Folia Canonica 8. (2005)
STUDIES - Grigorios D. Papathomas: An Open Ecclesial Communitarism: Dispar-Mixed Marriages and Adult Converions
154 GRIGORIOS D. PAPATHOMAS I. Ecclesiastical (Canonical) marriage II. Dispar (Interreligious) marriage III. Mixed (Interchristian) marriage IV. Civil (according to state law) marriage These four types, theologically speaking, as we saw and will see below, are valid marriages for the Church. The first three are celebrated, even if the ritual differs, inside the Church, whereas the fourth one is contracted outside it. And “outside” refers exactly to a marriage contracted in the City Hall, or in a house of prayer of another non Orthodox Christian Community, or finally in a house of prayer of another non Christian Religious Community. I. Ecclesiastical (Canonical) Marriage Almost throughout the first millennium, marriage is a communional event contracted as part of the one and only Church Mystery. Since it used to be celebrated during the Holy Liturgy, and never apart from it - given that it concerns member-believers of the ecclesial body - there was a type of benediction prior to the holy communion (Tertullian-Ignatius of Antioch), which blessed the joint decision of common life that started with the joint communion and the common cup. We all know that the Holy Liturgy of St. Basil the Great of Caesarea (4th century) and of St. John Chrysostom (5th century) is divided into two parts: the Liturgy of Catechumens (Liturgy of the Word) and the Liturgy of Believers (Liturgy of Eucharist), which starts with the following exclamation: “The doors, the doors...”. In the case of a couple where one member is a baptised believer and the other is a non-baptised catechumen, such a form of marriage blessing could not practically be a part of the Liturgy of Believers, since the non-baptised catechumen had to withdraw at this moment and was not allowed to stay. That is why the Church was forced to move the moment of the marriage blessing and make it a part of the Liturgy of Catechumens, because otherwise the couple would have had to wait for up to three years, the duration of the Catechesis before baptism. That special benediction and marriage blessing was placed before the apostolic and evangelical reading, and that practice has actually survived at this same moment during the marriage ceremony up to date, for both types of marriage (both in the Holy Liturgy and in the marriage ceremony). Thus, here is the first historical evidence regarding to the practice of marriage: in addition to the marriage between two baptised believers, the Church celebrated a marriage between a baptised believer and a non-baptised catechumen, even during the Holy Liturgy! This occurred precisely because the person was a catechumen, but was not baptised. What happened when a non-baptised
