NadirGP wrote:Sacraments - Mysteries
The other day, my wife and I were discussing sacraments. I said: I wonder how the Orthodox Church defines the sacraments. Then concerning matrimony, who is the minister that makes the sacrament of matrimony a sacrament, the priest or the spouses themselves…?
Finally, in the Orthodox Church is it a common practice to baptise infants? In the positive, how is it performed?
Very good questions!
I will only answer the first question (as was taught during my catechumen classes):
In Roman Catholicism, the couple confects the sacrament of Matrimony by pronouncing their vows and by consummating their union. In the Holy Mystery of Crowning, contrary to what the Roman Catholic Church teaches, it is God who unites the bride and groom in this Holy Mystery. As Christ has stated, "What God has united, let no man put asunder."
In the first three centuries of the Holy Apostolic and Catholic Church, when Rome was part of Holy Orthodoxy, the couple were united in Holy Matrimony with the blessing of the bishop by the reception of the Holy Eucharist, so indeed, Christ is the minister and the bestower of all blessings. With the rise of St. Constantine, the Church was legally empowered to wed couples. With a rise in mixed marriages, the Orthodox Church could no longer offer Holy Communion to a couple who were not both Orthodox Christians, so they were offered "the cup of blessing," which is blessed wine, but not the Holy Eucharist. However, whenever a couple are Orthodox Christians, then the Priest may give them the Holy Eucharist instead of the "cup of blessing."
Even though the Roman Catholic Church has the nuptial Mass where the couple is given the Holy Eucharist, that church teaches (cf. The Catechism of the Catholic Church) that it is the couple who confects Matrimony, while the Priest legally says, "I now pronounce you man and wife."
At the beginning of the Christian Era, there were no matrimonial vows and in the Orthodox Church, there are still no matrimonial vows. The vows are a Western invention, as the Roman Catholic Church saw the sacrament of Matrimony as a legal contract, "unto death do us part." In Holy Orthodoxy, the bride and groom are united forever. Our love is stronger than death, and we will recognize our spouse in heaven. Indeed, there is the teaching that the Mystery of Holy Crowning is martyrdom and a school of sanctity. The couple goes to heaven together in love or are damned together in hatred.
Thus, divorce is highly frowned upon, and a couple either considering a divorce and going through a divorce is usually forbidden from partaking in the Holy Eucharist. I say usually, because if a husband tries to kill his wife, and his wife is an innocent party, then she will not be punished or penanced, especially if this plan to kill her was conceived before their "marriage." This actually happened in Texas, where a medical doctor planned to kill his spouse after their wedding to inherit her property. The murder did not work as planned; his wife lived; and she was able to get a legal divorce and an ecclesiastical ruling that enabled her to marry someone else, while her previous husband was sentenced to prison for attempted murder.