Wedding Homily for Mercurius and Katherine Feb. 20, 2022 Fr. Andrew
Glory to Jesus Christ!
Mercurius and Katherine as you are called in the Church, what a blessing it is to join you in the holy sacrament of marriage, uniting you into this new life, this new reality where you two are become one. One in each other, and in Christ. Christ Himself explains, (Mark 10:6-9) “From the beginning of the creation, God made them male and female. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh; so they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together let not man separate.” And He prayed for all of us (John 17: 21) “… that they may be one as We are one: I in them and You in Me;” We are gathered here together today, privileged to witness this great mystical reality that has been granted to man and women as a path to our salvation, from the very dawn of creation. This path is meant to lead you to the ultimate purpose of human creatures, the path to union with God. There are now three of you bound together through this sacrament of crowning. Mercurius, Katherine, and Jesus Christ. May your marriage always be stable within the love and community of Christ and His Church.
From the Genesis account of the first creation of man, after God had finished making the light and darkness, the sun and moon, the plants and the animals, and found them all “good,” God makes man and we then hear the first “no good…It is not good for man to be alone.” Then God makes woman, and together, male and female we are created in the image of God, and we get the first “Very Good.” So this union of husband and wife has a very long history. We also hear of Christ’s first recorded miracle, making wine at the wedding of Cana, so Christ is happy to see us celebrate, even properly providing the wine!
Katherine, through the grace of God, He has brought you this man Mercurius. He has set him aside for you to be your precious husband. He has blessed you with wisdom and insight, to be able to see the true man of God within him. It is part of your gift to him to call forth this man and to continue to see this wonderful son of God, even at times when he isn’t doing the best job of showing up, of demonstrating his God given Christ like nature! Unfortunately, we males do sometimes act in ways that don’t demonstrate well our calling in Christ. This can also happen with the females of the species. There will be problems when these two realities don’t match up. Katherine, you have heard today that you are to submit to your husband as to Christ. This advice obviously does not hold if your husband is asking of you something contrary to Christ’s teachings in love. But as you continue to respect and pray for Mercurius, you will see him grow ever more into that true man of God whom you have joined yourself to this day!
Mercurius, God has blessed you with your wonderful wife Katherine, whom He has chosen for you even before you were born. He has given you the sterner command. You are to love her “as Christ has loved the Church and gave Himself for her.” What a high calling. How did Christ love the Church? He voluntarily gave His life for her, even as He was being crucified for her He said “Father, Forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” You see now why you are given the martyr’s crowns? You are called to lay down your life, to die to your selfishness, your resentments, your woundings. To be vulnerable and forgiving as you journey through all God has prepared for you and your precious wife.
Of course, you can’t do this on your own! None of this is possible without the grace of God. Today you have been joined in the ancient mystery, the sacrament of marriage. You have full access to all the power and love of God! Through a life of constant calling upon God, and constant forgiveness of each other, your marriage will manifest Christ’s love, and that love will spill out and bring peace and healing to those whom God brings into your circle of life. One of the gifts of marriage is that we will encounter much that we need to forgive, and much that we need to be forgiven for. You are called to be both each others comfort and grinding stone. Some dear friends of our who were married for more than 60 years, told us that their best advice to maintain a close and loving marriage was to never allow yourself to go to bed angry. This will lead to some rather late nights if you choose to put it into practice, but will force you to forgive, even if just to get a decent night’s sleep! Today you have invited God to partner with you, joining with you in all that He has prepared for you. May you grow ever more completely into communion with each other and with Christ. He will faithfully be with you always, ever awaiting you to call on Him in times of trouble, and will be with you as He multiplies your times of joy.
You have many witnesses here with you today who are cheering you on. You have good godly sponsors standing firmly with you. They carried your candles in the wedding dance around the table signifying they are here to help you see the light when you need good godly council, prayer, and companionship. You have begun well by making it your first job to find a home parish. May God grant that you find much support and godly guidance here at St. Aidans! Our Orthodox pioneering ancestors made it their first job on arriving in this new country, to gather together and build a church, often even before they had built their own homes. What wonderful examples for us to follow! Be careful whom you seek to get council from, for the Church’s understanding of many things is often completely paradoxical to the world’s view. But do seek godly council often, as godly council will greatly help you to keep things in a proper perspective.
The crowd supporting you is much bigger than those with you here today. In addition to the support of your family and godparents, absent in body but present in spirit, God has sent His angels, the heavenly host and the saints gone before us to gather here today with. Seek the prayers and support of your patron saints and other dear saintly friends you will get to know on your journey, both here on earth and those departed. For there are no dead in Christ!
Mercurius, and Katherine, may you be blessed, may your union be a true example of Christian love and service, and may all that God has prepared for you be abundantly fulfilled.
Glory to Jesus Christ!