In today's culture, with all the controversy about same-sex marriage, contraception, abortion, and other topics, it will be rather difficult for me to reign this one in to simply the sacrament itself. However, since I want to give the Holy Sacrament its due diligence without spoiling it to the culture (and potentially save these issues for a later post), I shall try to refrain. When I chose St. Joseph as my patron saint it was because of his incredible righteousness as a husband and a father in Matrimony with our Blessed Mother. And while I have not received this sacrament (and may never), through my spiritual patronage, it holds a certain place in my heart.
Where'd it come from?
While the Eucharist may be the source and summit of the Faith, and while Baptism may bring us into the fold of Christ, it is Holy Matrimony which is the elder of the Sacraments- finding its roots in the beginnings of human history. When Eve- the pinnacle of creation- is made from the rib of Adam and the two are joined to "be fruitful and multiply", humanity receives its first Sacrament, its first graces from God the Father (other than creation itself). We begin to see its complete significance at the Wedding of Cana as Christ turns water into wine- the accidents of which will later be used for the substance of His blood. The symbolism of the Wedding of Cana shall be fulfilled in the Wedding Feast of the Lamb to His Church. And that, my friends, is what Holy Matrimony is- the antitype of Christ and His Church. As we hear this in St. Paul's often misunderstood passage in Ephesians 5:22ff, Marriage expresses in an earthly way the new-life of Christ in the Kingdom.
What it does?
It unites one man and one woman in God. Bishop Fulton J. Sheen once wrote a book called Three to Get Married for just this reason- a marriage, to be a sacrament, must be integrally unitive in God, in Christ, and in His Church (although, for the record, Sheen could have titled his book Five to Get Married: for the Husband, the Wife, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, but Three also works and is probably less likely to be construed as supporting polygamy). Furthermore, it is not only unitive in God, but participative in Him. I have already mentioned how marriage is the antitype for Christ and His Church through the Wedding Feast, but the married couple also participates in another divine mystery- God's creative act. In emptying themselves completely in and for the other, the two so conceive a third- their love incarnated into being. And so the marriage is also reflective of the Holy Trinity in the Lover, the Beloved, and their Love for one another, which is in itself its own being or beings, depending on how great that Love should overflow in abundance (of course that is not to say that the depth of two peoples' love can be measured by the number of children). This Life-Giving, Trinitarian expression of Love is the sweetest of fruits in marriage, and perhaps the greatest of graces given to Humanity.
As I mentioned, I am at present a single layman of the Church. However, a few weeks ago I was able to attend my first Catholic wedding in which I knew the Bride and the Groom (I have sung for quite a few with the Folk Choir). The Love between them was (and is) palpable, and to see it on display was truly awe inspiring. And I think among the many mystical properties of a marriage- perhaps that is the most recognizable. The joy of a husband and wife, united in Christ, instills all people and the world with a greater hope for joy, for peace, and for the fullness of love. In this way, like Holy Orders, the married couple is a light for the world.
God Bless,
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