“God creates mankind as male and female, instructing them to “be fruitful and multiply” (Gn 1:28). Christ expands on this basic truth of Scripture and reveals marriage to be one of the holy mysteries. Marriage, especially for the faithful, is raised above a legal contract between a husband and a wife. Redemption, salvation, forgiveness, and union with Christ become integral to the mission of husbands and wives. Living in the Church and in the world, they are called to represent the divine Bridegroom and His Bride to the fullest extent possible.” (Dynamis 4/27/2020)
“…Church implicitly integrates marriage in the eternal Mystery, where the boundaries between heaven and earth are broken and where human decision and action acquire an eternal dimension.” (Fr. John Meyendorff)
“Peter's image of marriage is one of sacramental union, not merely of legal contract. Contrary to the inheritance customs of the time, husband and wife are heirs together of the grace of life (v. 7). Failure to live with understanding with one's spouse even affects one's relationship with God (see Eph 5:22–33).” (Orthodox Study Bible, 1 Peter 3:7)
“This promise is about dying to self and rising to our authentic selves; of loving God first in order to genuinely love others. If there is anyone on earth who can testify to the necessity and fruitfulness of continually dying to self and rising to the other, it is a couple who is sacramentally and happily married.” (Fr. Thomas Loya)
“Many of the Hebrews ignored or distorted what God required of them as they abused the freedom they should have used to prepare for the coming of the Messiah, Who would fulfill God’s promises to them and extend His blessings to the entire world. The consequences of their choice were profound…The same grave warning applies to us when we become so spiritually blind that we choose to make our work, possessions, family life, or other responsibilities excuses from accepting the invitation to enter into the joy of the Kingdom. We all have the ability to offer the good things of this life to God for blessing and fulfillment. They are all part of His creation and nothing but our own sin keeps us from doing so. Our jobs provide opportunities to serve Christ in our neighbors, while our possessions give us opportunities for generosity. Opportunities for overcoming self-centeredness and growing in faithfulness, humility, patience, forgiveness, and love abound in marriage and family life. These perfectly normal dimensions of living in the world do not have to separate us from God in any way, but instead provide us with more to offer to Him as points of entrance into the joy of the heavenly banquet as both a present reality and a future hope. The problem is not with any of God’s blessings, but with our distorted relationship with them according to our passions.” (Fr. Philip LeMasters)
“…marriage is an icon of the mystery between Christ and the Church…Christ’s teaching had little to do with keeping a set of marriage rules. Rather, we were meant to learn the purpose of the divine mystery of marriage.” (Dynamis, Father Barnabas Powell)
“The union of man and woman as husband and wife is sanctified and blessed with the gift of the Holy Spirit creating a new entity - "the Church in the home."...With love and harmony in the house, married couples become mini-Churches. It is a two-way street however, if the two are to become one person.” (Father Stanley Harakas, Fr. Joseph Irvin)
“It is of great significance if there is a person who truly prays in a family. Prayer attracts God’s Grace and all the members of the family feel it, even those whose hearts have grown cold. Pray always…God wants married people to be of one mind. By disobeying God’s commandment they create an atmosphere of hades in their homes.” (Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica)
“If the glue is good, two pieces of wood glued together will cleave so fast to each other that they can be more easily broken in any other place than where they were joined. God glues the husband to the wife with His own blood...every marriage needs the miracle of God’s presence. It needs to invite him in so that He can introduce His reconciling grace into the material of two lives. That grace is not a buttress thrown up from the outside to hold up the walls of marriage when they are unable to stand by themselves. It is the “glue” which provides the conditions of personal responsibility, patience and understanding by which two persons adhere to each other in willing faithfulness…The practice of staying faithful to our partner is a profoundly spiritual one. The practice consists in remembering every day to treat the other as what we knew him or her to be right from the start, an unfathomable gift of love.” (Francis de Sales, G.R. Slater, Rev. Christopher H. Martin)
"Knowledge can last, principles can last, habits can last; but feelings come and go... But, of course, ceasing to be in love need not mean ceasing to love. Love in this second sense love as distinct from being in love is not merely a feeling. It is a deep unity, maintained by the will and deliberately strengthened by habit; reinforced by (in Christian marriage) the grace which both partners ask, and receive, from God... Being in love first moved them to promise fidelity: this quieter love enables them to keep the promise. It is on this love that the engine of marriage is run: being in love was the explosion that started it." (C. S. Lewis)
“None of us is capable of loving our spouse with the perfect love of our Bridegroom. However, by God’s grace and faithfully looking to Jesus as the model spouse, we can intentionally enter into the process of holy, healthy self care through prayer, solitude, worship, learning, healthful eating, physical activity, appropriate rest and leisure, fellowship with others, and attending to any unhealthy habits or addictions we may have. Thus, we will become healthy, holy persons, who, by God’s grace and our cooperation, grow to love our spouses from a place of fullness.” (Presvytera Kerry Pappas, LMFT)
“There is something divine in true marriage. It is like a triangle: it takes three to get married—a man, a woman and God…It takes three to make love, not two: you, your spouse, and God. Without God people only succeed in bringing out the worst in one another. Lovers who have nothing else to do but love each other soon find there is nothing else. Without a central loyalty life is unfinished.” (G.R. Slater, Fulton J. Sheen)
“This love [eros] is deeply implanted within our inmost being. Unnoticed by us, it attracts the bodies of men and women to each other, because in the beginning woman came forth from man, and from man and woman other men and women proceed. Can you see now how close this union is, and how God providentially created it from a single nature?” (St. John Chrysostom)
“The presence of Christ gives a grace to marriage. By that I mean a plus, a blessing and a power beyond the ordinary. It is significant that the marriage of man and woman is the favorite image which the Bible uses for God’s relationship to His people.” (G.R. Slater)
“In marriage, then, we are transfigured. Loneliness and egocentricity are overcome and personality is completed and perfected.” (Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev)
#PresvyteraKerryPappasLMFT #GRSlater #FultonJSheen #StJohnChrysostom #MetropolitanHilarionAlfeyev #Dynamis #FatherBarnabasPowelll #FatherStanleyHarakas #FrJosephIrvin #ElderThaddeusofVitovnica #FrancisdeSales #RevChristopherHMartin #CSLewis #FrJohnMeyendorff #OrthodoxStudyBible #FrThomasLoya #FrPhilipLeMasters