CHRIST IN THE HOME
http://www.ewtn.com/library/FAMILY/CHRISTH1.TXT
BY RAOUL PLUS, S.J.
a Translation from the French
FREDERICK PUSTET CO., INC. Publishers NEW YORK AND
CINCINNATI
Nihil Obstat:
JOHN M. A. FEARNS, S.T.D., Censor Librorum
Imprimatur:
+FRANCIS CARDINAL SPELLMAN,
Archbishop of New York
New York, June 19, 1951
MARRIAGE
INFINITY PROMISED
"ONE of the duties of husband and wife is to pardon each other
mutually for not giving infinity after practically promising it.
How much each of them expects from the other, from this union hoped
for, guessed, discovered, known and loved!
"Is it true, then, that the mystery of infinity is written upon this
little forehead, which is all mine," sighs the man with the Hindu
poet Tagore. "You are half woman and half dream."
And what a seraphim, what a dream prince and legendary hero she
believes to be marrying, she whose imagination is livelier and more
powerful in evoking imagery?
Ah, the sweetness of loving, the sweetness of being two to know The
ineffable depths of the heart and its burning love's glow, . . . To
know all that a soul holds of power to feel, To understand the eyes'
great force magnetic, fair, To sob softly--my forehead pressed
against your hair Because I feel so small before Love which passes.
But even in the very moment of the embrace, how difficult--
impossible even--to arrive at perfect unity; physical union can be
achieved, but how delicate an attainment is union of souls! As an
English novelist expresses it:
"The anguish of those who love is caused by their powerlessness to
surmount the barrier of their individuality. Even in love we cannot
escape from the eternal solitude of ourselves. We embrace without
being able to be fused into one . . . We yearn to be but one and we
are always two . . . We are frustrated as two birds would be who
sought to be united through a pane of glass."
Thus it is even when the two understand each other. In vain do they
try to transfigure poor reality, seek to keep their idol more clearly
before their vision, by closing their eyes, and by renewing marks of
affection compensate for the infirmity of nature present in their
very efforts at mutual tenderness; it still remains true that they
always desire more than they possess; of what import is it that their
substances intermingle if their consciences remain separated?
And what about those who only half understand each other or do not
understand each other at all? Not only is their intimacy no mutual
exchange, but their very cohabitation accentuates their isolation all
the more. The poet, Anna de Noailles, who was unhappy in her married
life, expressed this idea when she said, "I am alone with someone."
It is a suffering for two who do not love each other to be together;
it is a suffering to be together if they do love each other, because
they never know if they embrace all they really believe they embrace.
Berdyaev, the author of "The Destiny of Man," expresses this
suffering of love when he says, "If unreciprocated love is tragic,
reciprocated love is perhaps even more so."
How incorrect to think that there is no matter for renunciation in marriage!
The Nuptial Liturgy
ORDINARILY there is very little recollection manifested at a wedding
ceremony. It is just as if the congregation had no idea of the
sanctity of the place or the grandeur of the event.
Yet, all is holy.
The priest begins "In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of
the Holy Ghost," and prays that God may bless the two about to be
married so that all may redound to the glory of His Name.
Then follows the exchange of consent accompanied by the rite of joining hands.
"The Lord be with you," says the priest before blessing the ring. . .
And later, "Be unto them, O Lord, a tower of strength." Can anything
less than this Almighty protection suffice for the work of
sanctification in their life together?
The Gradual of the Nuptial Mass invokes the blessing of fecundity
upon the marriage. "Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine on the sides
of thy house. Thy children as olive plants about thy table."
Marriage is not a union founded on chance or pure caprice; reason
must control the glow of passion, and the union effected by marriage
must be of such a nature that death alone can break it. The Gospel of
Saint Matthew gives us Our Savior's own words on this subject. In
answer to the question, "Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife
for every cause," Christ answered very definitely, No, and quoted the
Scripture text, "They shall be two in one flesh." Then He made it
more emphatic by adding, "What therefore God hath joined together,
let no man put asunder."
At the Pater Noster of the Nuptial Mass, the priest does something he
never does in any other Mass. He interrupts the Sacrifice, permits
the Body and Blood of Christ to lie upon the altar, and turning,
calls down a new benediction of God upon the bride and the groom. He
recalls how the Most High God has watched over the sacred institution
of marriage from the beginning of the world, to keep it intact in
spite of the frailty of humanity. The rest of the prayer besides
referring to the examples of faithful wives of the Old
Testament--Rachel, Rebecca, Sarah--implores rich graces for the bride.
"O God, by whom woman is joined to man, and that fellowship which
Thou didst ordain from the beginning is endowed with a blessing which
alone was not taken away either by the punishment for the first sin
or by the sentence of the flood; look in Thy mercy upon this Thy
handmaid; True and chaste let her wed in Christ . . . Let the father
of sin work none of his evil deeds within her... Let her be true to
one wedlock and preserve inviolable fidelity; Let her fortify her
weakness by strong discipline; Let her be grave in demeanor and
honored for her modesty. Let her be well taught in heavenly love; Let
her be fruitful in offspring."
The priest continues the Mass and receives Holy Communion. The bride
and groom should also receive the Body and Blood of Christ during
this Nuptial Mass. The rubrics of the missal call for it expressly.
The ideal then is to communicate not at an earlier Mass but during
the Nuptial Mass itself, which nothing, not even the early hour of
the day, can prevent from being solemn.
Before the Last Blessing, the priest speaks once more to the newly
married couple as if he could not tire of blessing them before their
great departure:
"May the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob be
with you, and may He fulfill His blessing in you: that you may see
your children's children even to the third and fourth generation, and
afterwards may you have life everlasting, by the grace of Our Lord
Jesus Christ: who with the Father and the Holy Spirit liveth and
reigneth forever."
THE WEDDING DAY
WHAT a marvel of grandeur and of poetry is the nuptial liturgy! The
Church, full of solicitude for the two daring young souls ready to
launch out on the voyage of life, is eager to prepare them as
seriously and as solidly as possible, to put before them essential
principles, and to petition God to take this holy couple under His
especial care, and conduct it to the great eternal family after their
life of reciprocal love and confiding generosity.
Is it any wonder that such a noble and meaningful ceremony should
bring to mind the First Mass of a newly-ordained priest?
Unfortunately, the worldly trappings that often accompany the
marriage celebration detract considerably from the sacred atmosphere
of the event. Particularly true is this of the banquet which is
generally a part of the celebration.
The Church has nothing against wholesome joys, particularly family
feasts to commemorate an outstanding occasion in life; but she
certainly does not approve of the carousings for which wedding
banquets are so frequently the excuse, or the tone of certain parties
held in connection with weddings. Could anyone imagine an ordination
to the priesthood celebrated in such a fashion?
After the Nuptial Mass, the world takes over, there are the
congratulations, the general stir to get into the line of march in
order to see and be seen; there is not a minute for prayer, for
recollection, for thanksgiving. The world, even during the Mass as
well as after it, assumes control of the couple and their family.
Events following the marriage ceremony do nothing to correct these
concessions to the world. Does it not seem reasonable that when the
fundamental interests of the family are impeded by the worldly
spirit, the family should do everything in its power to escape from it?
There are those who understand this: Sodalists, the Jocists, members
of Catholic Action groups or similar organizations, even previous to
the war, wanted to break away from these pagan practices. It is not a
matter of seeing in the holy place only the Church vestibule or the
Church lobby. No, no, the church is the house of God. Let everything
there be holy and all that is done there be done holily, the founding
of the family more than anything else!
Those groups who recognize the sanctity of the marriage ceremony have
set the example of communicating at their Nuptial Mass; they have
suppressed boisterous and giddy celebrations. In the same spirit they
decided to delay their departure for their honeymoon and postpone the
distractions it entails; so beneficial is it to remain in prolonged
recollection during their first days together. They remember to make
their union of souls predominate. Therefore, together they restrain
themselves and by mutual accord embrace sacrifice.
Saint Paulinus, a renowned lawyer of Bordeaux, who renounced a
worldly life when he was at the height of success, and with his wife
retired into the city of Nola in Campania, wrote these significant lines:
Concordes animae casto sociantur amore; Virgo puer Christi, virgo puella Dei.
which mean: "Let these souls who are one heart and soul be united in
a chaste love; he, a virgin, a son of God; she, a virgin, a daughter of God."
Why not secure for these two splendid baptized souls, these two
virgin souls, whom marriage has united forever, a departure worthy of them?
<*}}}>< <http://halfthekingdom.mofuse.mobi/>Half the Kingdom!
on your Mobile <*}}}><
<*}}}>< <http://www.halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/>Half the Kingdom!
Blog <*}}}><
<*}}}>< <http://www.halfthekingdom.org/>Half the Kingdom! Main Site
<*}}}>< <*}}}>< <http://www.halfthekingdom.org/by-the-by/>Half the
Kingdom! By the by <*}}}><
Lord, may everything we do begin with Your inspiration and continue
with Your help,
so that all our prayers and works may begin in You and by You be happily ended.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
<*}}}>< <http://halfthekingdom.mofuse.mobi/>Half the Kingdom!
on your Mobile <*}}}><
<*}}}>< <http://www.halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/>Half the Kingdom!
Blog <*}}}><
<*}}}>< <http://www.halfthekingdom.org/>Half the Kingdom! Main Site
<*}}}>< <*}}}>< <http://www.halfthekingdom.org/by-the-by/>Half the
Kingdom! By the by <*}}}><
Lord, may everything we do begin with Your inspiration and continue
with Your help,
so that all our prayers and works may begin in You and by You be happily ended.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~
Please note that I do not send or open attachments sent to this list.
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
"Catholics on Fire" group.
To post to this group, send email to [email protected]
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/Catholics-on-Fire
May the blessing of Jesus and our Blessed Mother be with you
-~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
