Greetings everyone.
We gather together on this Holy Day to raise our voices to our God in praise and thanksgiving. We look about us at these fine fields, the hearty stock of this village, our friends, neighbors, and families, and know we are blessed.
Yet these blessings come at a price. We all know this. We all sacrifice for the greater glory of God and for the sake of our community.
Soon, we will have a wedding. There will be a feast and much celebrating, but despite all the pleasantries – or perhaps because of them – we must keep in mind that a wedding is a solemn event. The vows of matrimony and the Church’s teachings on faith and family are not to be casually discarded. When a man and woman join, their vow is to be true to each other. They become, as scripture says, of one flesh. More than this, they become as one mind, one spirit, one being. This is the heart of married love.
Any number of things may impede the ability to enter fully into this union, and such impediments may give cause to annulments – or worse. There must be no deception, no manipulating, no plotting. There must be a full and complete commitment to the marriage bed. This means that neither spouse should harbor another as their lover nor hold another in secret nor reserve their affections for someone other than their husband or wife. To do so would invalidate the bonds of the church.
With this in mind, I pray that the Countess and Sir Sands, as well as all couples bound in love and sacrament, profess their faith to God and their love to each other under the mantle of Holy Mother Church, with full and complete devotion and dedication.
Amen