The Sacrament of Matrimony

We conclude our series tonight on the seven Sacraments of the Catholic Church, as we discuss the final Sacrament, the beautiful Sacrament of Matrimony.  It, along with Holy Orders, constitute the two Sacraments of Service, or Sacraments at the Service of Communion.   As we stated last time, one receives these two Sacraments not directly for his or her own good (although it can and should still wind up being beneficial for the recipient), but rather, for the good of a greater community.

First off, I have written a few previous posts on marriage, and the links to them are below.  These posts were more about the state of marriage in the world today, not specifically on marriage as a Sacrament, which this post will be about.

http://jimscatholicblog.blogspot.com/2015/07/marriage.html

http://jimscatholicblog.blogspot.com/2015/09/marriage-revisited.html

The Bible, overall, one could say, is the story of God’s passionate love for us, which is reflected in the love between husband and wife.  In the beginning of the Bible, we see the creation of man and woman.  Then, almost at the end, in one of the last chapters of the last book of the Bible (Revelation), we hear about the “marriage feast of the Lamb”, what the apostle John sees being celebrated in his vision of heaven. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready (Revelation 19:7) This “marriage” is typically interpreted as the marriage between Christ and His Church, which we have alluded to a few times recently, in the last post on Holy Orders, and in the recent post entitled “The Bride of Christ”.    And of course, throughout Sacred Scripture, there are numerous other accounts of, and lessons on, nuptial love.

The Church indeed teaches that the sacrament of Matrimony signifies the union of Christ and the Church. (Catechism, p.1661).  “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her," adding at once: "'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one. This is a great mystery, and I mean in reference to Christ and the Church." (Ephesians 5:25-26, 31-32)

However, before marriage was raised to the dignity of a Sacrament by Christ, it was already in existence in the natural order.  Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.” (Genesis 2:18)   We read in the Catechism (p.1603) "The intimate community of life and love which constitutes the married state has been established by the Creator and endowed by him with its own proper laws. . . . God himself is the author of marriage.”  The vocation to marriage is written in the very nature of man and woman as they came from the hand of the Creator. Marriage is not a purely human institution despite the many variations it may have undergone through the centuries in different cultures, social structures, and spiritual attitudes. These differences should not cause us to forget its common and permanent characteristics. Although the dignity of this institution is not transparent everywhere with the same clarity, some sense of the greatness of the matrimonial union exists in all cultures. "The well-being of the individual person and of both human and Christian society is closely bound up with the healthy state of conjugal and family life.” 

It is saying that there are truths about marriage in the natural order, ordered by God.  No man is free to redefine marriage however he wants.  Marriage is something written in the human heart by his creator, God.    Marriage is an image of the love God has for us.  Through marriage, we participate in the act of creation, and master creation 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it. (Genesis 1:28).  Marriage is a good.  Any problems with marriage throughout the course of history, up to today are a result of sin, not because of the state of marriage itself. 

In the Sacrament of Matrimony, however, God takes this natural good and raises it to an even higher level.  Our Lord’s first miracle was at a wedding feast, when he turned water into wine at Cana (John 2:1-11).  We read in the Catechism (p.1613) The Church attaches great importance to Jesus' presence at the wedding at Cana. She sees in it the confirmation of the goodness of marriage and the proclamation that thenceforth marriage will be an efficacious sign of Christ's presence.    Jesus takes marriage from just being a natural good to being something supernatural.   Henceforth, marriage will not just be an image of God’s love as it was before, but rather, it will be, as the Catechism says, an efficacious sign of grace.  This means it actually communicates grace, and through that, actualizes God, not just images him (good as that is), an important distinction.

Christ desires marriage to be a sign of His love for his Bride, the Church, a love that is total, unending, faithful, and bears fruit.    This is why the Church teaches what she does about marriage: that it is forever, that it is exclusive, and that it needs to be open to life.   Marriage is indeed not easy.  Our Lord definitely suffered for the Church, and the Church suffers for him.  The graces are available, however, to overcome these challenges.  What kind of grace does the Sacrament of Matrimony convey?   The Catechism (p.1662) states: It gives spouses the grace to love each other with the love with which Christ has loved his Church; the grace of the sacrament thus perfects the human love of the spouses, strengthens their indissoluble unity, and sanctifies them on the way to eternal life.   Who is the source of this grace?  We read in paragraph 1642: Christ is the source of this grace….Christ dwells with them, gives them the strength to take up their crosses and so follow him, to rise again after they have fallen, to forgive one another, to bear one another's burdens, to "be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ,"¹and to love one another with supernatural, tender, and fruitful love. In the joys of their love and family life he gives them here on earth a foretaste of the wedding feast of the Lamb.”   

The Sacrament draws the husband and wife into heaven!   It gives them a taste of what it is like, and will be like, in heaven, where the wedding feast will never end.  So beyond just giving them the grace to overcome the challenges of trying to live marriage in a fallen human world, it gives them so much more!  Anyone getting married today should want to receive these great graces for themselves and their partner! As long as you are have received the Sacrament of Baptism, you can, although it is recommended that in addition to Baptism, that the other Sacraments of Initiation, as well as Penance, be received prior to Matrimony.

It is normative for a Catholic wedding to take place in the context of Holy Mass since the Eucharist is the re-presenting of the ratification (the Paschal Mystery) of the new covenant by which Christ committed himself to the Church, which Matrimony points to.   Even if it is not celebrated at Mass, it is celebrated as a liturgy, a public work of the Church, for all the reasons we have stated. Witnesses are asked to be present, for certainty on the part of the Church and the couple that the Sacrament did indeed happen.  The husband and wife confer this Sacrament on each other; the presider is merely a witness.  The specific moment when the Sacrament is conferred is when they give their consent (“I take you to be my husband/my wife”),  but then this consent must be consummated by the man and woman coming together so that they are truly “one flesh”, or else it is invalid.  

So, let’s seek out this wonderful Sacrament!   If you are married, but have not had your marriage blessed, look into it.   If you are thinking of getting married, think about this aspect of marriage, and be sure to incorporate all these realities into your preparation for it, and get ready to be uplifted to heaven by the graces of the Sacrament of Matrimony.

I thank you for joining me for this series on the seven Sacraments.  A lot more can be said about each one, these posts have just scratched the surface.   The Sacraments, like everything else, are great gifts, but also great mysteries.  We can never stop pondering them in their riches.   Thank God everyday for the gift of each of these seven Sacraments, and let’s ensure our spiritual lives are nourished regularly by frequenting the ones we can and should receive often (Eucharist and Penance).  May we also regularly ask the Holy Spirit to renew the graces that we have received in the Sacraments we can receive only once (Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Orders, and Matrimony).    Finally, when we do become seriously ill, or in possible danger of death, let’s seek out the Anointing of the Sick.  

Learning to love the Sacraments will only deepen your love of God; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.   They will make you thirst and desire heaven more and more  each day, and keep you from going in the other direction.  Above all, devout reception of them, alongside cooperation with the respected graces imparted, can and will make us saints.