Seven Sacraments of The Church Sacrament of Holy Matrimony Marriage

1
Seven Sacraments of The Church Sacrament of
Holy MatrimonyMarriage
2
(No Transcript)
3
Our Faith

• It is our faith that all of the Sacraments were
  instituted by Our Lord Jesus Christ, but marriage
  is as old as the human race. It goes all the way
  back to creation. It was founded by the Creator
  Himself when He said It is not good for man
  (male) to be alone Genesis 218 Then He
  created woman (female), and He blessed them
  saying Increase and multiply and fill the earth

4
What did Our Lord Jesus Christ teach about
Marriage?

• Our Lord Jesus Christ confirmed these words when
  He said, Have you not read that He who made them
  from the beginning made them male and female, and
  said, For this reason Man shall leave his
  father and mother and be joined to his wife, and
  the two shall become one! So they are no longer
  two but one. What therefore God has joined
  together, let no man put asunder Matthew 194-6

5
Marriage in The Coptic Orthodox Church

• In our Coptic Orthodox Church, the purposes of
  marriage are numerous high on the list is the
  procreation of children.
• The couple Male Female is understood to be
  co-workers with God, not only in the perpetuation
  of human life through the conception, birth and
  physical care of children, but also to take care
  of the spiritual nurture of new members of Gods
  kingdom.

6
Marriage as a Sacrament

• In the early church, marriage was considered a
  Mysterion or a Sacrament, Tertullian wrote in the
  second century telling us that A Christian
  couple who desired to be married applied for a
  civil license and then went to church on Sunday
  to receive communion during the liturgy and the
  blessing of the Bishop or the Priest. Just as God
  blessed that first marriage, so He blesses ours
  today when we stand before His Holy Altar. This
  is why marriage is a Sacrament in the Coptic
  Orthodox Church. It is a way by which Christ
  comes to us to bless us.

7
Marriage is NOT an agreement!!
8

• In our Coptic Orthodox Church, marriage is not
  simply an agreement of a man and woman to share
  their lives together.
• It is not performed by the bride and the groom
  with the clergyman and the congregation as
  witnesses to their decision.

9

• Their union based on their freely willed decision
  to join their lives together as husband and wife
  becomes sacramental because they are joined
  together as Orthodox Christians who are sharing
  the Body and the Blood of Christ and receiving
  the grace of God for their union through the
  ministrations of the church in the person of the
  clergyman in the presence of the gathered people
  of God.

10

• Marriage is the single most important
  relationship in life next to ones relationship
  with God. In his book Magnificent Marriage G.
  MacDonald says The relationship of a man and a
  woman in marriage is the prime relationship of
  all mankind, superseded only by that relationship
  which man/woman establishes with his/her God.

11
What the Sacrament says about Sex?
12
What the Sacrament says about Sex?

• The fact that Matrimony is a Sacrament tells us
  much about God views sex! After creating man and
  woman and ordering them to multiply, God not only
  said that it was good as He has said of all His
  previous creations. He now said that it was very
  good Genesis 131

13

• He created sex for a very special relationship
  called MARRIAGE which He had blessed then and
  still blesses now.

14

• If God surrounds sex with many commandments, He
  does so not because it is something evil, but
  because it is precious that He builds a fence
  around it to protect it.

15
The Three Ingredients of True Love
16

• Spiritual Attraction By spiritual attraction,
  we mean two young people can talk about God and
  agree. They can talk about the goals of life and
  agree. No wall exists between them when they
  talk about the purpose of life. Spiritual love
  is the gift God comes to give through the
  Sacrament of Matrimony. It is Gods kind of
  love.

17

• Mental Attraction By mental attraction, two
  young people are interested in each others
  personality. We call this friendship love

18

• Physical Attraction By physical attraction, a
  boy and a girl are attracted to each other
  physically. Physical attraction should not be the
  only attraction. We call this beautiful (Eros)
  love.

19
Ideal Christian Home

• Unity of Marriage One man and one woman as God
  created them at the beginning.
• Independent Living For this reason a man shall
  leave his father and mother and be joined to his
  wife to have a separate stable life, to avoid
  troubles and contacts between his wife and his
  parents. However, the man shall continue loving
  and caring for his parents and supporting them to
  have their blessing according to the commandment.

20
Ideal Christian Home (Cont.)

• One Flesh They are no longer two, but one
  flesh, one spirit, one heart, and one life.
• Stability and Continuity of Family As there is
  no divorce in Christianity except for adultery,
  whoever encourages divorce is breaking a divine
  law placed by God Himself when he wedded Adam and
  Eve, and blessed them as What God has joined
  together, let no man separate. (Matthew 196).

21
Before the Ceremony

• The time of the original rite of the Sacrament of
  Matrimony is Sunday morning, after the morning
  raising of incense, right before the Liturgy. In
  the past, the tradition was that the bride and
  the groom stay up during the wedding night in a
  special hall attached to the church praising and
  praying. Each one accompanied by one of their
  friends. In front of St. George Church in Old
  Cairo, Egypt, this hall still exists in its
  original form.

22
The Ceremony
23
The Pauline

• Before reading the Pauline, deacons chant TAY
  SHORY the Pauline Hymn, which specifically for
  Saint Mary, so the Bride should resemble and
  behave like her mother the Virgin St. Mary in Her
  purity, modesty and spirituality.
• St. Paul writes about marriage in his letter to
  the Ephesians. Before we look at it, however, we
  need to remember that Paul lived in a pagan world
  where the views on marriage were much like ours
  today. The world at Pauls time held a low
  concept of marriage. All kinds of sexual
  immorality prevailed. Paul called on Christians
  to disassociate themselves from those prevailing
  attitudes.

24
The Ephesians 522-33

• Husbands and Wives
• Wives to submit to their Husbands as the church
  submits to Christ (522-24)
• Husbands to love their Wives as Christ loves the
  Church (526)
• Christ died for the Church (525)
• Christ lives to make the Church Holy and Clean
  (526)
• Christ will someday present the Church to Himself
  as a glorious Church without Stain and wrinkle
  (527)
• 3. Husbands are to love their Wives as they love
  their own bodies (528-33)

25
Psalms and Gospel Readings

• Psalm 185, 6 Like a bridegroom coming out of
  his chamber and rejoices like a strong man to run
  its race. This is a prophecy about Christ rising
  from the dead in victory, strong and happy like
  the bridegroom coming out of his chamber filled
  with happiness.
• Psalm 128 3, 4 Your wife shall be like a
  fruitful vine, in the very heart of your house.
  Your children like olive plants all around your
  table. This Psalm finishes by Blessings of
  those who fear the Lord.
• Matthew 19 1-6 What God has joined together,
  let no man separate. The Gospel that is read
  from Matthew 19 1-6 includes some important
  principles for a stable marriage and the
  formation of an ideal Christian Home.

26
The Rite of the Ceremony

• The marriage ceremony of the Coptic Orthodox
  Church is ritual and full of symbolism. Each of
  the acts has special meaning and significance,
  see the following

27

• The Rings The exchange of rings gives the
  expression to the fact that the spouses in
  marriage will constantly be complementing each
  other. Each partner will be enriched by each
  other, and by their union. Placing the two rings
  in a red ribbon, as red denotes the bond of the
  couple to the Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, who
  is the Third Partner in every Christian family.
  The ribbon is made from silk, as silk is a very
  expensive material. Likewise, matrimony is
  valuable and precious.

28

• The Candles The candles are like the lamps of
  the five wise maidens of the Bible. The candles
  symbolize the spiritual willingness of the couple
  to receive Christ, who will bless them through
  this sacrament.
• The Joining of the Right Hands The right hand
  of the bride and the right hand of the groom are
  joined when the priest reads the prayer that
  beseeches God to join these them servants, unite
  them in one mind and one flesh. The hands are
  kept joined throughout the service to symbolize
  the oneness of the couple.

29

• The Crowning The crowns are signs of the glory
  and honor with which God crowns the couple during
  the sacrament. The groom and the bride are
  crowned as the king and queen of their own little
  kingdom, the home, which they will rule with
  wisdom, justice and integrity.
• The Cloak The cloak is a priestly vestment.
  The groom wears it here because he becomes a
  leader of the house, and he leads his family in
  prayers at the family altar.

30
Rites and meaning, cont..

• Anointing with the Holy Oil Anointing the
  couple with the holy oil has many advantages It
  is oil for sanctification and blessing as the
  Bible says, You anoint my head with oil. (Psalm
  235). It is an anointment of purity and
  incorruption and a strong weapon against all
  lustful thoughts. The holy oil is a sign of
  gladness and joy, as the Bible says, Your God
  has anointed you with the oil of gladness more
  than your companions (Psalm 457).
• Reciting the Orthodox Creed To remind the couple
  that their wedding is founded on the Holy
  Orthodox Faith of the One Holy, Universal and
  Apostolic Church to keep it in their life and
  hand the same faith over to their children.

31
The Commandments

• The priest takes the bride and the groom before
  the altars door facing the east, he recites for
  them the commandment before the altar to become a
  witness that they are married before the Lord and
  must keep what the Church commands/advises them.
• It is important that the priest recite the
  commandments slowly and married couples must
  listen carefully, because it is very important
  for married couple to know each others rights
  and fulfill it completely before asking for
  his/her rights.

32
The Grooms Commandment

• My blessed son (name), take (name) your wife, in
  purity of heart and sincerity. Do all that good
  for her. Have compassion on her and always hasten
  to do what gladden her heart...
• This commandment is an invitation of love,
  sacrifice and giving in to live happily, also it
  is warning him against selfishness and uncaring
  which are the basis of troubles.

33
The Brides Commandment

• And you, blessed daughter and happy bride
  (name) You must honor and respect him, do not
  disagree with him but increase your obedience to
  him You must receive him with joy and cheer. Do
  not ignore any of his rights upon you and fear
  God in all your deeds with him
• It is important for the bride to humble herself
  and practice this commandment

34
Commandment for Both

• Now since you have been present at this blessed
  time before the sanctuary of the Lord of Hosts
  and His Holy Altar, you (Bride Groom) have been
  joined together and united in the blessedness of
  matrimonySo you (Bride Groom) must submit
  yourselves to one another in LOVE PURITY.

35
After the Ceremony

• The traditional which was derived from the book
  of Tobit, that the newly wed spend the first
  three days in prayers and spiritual readings to
  start their new marital life with a holy
  beginning as a strong foundation. When Tobit the
  righteous man married to Sarah, he said to her
  Rise up my sister, let us pray to God today,
  tomorrow and after tomorrow. As in those three
  days we join God. After the third night we
  consummate our marriage, as we are children of
  saints and can not marry like Gentiles who do not
  know God. So both rose up, prayed fervently for
  God to bless them (Tobit 84-6)

36
Birth Control

• The question of birth control can only be solved
  by individual Christian couples. They can make
  the right decision only if they accept their
  Christian commitment with ultimate seriousness.
  In any case, the advice of a good father of
  confession could help much in taking the right
  first step in married life. Fr. Stanley Harakas,
  Professor of Orthodox Ethics at Holy Cross
  Seminary, writes, In the Orthodox Church, the
  purposes of marriage are numerous. High on the
  list is the procreation of children. The couple
  is understood to be co-workers with God. Not
  only in the perpetuation of human life through
  the conception, birth and physical care of
  children, but also in the more profound sins of
  the spiritual nurture of new members of Gods
  kingdom. That is why many Orthodox theologians
  believe that Birth Control methods may be used by
  Orthodox couples when the other purposes of
  marriage are also respected.

37
Marriage outside the Church

• An Orthodox Christian must seek the blessing and
  grace of Christ for his/her marriage through the
  Church. An Orthodox Christian who excludes his
  marriage from this gracious union with Christ in
  the Church certainly excludes himself from the
  communion of the Church. Fr. Stanley Harakas
  writes again in Guidelines for Marriage.
  Orthodox Christians, who have not been married
  in the Church and have been married civilly, or
  by a clergyman of another Church or Faith, should
  have their union sanctified in Christ through the
  Sacrament of Holy Matrimony in the Orthodox
  Church. Otherwise they are not in good standing
  with their church and may not receive Holy
  Communion and other sacraments of the church. A
  devout Orthodox Christian will not exclude Christ
  from such a vital and important area of life as
  marriage.

38
Divorce !!?

• The view of the Coptic Orthodox Church on
  divorce If a man divorces his wife, for any
  cause other than unchastity, and marries another,
  he commits adultery. One point must be clearly
  understood from the point of view of Orthodox
  theology, a divorce granted by the State in the
  civil courts is not sufficient. Remarriage in
  Church is only possible if the Church authorities
  have themselves granted a divorce and issue an
  authorization to re-marry.

39
The Second Marriage

• The Coptic Orthodox Church permits the second
  marriage and does not prohibit it, BUT does not
  prefer it. Saint Paul said But I say to the
  unmarried and to the widows. It is good for them
  if they remain even as I am, but if they can not
  exercise self control, let them marry. For it is
  better to marry than to burn with passion (1 COR
  78-9), the ceremony of the second marriage is
  different than regular wedding ceremony.