Divine Liturgy and the Sacraments of the Church
The previous column left us on a cliff hanger, in a manner of speaking, regarding the conditions in which marriage is absolutely indissoluble from within.
These three conditions are worthy of repeating: 1.) That both husband and wife were validly baptized before marriage. 2.) There has been a valid marriage, and more specifically a valid marriage contract in which husband and wife knew they were entering a life-long union, which was open to the generation of children. They knew what they were doing and they both freely chose to enter this kind of marriage. 3.) If two people marry, they know what they are doing; they intend to marry and they marry before a priest (or now a deacon), and at least two witnesses, they freely choose to marry and their marriage is consummated – even by one natural marital intercourse after marriage, then that marriage cannot be dissolved. But if they practice contraceptive intercourse, that marriage is sacramental indeed, but can be dissolved. It is only natural intercourse after marriage that consummates and thereby makes the marriage absolutely indissoluble.
What is the fundamental reason why Christ instituted the Sacrament of Marriage? It was in order to provide husband and wife with that kind of love, love for one another and love for the children except for them would not come into the world. Going further, the Sacrament of Marriage gives them that kind of love which human nature by itself cannot possess, and the verb is “cannot”. Those of you who are married know better than anyone else that you have got to believe that you have the grace to love, love a person who you met and courted and thought you knew. But it is not only that after marriage the eyes of husband and wife are open as they have never been opened before – “Oh no! Why didn’t somebody tell me before?” People change, and they can change dramatically. They can change physically. But people change morally as well. The faith convictions that they may have had, the virtues that they may have had – really practiced, either before marriage or in the earlier years of matrimony. In other words, the first grave need for the graces of the Sacrament of Matrimony is to sustain the love between husband and wife. When we marry a person, if we marry for life (as our faith tells us we do) then we marry a person who will, just because they are human beings – change. Or I can change in my perspective, it is not what it used to be.
To be continued....
Divine Liturgy and the Sacraments of the Church
In the previous column concluded with the distinction between external and internal indissoulubility. What do the two mean?
Internal indissolubility means that a marriage cannot be dissolved from within. What unites a couple in marriage is a deeply interior bond of which Christ who is God, is the author. So that in the title in one of Archbishop Sheen’s books, “Three to Get Married”- husband, wife and Christ. It is Catholic doctrine that a sacramental marriage is absolutely indissoluble.
Let’s identify four articles of our Catholic faith regarding the indissolubility of Christian marriage. First, Christian marriage cannot be dissolved by reason of heresy; some person – either husband or wife looses their faith; or domestic incompatibility, or willful desertion by one of the parties. It is a defined article of faith - there is no break in that internal bond.
Secondly, the Church is not in error when she teaches that the marriage bond cannot be dissolved because of adultery on the part of either the husband or the wife. Adultery, proved adultery, does not dissolve the marriage bond.
Thirdly, neither party, not even the innocent one who gave no cause for the adultery, can contract another marriage while the other party is still living.
And fourthly, adultery is therefore committed, both by the husband who dismisses his adulteress wife, and marries again; and by the wife who dismisses her adulteress husband and marries again.
Under what conditions is a marriage absolutely indissoluble from within? Under three conditions: 1.) That both husband and wife were validly baptized before marriage. 2.) There has been a valid marriage, and more specifically a valid marriage contract in which husband and wife knew they were entering a life-long union, which was open to the generation of children. They knew what they were doing and they both freely chose to enter this kind of marriage. 3.) If two people marry, they know what they are doing; they intend to marry and they marry before a priest (or now a deacon), and at least two witnesses, they freely choose to marry and their marriage is consummated – even by one natural marital intercourse after marriage, then that marriage cannot be dissolved. But if they practice contraceptive intercourse, that marriage is sacramental indeed, but can be dissolved. It is only natural intercourse after marriage that consummates and thereby makes the marriage absolutely indissoluble.
To be continued....
Divine Liturgy and the Sacraments of the Church
Last week’s column delved into the Sacrament
of Matrimony/Marriage. Moving forward, we will examine the nuts and bolts, if you will, of this particular sacrament.
“What are the qualities or divinely essential properties of marriage as a sacrament?” There are mainly two: There are unity and indissolubility. Both qualities, unity and indissolubility, are uniquely distinctive of marriage as a sacrament, because you see, we as Catholics believe there are marriages and MARRIAGES; valid marriages which however, are not sacraments – we call them natural marriages. No unbaptized person can receive or enter in to the Sacrament of Marriage. Which is one fundamental reason you see immediately why for a Catholic to marry a nonbaptized is not to receive even for the Catholic, the Sacrament of Marriage. Either both receive the Sacrament or neither one does. Nevertheless, people who are not baptized can indeed be married, but they do not enter into the Sacrament of Marriage, and therefore these two essential qualities apply only and exclusively to the Sacrament of Matrimony.
What does the Church understand by the unity of marriage? She understands the monogamy of marriage. It is only one man, and one woman until death. It consequently excludes polygamy, which literally means having more than one spouse at the same time.
The second quality of marriage is indissolubility. Practically speaking, what the Church over the centuries has had mainly to defend is not so much polygamy, it has to defend indissolubility. There have been now in almost two thousand years of the Church’s history some major breaks with the Roman Catholic Church. The two most devastating were in the thirteenth century with the break of the Eastern Orthodox and in the sixteenth century of the Protestants. In both cases this was the main reason: the main reason why hundreds of millions of professed Christians are not Catholic is right here. The main reason for the rise of Protestantism in the sixteenth century was in one monosyllabic word – sex.
In order to make as clear as possible what the Church means by indissolubility the two terms should be distinguished: forms of indissolubility, which by the way is the preferred word – indissolubility rather than indissolubility, both are good English words, but in the Church’s vocabulary it is rather indissolubility.
External and internal indissolubility- what do the two mean? Internal indissolubility means that a marriage cannot be dissolved from within.
To be continued....
