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Good evening, my dear friends and readers! We are in the month of November and I am proud to announce a new issue of your favourite publication, dealing with, as usual, a new interesting topic that I hope to arouse your interest - the Holy Sacrament of Wedding. Read it and give your feedback below - what you like, what you dislike and what should be improved, in your opinion. Enjoy your reading and enjoy your reading! The next issue will be released after mid-December. Have a nice evening and we keep in touch!

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Published by marius.constantin.popa, 2018-11-22 10:47:38

Translations Magazine - November 2018

Good evening, my dear friends and readers! We are in the month of November and I am proud to announce a new issue of your favourite publication, dealing with, as usual, a new interesting topic that I hope to arouse your interest - the Holy Sacrament of Wedding. Read it and give your feedback below - what you like, what you dislike and what should be improved, in your opinion. Enjoy your reading and enjoy your reading! The next issue will be released after mid-December. Have a nice evening and we keep in touch!

Keywords: translations,november,holy sacrament,wedding

Editor and translator: Marius-Constantin Popa

TRANSLATIONS

VOLUME3*ISSUERELEASEDINNOVEMBER2018

TheHoly
Sacramentof

Wedding



RELIGION

THE WEDDING IS NOT A PLAY, BUT A
HOLY SACRAMENT

There are certain moments during the lifetime of every person that are very im-
portant and decisive for his or her future. The day on which he or she is given Bap -
tism, starts school, comes of age or goes to university are all unique moments, de-
cisive steps taken for personal fulfilment. However, the greatest ordeal of every
person, the most important decision during the lifetime of everyone is the one
through which we choose our life partner. Although many readers might not agree
with the statements mentioned above, receiving the Holy Sacrament of Wedding is
regarded as the crucial moment during the lifetime of everyone. This statement is
demonstrated by the signification of the moment: the Wedding consecrates the de-
cision made by one man and one woman to spend the rest of their lives together,
to fulfil their dreams together, to start a family, bearing children and, last but not
least, to be redeemed together.

Themomentofmarriagecountsamongtheemotionalonesduringthelifetimeof
everyyoungperson.Onlythebirthofachildmightrepresentasimilarmiracleor
evenagreateroneandraisesfeelingsasshatteringastheoneshadwheneveraper-
sonwhowasstrangebeforebecomesthelong-awaitedhalf.Itisamiracle,indeed,that
Godleftonearthinordereverybodytoenjoyit.Theunionbetweenamanandawoman
tolivetogetherfortherestoftheirlivesissomethingthatsometimeswedonotunder-
stand,butsomethingweapproveandweallenjoy.

Onesuchuniqueandmeaningfulmomentastheoneonthedaysomebodyreceives
theblessingofGodtounitewithhisorherbelovedpersonandvowseternalloveand
communionbeforetheHolyAltarisaccompaniedbyaverylargenumberofcustoms.
Popularwisdom capturedtheuniquenessofthemomentfrom thelifetimeofaperson
andthereforegaverisetoallkindsofcustoms,someofthem determiningcertainnon-ca-
nonicalpracticesthatprejudicetheimportance,symbolism andsacrednessofthemo-
mentwhenthegreatSacrament,astheHolyApostlePaulcallstheunionbetweenone
manandonewoman,isreceived.

The wedding must be performed on Sundays, after the Holy Liturgy

ThesimplefactthatmostweddingstakeplaceonSaturdays,andthepartythatfollowsa
weddinglastsuntilSundayinthemorning,whenChristianspreparethemselvesforthe
HolyLiturgy,isareprehensiblepractice.CountingamongthesevenHolySacraments,

NOVEMBER2018|TRANSLATIONS 3

RELIGION

worksoftheHolySpiritwithintheChurch,throughwhichthelifeofapersonisblessed,
theWeddingwasofficiatedoverthefirstChristiancenturiesincloserelationtotheHoly
Liturgy.Accompaniedbytheirgodfathers,familyandacquaintances,thebridalcoupleat-
tendedtheHolyLiturgyonSundayinthemorning,receivedtheEucharist,thenreceived
theblessingofGodthroughtheagencyofthepriestwithintheSacramentofWedding.It
wasaconfessionoffaiththeChristfrom WhosebodyandbloodtheyreceivedtheEuchar-
istwillalwaysdwellintheirhouse,atruthalsoconfessedduringtheWeddingservice,
whenthepriest,thebridalcoupleandthegodfatherringthetableonwhichtheHolyGos-
pelisplaced,asapromisetheChristwillalwaysstayamongthem.

Nowadays,forpracticalreasons,namelybecausemostweddingguestsgotowork
onMondayinthemorning,theweddingpartyisusuallyheldonSaturdayintheevening,
inorderthetiredgueststobeabletorestonSunday,whentheyshouldgivepraiseto
Christ.Certainly,workorotherissuesareofagreaterimportancethanprayer,serving
God,whoevergivesuseverythingwehavegot.

Pagan reminiscences

Besidesthiswrong-headedpractice,theweddingisaccompaniedbyaseriesofcustoms
thataremoreorlessdangerousforhumansouls.Forexample,itisthecustom insome

Beautiful bride

areasofRomaniaforthebridetobreakaring-shapedloafandthrowitinfourdirections
beforeleavingthehouse.Itisareminiscencefrom pagantraditionthatdoesnotaffectthe
greatnessofthemomenttoomuchbecauseittakesplaceoutsidetheworshipplace.How-
ever,itdoesnotmakethepracticeacanonicalcustom.
4 TRANSLATIONS|NOVEMBER2018

RELIGION

NOVEMBER2018|TRANSLATIONS 5

RELIGION

6 TRANSLATIONS|NOVEMBER2018

RELIGION
‘The glass of salvation’ contains consecrated wine

Themostdangerouspractices,customsorobservancesrelatedtotheweddingarethe
onesduringtheserviceoftheHolySacramentofficiatedbythepriest,wheneverthe
bridalcoupleishonouredasiftheyweresomeemperorsandbecomeafamilyblessedby

Wedding table in church

God.Therefore,manyliturgicalservicesexpresstheloveofthebridalcoupleforeach
otherandtheimportanceofthemoment.Manytimes,however,wehavetowitnesstheat-
ricalmomentsthatprejudicetheholinessofthemomentandliturgicalsymbolism.Thus,
itisthecustom withinsomeparishesforthepriestwhoofficiatestheserviceofWedding,
whenhemustgiveconsecratedwinetothebridalcoupleinorderthem todrinkfrom the
sameglass,asatokenoftheircommunionandfaithinChrist,amomentthatrecallstime
duringtheHolyLiturgywhentheyreceivedtheEucharist,tocheatthepooryoungcouple,
namelyhedoesnotallow them todrinkforthefirsttime,buthemovesawaytheglass
whenevertheyshouldtastethewine.Obviously,thisthoughtlessgesture,whichcom-
pletelyharmstheatmospherecreatedbytheprayersreadbeforeandisnotinaccordance
withtheliturgicalcustom andsymbolism,prejudicesthesacrednessofthemomentand
createsatheatricalatmosphere.

NOVEMBER2018|TRANSLATIONS 7

RELIGION

Sometimes,theritualisticdancearoundthetableplacedin themiddleofthe
churchchangesintoadancewithhops,accompaniedbycandiesthrownintheairand
childrenwhocollectthesweetsfallenonthecarpet.Amongthecustomsthatarenotin
accordancewiththeholyserviceandtheattitudethatisrecommendedwheneverweare
inthehouseofGod,therearealsoothers,suchasthebucketsofwaterthatarefoundat
theentranceintothechurch,wherethegodfathersorthebridalcouplehavetoinsert
moneyandthenoverturnthem,thecustom forsomeprieststotiethehandsofthetwo
youngpeoplewithawhitehandkerchiefduringthethirdprayeroreventhecustom for
them topourhoneyintotheglassofblessing,insteadofwine,inorderthelifeofthe
bridalcouple‘tobesweeter’,thatshouldobviouslynotexist.

The custom of the Wedding

ForagenuineChristian,allthesepracticesaresimpleinventionsthataffecttheholy
momentwhenthebridalcouplereceivethegraceofWeddingthroughwhichtheyare

Young married couple

boundtogetherforever,turningitintoatastelesstheatricalscene.Thebestmethodof
showingthatthesetraditionsarewrongistheoneofreadingtheregulation ofthe
Weddingservicefrom theliturgicalbooksandthepiecesofadvicefoundthere.Manyof
thecustomsthatwewitnessfrequently,manyofthem beingnotmentionedabove,arenot
foundintheregulationexistinginthesebooks.
REFERENCES
Theoriginalarticlewaspublishedin‘Lumina’newspaperonFriday,27thApril2007.
8 TRANSLATIONS|NOVEMBER2018




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