Part 3, Chapter 38
Marriage is so, so sacred. It is beautiful and our Saint says it so well. When reading this chapter, I was reminded of what is said during a marriage:
THE CELEBRATION OF MATRIMONY
The Celebrant says:
Dearly beloved,
you have come together into the house of the Church,
so that in the presence of the Church’s minister and the community
your intention to enter into Marriage
may be strengthened by the Lord with a sacred seal.
Christ abundantly blesses the love that binds you.
Through a special Sacrament,
he enriches and strengthens
those he has already consecrated by Holy Baptism,
that they may be faithful to each other for ever
and assume all the responsibilities of married life.
And so, in the presence of the Church,
I ask you to state your intentions.
THE QUESTIONS BEFORE THE CONSENT
The Celebrant asks:
N. and N., have you come here to enter into Marriage with coercion, freely and wholeheartedly?
The bridegroom and bride each say:
I have.
The Celebrant continues:
Are you prepared, as you follow the path of Marriage, to love and honor each other for as long as you both shall live?
The bridegroom and bride each say:
I am
The Celebrant continues:
Are you prepared to accept children lovingly from God and to bring them up according to the law of Christ and his Church?
The bridegroom and bride each say:
I am
THE CONSENT
The Celebrant invites them to declare their consent:
Since it is your intention to enter the covenant of Holy Matrimony,
join your right hands and declare your consent
before God and his Church.
They join their right hands
The bridegroom says:
I, N., take you, N., to be my wife.
I promise to be faithful to you,
in good times and in bad,
in sickness and in health,
to love you and to honor you
all the days of my life.
The bride says:
I, N., take you, N., to be my husband.
I promise to be faithful to you,
in good times and in bad,
in sickness and in health,
to love you and to honor you
all the days of my life.
THE RECEPTION OF THE CONSENT
Then, receiving their consent, the Celebrant says to the bride and bridegroom:
May the Lord in his kindness strengthen the consent
you have declared before the Church,
and graciously bring to fulfillment his blessing within you.
What God joins together, let no one put asunder.
I could continue to go on, but what I am trying to remind us all is that the vows are permanent. Thus, when a man and woman get married they are committing to each other for life and they are giving themselves, total, faithful, fruitful and freely for life. Nothing, not a person, a thing, a job should get in the way of the relationship.
As Venerable Fulton Sheen has said, “It takes three to get married.” That is, God, the bridegroom and the bride and the couple needs to have God at the center of their married.