I read a post this morning on the Glory to God for All Things blog that I just loved. Fr. Stephen wrote about the Orthodox wedding service and its lack of vows. As inquirers to the Orthodox faith, this has been a question for my wife and me. The priest at our local parish explained to us that the Orthodox view God as the one marrying the couple instead of having the couple “marry each other”. The Orthodox tradition seems to be the Fullness of truth. Though the couple is there to be married, in the Roman Catholic tradition, they perform the sacrament on each other. However, in the Orthodox tradition God is the one who performs the sacrament. This subtle difference has dire consequences. I believe that in both traditions a passage that is read can be paraphrased as, “What God has joined let no man divide.” This saying makes more sense in the Orthodox tradition where God joins the couple through the sacrament instead of couple joining each other.
We have all heard the phrase, “Silence is Golden.” My wife says that this saying was made up by parents of young children, but perhaps this is just good advice. This phrase can be applied to the sacrament of marriage as Fr. Stephen points out. I remember my wedding in the Catholic Church and how the vows were simply one of the things that I was required to do in order to be married to my wife. But in reality I don’t feel like I married my wife, but that we got married by the grace of God. In my opinion, the Orthodox Church gets around the idea that the couple marries each other by “limiting” what the couple says. God is in charge and the worship revolves Him. I feel that the Orthodox Church has preserved this. God is glorified through the union of the couple.
Please read Fr. Stephen’s post to hear what he said, so as to keep me honest: http://fatherstephen.wordpress.com/2008/07/01/speaking-carefully/
These are just a few ideas about marriage that I thought were worth discussing. I always try to remember that it is the events in my life that make a difference. Not only the events, but the meaning of the events.
Filed under: Catholic, Christianity, Events, God, Life, Marriage, Orthodox, Philosophy, Relationships, Religion
