FOR THE JOURNEY

MATRIMONY

Sacraments of Service 

As we continue to explore the seven sacraments of the Church, we see that they focus on different aspects of our lives. The sacraments of Initiation bring us into the family of the Church, while the sacraments of healing offer us the way to repair and maintain our relationship with God and each other. The two final sacraments are those of Service - Matrimony and Holy Orders.

In the two sacraments of service, grace is received that prepares and strengthens the recipients so that they can provide Christ’s love to those with whom they come in contact. When a man and a woman exchange vows in the presence of Christ, they pledge their love and honor to each other until they are separated by death. This is not a casual promise; easily made, easily broken, but a powerful commitment  that sustains and strengthens the couple throughout their lives.

According to the CCC, marriage is a “covenant by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership for the whole of life and which is ordered, by its nature, to the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring” and which “has been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament between the baptized.”
The understanding of marriage in the Church and marriage as a sacrament, developed over many centuries. In the early Church, marriages took place without clergy - two people promising fidelity to each other. In the 4th century, couples began to ask for a blessing from the priest to ensure fertility, but the ceremony - even as late as the 9th century - resembled a rite from Ancient Rome. In the 12th century, Pope Alexander declared that through free, mutual consent, a couple could have a valid marriage. This removed the need for arranged marriages and allowed young people to have more say in the person with whom they chose to spend their life. When the Council of Trent, in 1547, officially listed the canon of the seven sacraments, there was an emphasis on the veracity of the declarations of the Church, made over centuries, that marriage, contrary to the teachings of the Protestant Reformation, was indeed a sacrament.

Marriage is the one sacrament that is not administered by a priest or deacon. While the presider stands as the witness for the Church and ultimately blesses the union, it is the man and woman that confer the sacrament on each other. During the exchange of the vows, the bride and groom make their promise of lifelong fidelity to each other. 

According to the definition of sacrament: “an outward sign, instituted by Christ, to give grace”, it is understood that in a sacramental marriage, the spouses offer the means for each other to attain eternal life. A sacrament is a promised encounter with Christ. It is in marriage where the husband and wife become as Christ to and for each other. The sacramental giving to each other proceeds to bless the family, which in turn, becomes Christ to the community. 
When Jesus performed his first miracle at the Wedding at Cana, he was indicating that the family, supported in the sacrament of marriage, becomes a source of God’s love and mercy for the world.

Cathy Pressimone
EMCC Parish Life Coordinator
Master Catechist