Meaning Of Sacrament Of Marriage In Catholic Religion Religion Essay

Adriana Mihaela Macsut, Phd Candidate, The Doctor Degree School of Philosophy, The Department of Practical Philosophy and History of Philosophy, University of Bucharest

According to statistics published in Bucharest in July 2010, every two marriages done at civil office ended in a divorce. At approximately 6000 marriages, 3000 families divorced. Under these circumstances a study on the sacrament of marriage seen as a mystery by which a man and a woman form a communion of life emphasizing that the author of marriage is not man but God, becomes an important requirement.

The marriage is defined in the canonic law where is shown that it is a communion for life between a man and woman, well founded for the good of the spouses and the procreation of children.

It is imposed to be mentioned that in the faith of the Catholic Church it is necessary the mutual consent of the bridegroom and bride, seen as an indispensable element of recognizing the marriage.

If one spouse is not Catholic special provisions are followed for matrimonial union to be valid.

Christian marriage has the goal to persuade spouses to be a sign of the communion between Christ and the Church and represents an icon of the love of God.

Keywords: marriage and divorce statistics, sacramental marriage, communion between man and woman, marriage to non-Catholics, marriage as an icon of God’s love.

The seven sacraments of the Catholic Church in accordance with the Catechism of Catholic Church, a compendium:

– The Baptize- Baptisium,

– The Confirmation – confirmation,

– The Eucharist – eucharistia,

– The Penitence – paenitenta,

– The Anointing Of The Sick – unction infirmorom,

– The Priestwood – ordu,

– The Marriage – matrimonium. [1] 

According to statistics published in Bucharest in July of 2010, every two marriages ended in a divorce. To approximately 6,000 marriages correspond about 3,000 divorces, with an average of 3.4 marriages and 1.7 divorces per thousand inhabitants. Under these circumstances it becomes imperative a study on the sacrament of marriage as a sacrament by which a man and a woman form a community for life emphasizing that the author of marriage is not man but God.. [2] 

So in these given conditions become important a study about the sacrament of the marriage, seen as a mystery of ha man and a woman forms a communion of life, pointing

the author of marriage is God, not the man.

Jesus answered, “Don’t you know that in the beginning the Creator made a man and a woman? That’s why a man leaves his father and mother and gets married. He becomes like one person with his wife. 6 Then they are no longer two people, but one. And no one should separate a couple that God has joined together. (Mathew. 19. 5-6).

The marriage is defined in the catholic law where it is shown that it represents a communion for life between man and woman who is done for the good of the spouses and the procreation of children.

The pledge of marriage through which a man and woman form a communion for life, arranged of its on nature to the good of the spouses and also to the birth and education of the children, was arisen by The Lord Christos, through the baptized, to the dignity of sacrament.. [3] 

It is imposed the definition according to which: “The Church considers, that the expressing of the mutual consent of the spouses is the indispensable element through which to conclude the Marriage” [4] . Matrimonial consent requires the expression of free will of man and woman. If the force or threat intervenes, the marriage would not be viable. Thence the marriage has to be a free and conscious human act.

The matrimonial consent is the free will, expressed by a man and a woman to give themselves to each other reciprocal and definitely, with the scope to live a trusty and fruitful love. Because the consent determines a marriage, it is indispensable and irreplaceable. To do a viable marriage, the consent must have as an object the true marriage and to be a conscious and free will human act, and not determined by violence or constraint. [5] 

Get Help With Your Essay

If you need assistance with writing your essay, our professional essay writing service is here to help!
Find out more about our Essay Writing Service

If one of the spouses is not-catholic, there are especial foresights to follow so that matrimonial union would to be viable. Such marriages are named mixed. For a marriage done between a catholic and a no-catholic it needs the permission of the ecclesiastical authority” [6] . In the case of marriages between a catholic and a non-baptized person requires a dispensation. [7] It should be mentioned that the catholic spouse must keep the faith and the children must be baptized and educated in the catholic faith. [8] 

The canonic law also says that a viable marriage (recognized by the Catholic Church) is a relation sealed by God and its nature is eternal and exclusive.

From a valid marriage arises a relationship between the spouses, marriage that by its nature is eternal and exclusive. Moreover, in the Christian marriage, the spouses are strengthened and in some way established by a special sacrament for the duties and dignity of their state.

The Christian marriage has as scope to determine the spouses to be a sigh of a relation between Christos and Church. The Holy Bible begins with the story of creation of man and woman after the resemblance of God. (Genesis 1.26-27) and ends with the vision of “the wedding of the lamb” (Apocalypse 19.79). The whole Holy Scripture, from the beginning to the end, represents the marriage, seen in mystery approach and in this meaning it is talked of: / Christian marriage has the aim to persuade husbands to be a sign of the connection between Christ and the Church. . The Holy Bible begins with the story of the creation of man and woman after the resemblance of God. (Genesis 1.26-27) and ends with the vision of “the wedding of the lamb” (Apocalypse 19.79). All Scripture, from beginning to end, shows marriage in its secret acceptance and this speaks of:

– the foundation of the sacrament of marriage in the sense given by God,

– its origin and its purpose,

– its various realizations throughout the history of salvation,

– Its difficulties arising from and its renewal “into Lord” (1Corinthians 7, 39), into the new pledge between Christ and Church.

The marriage as sacrament is founded on some texts of The Old Testimony (Genesis 2, 24) and New Testimony (Ephesians 5, 25-33). On the base of the Gospel of Luke (16, 18), the catholic and orthodox churches considers marriage indissoluble. The marriage represents the sacrament through which man and a woman are united in an indissoluble way “as Jesus Christos is united with the Church, His Bride” [9] .

So the marriage is a sacrament and the spouses must endeavor “from all their forces to make of their matrimony (…) a living image of that fecund union between Christos and Church, the mystery of the most accomplished love” [10] .

The marriage unites the two spouses in a profound way to make them able to generate a new life, pursuant of the law of love, written in the inner being. Through its fundamental aspects, the matrimonial act becomes an act of mutual love between the spouses.

Through its intimate structure, the matrimonial act, when it unites the spouses in a most profound way, makes them able to generate new lives, after the unwritten laws into the very being of man and woman. Maintaining these two essential aspects, union and procreation, the matrimonial act preserves in an integral way the sense of real love and ordering to the high vocation of fatherhood. [11] 

The marriage between man and woman represents an icon of the love of God. [12] The love

between man and woman is not a fleeting or bureaucratic feeling but rather “a privileged

path through which God chose to reveal himself to man.” [13] 

Marriage based on exclusive and definitive love becomes the icon of the relationship between God and His people, and vice versa: how God’s way of loving becomes the measure of human love. [14]