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

145

“yoke imposed by the blessing” meant to “reunite those who are united.” Saint Gregory ofNazianzus reported that: “To the nuptials of the noble Olympiade a group of seven bishops was present.” Saint John Chrysostom considered matrimony “a venerable mystery” and advised: “Call the priests to the nuptials, and ask for their prayers and blessings so that the union of the spouses grows in mutual love.”45

The commission for the revision of the Eastern code had interpreted the term “blessing” as simplex benedictio, which does not require the liturgical rite.46 We maintain that this interpretation is not altogether correct. “The liturgical and juridical forms of the celebration of matrimony in the Eastern Churches are inseparable one from the other, while in the discipline of the Latin Church they have a different function and efficacy. The liturgical rite is required only for the liceity; the juridical form, on the other hand, is necessary for the matrimony’s validity.”47

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) explains the concept of the sacramental minister of matrimony in the Latin and Eastern Churches thus:

“In the Latin church, it is ordinarily understood that the spouses, as ministers of Christ’s grace, mutually confer upon each other the sacrament of matrimony by expressing their consent before the Church. In the Eastern [Churches] the minister of this sacrament (which is called “crowning”) is the priest who, after receiving the mutual consent of the spouses, successively crowns the bridegroom and the bride as a sign of the marriage covenant.” “The various liturgies abound in prayers and blessing on the new couple, especially the bride. In the epiclesis of this sacrament the spouses receive the Holy Spirit as the seal of their covenant, the ever-available source of their love and the strength to renew their fidelity.”48

In the Eastern thought, as already said, it is the priest who celebrates the sacrament of matrimony, while the Latin approach has the spouses as celebrants before a qualified witness49 (1983 Code, c. 1108, § 1; c. 1112, § 1). But even in the Church of Rome, as the Catechism of the Catholic Church emphasizes:

“The priest (or deacon) who assists at the celebration of a marriage receives the consent of the spouses in the name of the Church and gives the blessing of the Church. The presence of the Church’s minister, along with at least two witnesses, visibly expresses the fact that marriage is an ecclesial reality.”50

45 PG 29: 160; PG 37: 316; PG 54: 443.

46 AAS 54 (1953) 313.

47 Prader, II matrimonio, 228.

48 See Catechismus Catholicae Ecclesiae Roma, 1997, 1623-1624; see also A. Raes, Le marriage: sa celebration et sa spiritualité dans les Eglises d'Orient, Chevetogne 1958; K. Stevenson, Nuptial Blessing: A Study of Christian Marriage Rites, London 1982; S. Parenti, The Christian Rite of Marriage in the East, in A. Chupungo (ed.) Sacraments and Sacramentals, Collegeville (MN) 2000, 255-274.

49 1983 Code, c. 1108 § 1 and c. 1112 § 1.

50 See Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1630.