Folia Canonica 11. (2008)
STUDIES - George Gallardo-Dimitri Salachas: The "ritus sacer" of the Sacrament of Marriage in the Byzantine Churches
THE “RITUS SACER” IN THE BYZANTINE CHURCHES 147 God and humanity and to the union of love between Christ and the Church. In the matrimonial rite of the Byzantine Church the priest, among other invocations, asks that: “The Father blesses these spouses, the Son crowns them, and the Holy Spirit gives both his consent and his testimony.”56 The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains the relationship between the sacrament of matrimony and that of the Eucharist thus: “In the Latin [Church] the celebration of marriage between two Catholic faithful normally takes place during holy Mass, because of the connection of all the sacraments with the paschal mystery of Christ. In the Eucharist the memorial of the new covenant is realized, the new covenant in which Christ has united himself for ever to the Church, his beloved bride for whom he gave himself up. It is therefore fitting that the spouses should seal their consent to give themselves to each other through the offering of their own lives by uniting it to the offering of Christ for his Church made present in the Eucharistic sacrifice, and by receiving the Eucharist so that, communicating in the same body and the same blood of Christ, they may form but “one body” in Christ.”57 Liturgical books attest to the fact that, in ancient times, even in the Eastern Churches, the sacrament of matrimony was celebrated during the Divine Liturgy. Today, unfortunately, these two sacraments are celebrated separately, even though some Churches allow their simultaneous celebration. The Byzantine Celebration of Marriage A) The Service of the Betrothal The celebration of marriage according to the Byzantine tradition (and the other Eastern Churches in general) delineates two parts: the first, properly called the service of the betrothal (akolouthia tou arrabonos) which has the blessing and the exchange of rings as its central focus. It is meant to be the nuptial pact between the two partners, the contractual commitment of a man and a woman who agree and freely consent to live a common life together, and is considered sacred all the time. In fact, the rite of the betrothal is called in Greek mnêstra, that is, matrimonial pact, marriage contract, or arrabón, that is, pledge, covenant, engagement, ring, or even mnêsteia, that is, request for matrimony. The second part called the service of the crowning (akolouthia tou stephanomatos) serves to reconfirm, ratify, “crown” the first rite, performed through the ministry of the priest, by virtue of the Holy Spirit. Today, and for more than one thousand years, the betrothal and the crowning of marriage are generally but not necessarily celebrated together as one continuous ceremony. The engage56 P. Trembelas, Mikron Euchologion, Athens 1950, 55; also D. GUILLAUME, Grand Euchologe et Arkhieratikon, Parma 1992. 57 See Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1621.
