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 157 Conclusions The Christian East emphasizes the sacramental mystery in marriage, while the Latin Church seems to stress the contractual nature. In the East, the minister of the sacrament of matrimony is the priest (bishop or presbyter) with the spouses; in the West, the spouses themselves are the ministers, while the priest fulfills the role of a qualified witness. The priestly/sacerdotal blessing constitutes the essential act in the formation of the matrimonial bond in the East, and the role of the priest is strictly sacramental. The priest does not simply fulfill a ritual gesture when he blesses the spouses, but by invoking the Holy Spirit, he is truly the minister of the mystery of God that is brought about in matrimony. The presence of the Church’s ordained minister visibly expresses the fact that marriage is an ecclesial reality and introduces one into an ecclesial order. If canonically the role of the Church’s minister is to be a qualified witness, theologically it is much more. If the couple is seen as the ministers of the sacrament of marriage from one perspective, from another the priest imparting the nuptial blessing (ritus sacer) may be seen as the minister of the sacrament of marriage. With these conditions, it is understandable why a deacon or a Christian layperson in the East cannot take the place of the priest, as is possible under present Latin discipline. Valid matrimony between baptized persons, celebrated by the priest with a sacred rite, is a true sacramental mystery and, as such, is considered fully complete. To conclude, we can affirm that the rites and symbols of matrimony in the Byzantine Church, as well as the other Eastern traditions, illustrate in a clear theological way how great is this mystêrion of matrimony, in as much as the nuptial union of a Christian man and a Christian woman is compared to the mystêrion of the nuptial union between Christ and the Church. The Second Vatican Council has stated that Eastern theology and Western theology are complementary and that it is hardly surprising if sometimes one tradition has come nearer to a fuller appreciation of some aspects of a mystery of revelation that the other, or has expressed them better.94 94 Unitatis redintegratio, 17; see also A. ScoLA, The Nuptial Mystery, Grand Rapids (Mi) 2005; M. OUELLET, Divine Likeness, Grand Rapids Mi) 2006.
