In the sacrament of marriage there are three questions asked to prove the couple's true faith each other , question one asks the couple do you freely and without reserve, to give yourself to each other in marriage , simply this asks the couple do you accept each other in your own love without any objection. Question two asks the couple if they are ready to honour each other for the rest of their lives. The third question asks the couple are they ready to accept the gift of children lovingly from God and bring them up to continue Gods work of creation , this asks the couple if they pursue in Gods gift of sex and child is conceived then the couple should accept it as a gift from god and not pass it up. The marriage vows are the main part of the sacrament of marriage , this is where the couple offer the sacrament of marriage to each other and this is done through the exchange of vows. The bride and groom join hands and the relative of the bride gives the bride away to the groom, the bridegroom make his vows first. This is the actual moment that the sacrament is made , and the couple turn to each other and say 'I (name) do take thee (name) to be my lawful wedded wife/husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse , for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part.' After this the sacrament of marriage is made. After the vows the exchange of rings is made , the groom must put the ring on the third finger of the left hand and say 'take this ring as a sign of my love and fidelity in the name of the father of the son and the Holy Spirit' , the rings are used as a token of their promises to each other. The rings also signify eternal love and is the “seal” of the marriage bond.. Vows are actually required by the state to legally get married. Other traditions include the joining of hands. This is and outward sign of the marriage bond and is an essential part of the vows taken by the couple. Another is the blessing as the Christians believe that God’s gift of grace is involved in marriage therefore the priest invokes the blessing on the couple.
Marriage is seen as many different things in different religious communities for example in the Protestant community do not see marriage as a sacrament though they still celebrate marriage as a very special occasion and is marked by a special service , the same applies with the Baptists they as the Protestants do not consider marriage as a sacrament but they do recognise that God has instituted marriage and that believers should be married in the presence of God with prayers for his blessing on the marriage, the great freedom about it is that there is no set marriage service, but the three main parts of the service include an introduction , explaining the meaning of marriage, the covenant which is sort of the vows and finally a scripture is read and prayers to God to bless this marriage. The church of England however is normal to the proclamation of marriage being a sacrament , with methods like banns , that are read the three Sundays before a wedding , this is used to find out (if there are any) reasons for this couple no to be married , for reasons like , the couple having more than one spouse , or that they have been married before or that the couple are closely related. Marital breakdown is another factor in the life of a married couple , and there can be many reasons for a break up between a married couple but all reasons lead to pain and difficulty, this is why couples are encouraged to strengthen their relationships all the time. In Britain the divorce rate is moderately high but not as high as the United States. The reasons for a break up in a marriage are numerous they mostly have to do with financial stability as most couples find this an important issue in life. Some reasons can be pretty straight forward like a lack of communication or a lack of companionship which are equally important . Another reason would be false hopes this is when people get the wrong picture of married life and decide that they do not want to live that life . Human nature is a major factor as many people change in weather it be their action's or feeling's over a space of time people change, and the most common reason is children , many couples will break up if they can not support a child so they are pressured to break up. All these reasons lead up to the final part of marital breakdown Divorce. The Catholic church does not see divorce as a feasible excuse for a couple to break up as it is a valid contract between two baptised Christians and is regarded as a sacrament . The Catholic church states divorce is a legal break up of a marriage leaving either partner free to marry again, though the Roman Catholic church does not recognise divorce for the following reasons, Christ insisted that the original intention for marriage in the plan of God and that it should be indissoluble. People who divorce are breaking a natural law , for the two people made a contract in the eyes of God , and vowed to be with each other to death do they part. A person who remarries is committing adultery . Divorce is immoral in any case and can break up family and society, divorce harms the following people The spouse who is deserted by his or her partner. Children suffer greatly from conflicts between two parents. It can spread through society like a plague by influencing other people to break up. The other churches however are not as strict as the catholic church. The Anglican church believe marriage is not indissoluble. The Eastern orthodox churches as well allow divorce and remarriage in some circumstances. In terms of the covenant marriage breaking can be seen as covenant breaking.
