May he always honor her and love her as Christ loves his bride the Church. Keep them faithful to you and to each other and let them be living examples of Christian life.’
-
Signing the Marriage register- A register is signed as a civil requirement and a marriage certificate given.
- The Orthodox Church wedding Ceremony
Exchange of the Rings
The Orthodox Sacrament of Marriage actually consists of two parts: The Exchange of Rings and the Crowning.
This first part of the wedding service can be equated with the 'civil service'. It takes place in the entry of the church; that area seen by the Church as the closest to the outside world. In this service the Church first prays for the couple. Here the Church recognizes and blesses a union which has begun "in the world" yet awaits fulfillment in the world to come. After being blessed by the priest, the rings are placed on the right hand.
The Procession
After the Exchange of the rings the priest leads the couple in procession into the middle of the church. This point in the service most clearly reveals the "action" of the sacrament. The couple brings themselves, each other, their lives, and all that fills their lives, to the altar as an offering to God. As the couple enters into the midst of the Church, their relationship enters into the new reality of God's Kingdom.
Declaration of Intent and Lighting of Candles
Having processed into the church, the couple must individually proclaim, before the assembly, that they have come freely, without constraints or prior commitment, to be joined by God as husband and wife.
The bride and groom are then handed candles which are held throughout the service. The Crowning
After prayers are offered on their behalf, the groom and bride are crowned by the priest "In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
The Epistle
The epistle is taken from St. Paul's letter to the Ephesians.
The Common Cup and the Dance of Isaiah
After more prayers, a common cup of wine is blessed and shared by the couple.
The priest then takes the bride and groom around the center table three times: this is called the dance of Isaiah.
Removal of the Crowns
At the end of the service, the crowns are removed and the priest prays that God will receive these crowns into His Kingdom. The reality of the Kingdom into which the bride and groom have entered is not completely fulfilled, but only begun. Husband and wife must receive God's Kingdom and make it both a present reality and a challenge and goal of their common life. Completion and fulfillment will come when Christ returns in power and glory to complete the establishment of His Kingdom in this world by filling all things with himself.
The Greeting of the Couple
At the end of the service, the couple stands at the foot of the altar. From the beginning, at the back of the church, they have now progressed to the forefront. Only the eternal Kingdom of Jesus Christ, as signified by the Altar, remains ahead of them. Their final act is to turn and face the assembled Church. Through this sacrament, they have become an icon of the Church and icon of Christ and the assembly comes up to congratulate them and share in their joy.
(Answer 1) (b)
The ceremonies of these Christian faiths all say something about what they believe about marriage and marital breakdown. But I must stress one point that has caused a lot of confusion. The marriage ceremonies of these churches all say that marriage is a life long commitment and that divorce is wrong. They say this in the marriage ceremonies, BUT some of the churches think divorce is allowable and people may still be divorced. An example would be the Orthodox Church, which believes that the marriage is only witnessed by God and not given by God; therefore the couple may still be divorced. You could say that there is a contradiction between the ceremony and the belief.
I (name) do take you (name) to be my lawful wedded (husband/wife)
This first line means that the couple is agreeing to marry in front of the law and God.
To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better and for worse, for richer for poorer,
In sickness and in health, to love and to cherish
This part means that the couple will have each other for the day they are getting married onwards, in any sort of condition.
Till death do us apart.
This part shows that the couple is prepared to love each other until one of them dies, they must be together until one dies. They may not divorce.
The Catholic Church takes the vows and rituals very seriously, and do agree with what is interpreted in them.
In most parts of the service the priest will talk about things related to marriage for the couple. But a few parts in particular.
In the Marriage Ceremony, the priest asks the bride and groom three questions (Question 1a) These questions show that the couple must be coming together of their own free will and without any type of force. Catholics believe forced marriages are wrong. The second question I consider important. It shows how the couple should act towards one another in married life. They must ’love and honor one another’ It also says ‘for life’ this hints on Catholics belief about marriage being everlasting. The third question asks if the couple will accept children lovingly from God. There is more to this question than meets the eye. Catholics believe that if a woman becomes pregnant, God has blessed her with a child; she therefore has no right to get rid of it. Also, if God wishes to give a couple a child, they have no right to try to stop him with contraceptives, protection etc. These three questions are asked to give the couple some idea of what married life is to be like.
The next important one is the acceptance of consent and blessing. In this part of the mass the priest says ‘You have declared your consent before the church’ this means that the couple has said their vows before God. The priest asks that the Lord strengthen the marriage of the couple, showing the belief that God has given the marriage. The priest also says, ‘what God has joined together let no man put asunder’ this shows that they believe God has given the marriage and that only God has the power to stop it. No man has this power.
The marriage blessing talks about how the relationship of the couple should go. The man must treat the woman like an equal, and must look after her. It gives an example by talking about Jesus’ relationship with the church; Jesus gave his life for it. It also briefly mentions about adultery. It says to keep the bride and groom faithful to each other.
The Roman Catholic Church sees marriage as a vocation and a sacrament. It believes marriage is a life long commitment and divorce is unacceptable. The Catholic Church takes the vows and rituals seriously.
In the exchange of rings, the ring is placed on the right hand, this is the hand with which promises and oaths are made and where the presence of God is recognized through the sign of the Cross. The rings are the symbol of betrothal, agreement and authority. The exchange of rings represents a promise to share and exchange both their physical and spiritual goods, and to give each other of eternal love and devotion. The candles that are lit represent the couple's faith and willingness to follow the Light of Truth, Jesus Christ, and that they will have their way through life lighted by the teachings of the Church.
The crowns placed on the head of the couple have two meanings. First, they reveal that the man and woman participate in Christ’s Kingship. Second, as in the ancient Church, crowns are a symbol of martyrdom. The common life of the bride and groom is to bear witness to the Presence of Christ in their lives and in the world. Martyrdom is usually associated with death. So the reality of God's Kingdom in the life of the husband and wife will necessarily take the form of dying to one's self, to one's will, and the giving of one's life totally to the other, and through the other, to Christ. The epistle represents the basic vision of marriage: the love of man and woman parallels the love of Christ and the Church. As Christ gives Himself totally to and for His Church, so the husband is to give himself totally to and for his wife. As the Church, in turn, is subject to Christ, so the wife subjects herself to her husband. Thus the two become one in a life of mutual love and mutual subjection to each other in Christ.
The wine that the bride and groom drink in the common cup is a sign of their common life together, a sharing of joys and sorrows, successes and failures, hopes and fears. The dance of Isaiah represents thanks to God.
The Orthodox Church has a very spiritual interpretation of marriage which is taken from the scripture- especially that of St. Paul. This enforced by the last part of the mass where the bride and Groom before the couple leave the Church. Throughout the service things are done in threes in remembrance of the Trinity. Man is made in the image and likeness of God. Marriage is intended by God to be an image of the Trinity. It is the union of three persons, not two. Man and woman are one with each other and one with the person of Jesus Christ. The Orthodox Church also believes that Kingdom. In Christ, marriage is restored to its initial perfection and in the sacrament, this union is made open to the possibility of what God intended marriage to be from the beginning: an eternal life of joy in union with Him.
Thus, marriage goes beyond a legal contract. There is no exchange of vows - the two have freely and coequally committed to one another and consented to God's presence in their union. There is no phrase "'til death do us part". If marriage is brought into the Kingdom of God, death, as a separation, is powerless over it. Christ has destroyed death by His Cross and Resurrection; therefore, the union of man and woman in Christ is eternal.
The Church of England is one of the Churches with the slight contradiction. The Church was set up by Henry VIII so he could divorce his wives; it is a more direct branch off of the Catholic Church so therefore much of its beliefs are the same.
(Answer)(2)
Sex outside of marriage is a very complex matter in religion. Different people would argue their different views about whether it should, or should not be allowed. But what is sex outside of marriage? Sex outside of marriage is otherwise known as adultery. It is when two people are married and one decides to have sex with someone else, not their husband/wife.
Some people would argue that sex outside of marriage should be an o.k. thing in some cases. The arguments that they would use would be that it should be allowed if one partner is not performing or is unable to. Another would be that if a partner is away for a certain amount of time constantly, meaning that they both do not get sex for long periods of time. If a partner refuses to have sex, then it is possible to divorce them, or merely to separate, because having children is one of the vocations of marriage, therefore, if they were allowed to separate, could they not just find sex elsewhere?
Other people would argue that sex outside of marriage is totally wrong. There is a lot of evidence suggesting that sex outside of marriage is wrong, religious evidence and non- religious evidence. Having sex outside of marriage is going back on the marriage vows, and what the church believes in. Sex outside of marriage causes a lot of problems. It can cause families to split. It causes untrustworthiness and unhappiness in any family that has a member committing adultery It can leave deep scars for the faithful partner and to the children of the family if there is any. In the Bible, many quotes suggest it is wrong, both made by Jesus and by the Writers of the Gospels.
In the sermon on the mount Jesus shows how strict the religious laws define adultery:
“You have heard that it is said ‘do not commit adultery.’ But now I tell you: anyone who looks at another woman and wants to posess her is guilty of committing adultery with her in his heart.”
Jesus enforces that adultery is bad and gives a description that there is more than one way to commit it.
On the mount of Olives, Jesus is confronted by a crowd wanting to stone a woman for committing adultery. He tells them not to, but tells her not to do it again.
From the evidence that I have found from looking at the two sides of the arguement, I think that sex outside of marriage is wrong. There is overwhelming evidence to support this.
