of magic that eliminate the need for human cooperation. 1. Copyright © 1996–2021. Her true adornment is “the imperishable jewel of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious” (1 Peter 3:4). Z��Y�R �Mw�~��l�N�,���8�%��. The true Christian marriage is effected by God Himself. 13:4-8), Such is the love on which Christian marriage is based: “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for her . They may not be married in the Orthodox Church. St. Paul exalts our high calling as Christians with the following words: “You are the body of Christ, and individually members of it” (1 Corinthians 12:27). The Ecclesial Context of Marriage. Even in mixed marriages, however, the Orthodox party must always come to Confession and Communion as the center of his preparation for marriage and the resealing of his membership in the Church toward which he now brings his partner. By acting first, the Church would make a prophetic statement about the growing divide between ecclesial and civil authorities over the definition of marriage. YouTube | This spiritual basis of marriage clearly transcends, without suppressing, the fleshly union of the bodies. The same relationship is expressed in all three of the great prayers of the Service. Marriage is not simply an individualistic concern, to be performed privately or in the presence of a select, invited group of people, nor is the Church merely a building or the priest simply a legally-empowered official, both to be hired or rented at an appropriate fee. .” (Eph. In the New Testament Scripture, from the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, we learn that marriage is a unique and unbreakable union of husband and wife joined by God Himself: “What God has joined together, let no man put asunder” (Matthew 19:6). All of the above guidelines are especially important in view of the large numbers of persons who are not members of the Orthodox Church who attend our weddings. 1. The Church is aware of the complexities which can arise in life due to social, medical and economic problems, but she still affirms that statistics do not reflect God’s loving and providential care and inconceivable manner of bringing about the salvation of the world. And the children born for God in such a family from the beginning will be brought up as Christians. The priest’s efforts in this area can take both public and private form. “Active participation” includes the wearing of vestments, the reading of prayers or Scripture, the giving of blessings and the preaching of a sermon. So, a Protestant can marry a Buddhist and Church considers the marriage valid, even though if a Catholic married a Buddhist without a dispensation, the marriage … The Church recognizes the existence of certain extreme cases in which difficult moral decisions must be made in view of saving human life, and fully sympathizes with those who must make such decisions. 7:14). Preoccupation with statistics can depersonalize us and our co-creativity with God in the begetting of children. About the OCA / The wife is the helpmate of her husband, his beloved companion for life, his source of joy and wellbeing. Such a view of sex and love is degrading and inadequate to the human being as created in the image and likeness of God. f. Specific local requirements of blood test, marriage license and rings and membership in the local parish should be reviewed. The mother must decide whether to lay down her own life for that of her unborn child. The power of sin has been defeated. Each Christian must seek the advice and guidance of the pastors of the Church. When persons who have obtained a civil divorce seek clarification of their status in the Church, the priest must write a report of the entire matter to the local diocesan bishop. Obviously in these cases pastors must exercise great wisdom, understanding and compassion. According to the theological vision of the Church, the bond of love is to be found at the core of marital life. The result is a multitude of sexual attitudes and life-styles which include couples openly living together and/or engaging in sexual relations outside the community of marriage and supposedly finding complete satisfaction and fulfillment in this arrangement. The Christian ideal of marriage and family, manhood and womanhood, is incomparably more exalted, balanced and fulfilling than those broken, one-sided or totally erroneous ideologies of today’s world which reduce the meaning of human life to the satisfaction of sexual appetites, material security, or to other such limited functions and desires. The abnormality of a mixed marriage is made obvious by the fact that in such a case the couple cannot partake together of the Cup of Salvation. Marriage is a family matter, always involving the wider tribal “family” of gods, spirits, ancestors. Christian marriage is a specific application of one of Christ’s fundamental teachings: “He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matt. Marriages based on self-gratification exclude Christ, His Cross and Resurrection. 1.The Orthodox Church considers one marriage as the norm. The Marriage Service also repeatedly asks Christ to be present now and to bless the marriage taking place, just as at the marriage in Cana of Galilee. Indissolubility is demanded by the institution of marriage itself. He must state clearly his analysis of the situation and make concrete suggestions for action by the bishop. 3. 575 Scarsdale Road Initial counseling must include the very simple matter of establishing whether or not, in the case at hand, a marriage in the Church is possible at all. The prayers of the Marriage Service ask that the marriage bed be kept honorable and undefiled: again, that it be the very image of the unique relationship between the Bridegroom, Christ, and His beloved and holy Bride, the Church. It is especially important that the Christian family participate in the life of the Church; by praying at home, by coming to the church services, by participating in the sacraments, by observing the Church’s fasts and feasts and by keeping her traditions. Telegram | God created man and woman not to use each other, but to love and live for each other freely and completely in the community of marriage, reflecting the divine image and likeness in the complementarity manifested in their union. Conception control of any sort motivated by selfishness or lack of trust in God’s providential care certainly cannot be condoned. 5:19-20). His headship is not a power over his wife and family, but a divinely-given responsibility, to be discharged after the image of Christ, the perfect man. On Omnium in Mentem: The Basis of the Two Changes . To live up to its high calling, the Christian family must be firmly established in the Faith. The “Order of Second Marriage” as contained in the Service Book is to be used when both partners are entering a second marriage. St. Paul, however, recommends that widows and widowers remarry if their loneliness undermines their spiritual welfare: “To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is well for them to remain single as I do. 2. Marriage has … “As many as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ” (Galatians 3:28). H��W�n�8���#u�DRe-��� ֍Q�! Couples should plan their weddings for seasons, times and days which are permitted by the Church for marriage. The Indissolubility of Marriage and the Council of Trent begins by laying out the fundamental questions addressed by Trent, the ambiguities of Canon 7, and the nature of the interpretive … Let them see their children’s children, like olive shoots around their table, so that finding favor in Thy sight, they may shine like stars of heaven, in Thee our God. Archbishop of San Francisco and Western United States, + KIPRIAN 1. Fleshly relations when separated from spiritual ones are depraved; they must be woven into the pure and total love between a man and a woman united in marriage. The Church’s toleration of mixed marriages does not extend to those between Orthodox and non-Christians: Included in the category of “non-Christian” are: a. Often such persons have been the victims of misinformation and/or peculiar circumstances (wartime, anti-religious civil authorities, absence of an Orthodox Church, etc.). It must become for them the authority, against which all else that they read, hear or see is tested and evaluated. 4. Couples are obliged to contact their parish priest before setting their own final plans and pastors, in turn, must be available to care for the members of the flocks entrusted to them. 1401 0 obj << /Linearized 1 /O 1405 /H [ 2417 493 ] /L 609926 /E 423489 /N 12 /T 581786 >> endobj xref 1401 31 0000000016 00000 n 0000000975 00000 n 0000001244 00000 n 0000001393 00000 n 0000002910 00000 n 0000003399 00000 n 0000003618 00000 n 0000004272 00000 n 0000004303 00000 n 0000004758 00000 n 0000004978 00000 n 0000005021 00000 n 0000006298 00000 n 0000006954 00000 n 0000007173 00000 n 0000007399 00000 n 0000008171 00000 n 0000008195 00000 n 0000008961 00000 n 0000009175 00000 n 0000009383 00000 n 0000032198 00000 n 0000422063 00000 n 0000422204 00000 n 0000422343 00000 n 0000422482 00000 n 0000422621 00000 n 0000422760 00000 n 0000422899 00000 n 0000002417 00000 n 0000002887 00000 n trailer << /Size 1432 /Info 1386 0 R /Root 1402 0 R /Prev 581774 /ID[<625629ac9e6ff03afd3a340ae7bbac0e>] >> startxref 0 %%EOF 1402 0 obj << /Type /Catalog /Pages 1387 0 R /Metadata 1400 0 R /JT 1399 0 R /AcroForm 1403 0 R /StructTreeRoot 1404 0 R /PieceInfo << /MarkedPDF << /LastModified (D:01030211102402)>> >> /LastModified (D:01030211102402) /MarkInfo << /Marked true >> >> endobj 1403 0 obj << /Fields [ ] /DR << /Font << /ZaDb 96 0 R /Helv 97 0 R >> /Encoding << /PDFDocEncoding 98 0 R >> >> /DA (/Helv 0 Tf 0 g ) >> endobj 1404 0 obj << /Type /StructTreeRoot /ClassMap 100 0 R /RoleMap 112 0 R /K [ 1146 0 R 1147 0 R 1148 0 R 1149 0 R 1150 0 R 1151 0 R 1152 0 R 1153 0 R 1154 0 R 1155 0 R 1156 0 R 1157 0 R 1158 0 R 1159 0 R 1160 0 R 1161 0 R 1162 0 R 1163 0 R 1164 0 R 1165 0 R 1166 0 R 1167 0 R 1168 0 R 1169 0 R 1170 0 R 1171 0 R 1172 0 R 1173 0 R 1174 0 R 1175 0 R 1176 0 R 1177 0 R 1178 0 R 1179 0 R 1180 0 R 1181 0 R 1182 0 R 1183 0 R 1184 0 R 1185 0 R 1186 0 R 1187 0 R 1188 0 R 1189 0 R 1190 0 R 1191 0 R 1192 0 R 1193 0 R 1194 0 R 1195 0 R 1196 0 R 1197 0 R 1198 0 R 1199 0 R 1200 0 R 1201 0 R 1202 0 R 1203 0 R 1204 0 R 1205 0 R 1206 0 R 1207 0 R 1208 0 R 1209 0 R 1210 0 R 1211 0 R 1212 0 R 1213 0 R 1214 0 R 1215 0 R 1216 0 R 1217 0 R 1218 0 R 1219 0 R 1220 0 R 1221 0 R 1222 0 R 1223 0 R 1224 0 R 1225 0 R 1226 0 R 1227 0 R 1228 0 R 1132 0 R 1133 0 R 1134 0 R 1135 0 R 1136 0 R 1137 0 R 1138 0 R 1139 0 R 1140 0 R 1141 0 R 1142 0 R 1143 0 R 1144 0 R 1145 0 R ] /ParentTree 1229 0 R /ParentTreeNextKey 58 >> endobj 1430 0 obj << /S 281 /V 378 /C 400 /Filter /FlateDecode /Length 1431 0 R >> stream “. The Marriage Service repeatedly invokes the blessing of the Holy Trinity, and the marriage itself has the Trinity as its archetype: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, three persons living in a perfect unity of love. After meeting with a priest and with the completion of all of the necessary paperwork, a date and time can be set for the ecclesial (Catholic) validation of your civil marriage. Meyendorff, Fr. Ecclesial definition, pertaining to a church or its functions, teachings, or organization. Marriage. 19:6). In Christ man is revealed as son and friend of God. For it is better to marry than to be aflame with passion” (1 Cor. Marriage is the most perfect realization of love between a man and a woman: two become one. Marriage is a mystery, a permanent spiritual union which transcends the physical and which even death cannot destroy. Instead, they appeal to moral theology and the realm of conscience to alleviate the plight of the invalidly remarried, skirting th… … What happened in Cana 2,000 years ago, happens … The guiding principle for the Orthodox pastor is the call to integrate the whole life of the Church. All sacraments - marriage among them - are performed in, by and for the whole Church. In this way he can alleviate many marriage problems before they become acute and aid couples in their mutual growth in love and unity in the Lord. Like all things in Christ, marriage too must pass through the cross, through temptation, suffering, trial and finally death, before coming to its ultimate consummation in the Resurrection and the Kingdom of God which will come in power at the end of the ages. H�b```g`�,d`�A� ce`a��Т�� ��p����_�0>`bf�)`��(z�M��mCs����QI���R��r,V�9�-~�1���N�3;����l{��8��onn��'�6S��Z:�RX*8���.��3��']R>����k�����p����+!B�����ƿw�`EÃ+~�Xq (The Yearbook should be consulted for the specific days on which marriages are not to be performed.) the marriage does not affect its validity. Orthodox Christians must not allow themselves to be manipulated by the abstract calculations of statisticians regarding such matters as the population explosion and the need for birth control and family planning. For this reason, men who after baptism have been married twice or are married to a widow are not accepted as candidates for the priesthood (Apostolic Canons 17 and 18). Each couple must seek the blessing, guidance and advice of’ their pastor in planning and preparing for their marriage. e. The marriage date must be set for those days and seasons approved by the Church for marriage. 1607 According to faith the disorder we notice so painfully does notstem from the nature of man and woman, nor from the nature of their relations,but from sin. In other words, in order that the Church might daily manifest herself through many different human expressions of God's own love, the whole ecclesial community depends on Christian … Yet no vow or oath can possibly join a man and a woman together in the gracious and absolute way called for in Christian marriage. 1. Sex has become an end in itself and is proclaimed as such in the philosophy of individualism and self-indulgence which daily bombards us. Dr. Chrysostom Nassis, Rev. Husbands and wives: love each other; love your children. 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