Asking for the Sacrament of Marriage

[a_g_r]

Is it ok to say: “we ask to the church for the Sacrament of Marriage …”?, please I’m expecting a theological answer

thanks
Armando

 

[jpjd]

Could you elaborate on your question? It is so brief that I don’t understand what you are asking.

Is it ok to say: “we ask to the church for the Sacrament of Marriage …”?

When would you be saying this? Do you mean that you and your fiance plan to approach a priest and ask him to officiate at your marriage?

 

[a_g_r]

No we already did that!, my question is more in the theological sense, we certainly ask for any other sacrament to the church (body of Christ) baptism, confirmation, holy orders, etc… And I stop upon to think if Christ sent his apostles to minister grace to the world by the sacraments why the sacrament of matrimony is not dispensed by the church?, and I understand the catechism where it states that this sacrament is granted and dispensed by the couple, but what I’m confused is what is why I can’t “ask the apostles” to minister this sacrament. And the reason I because I’ve always believe that God communicate it’s grace through the church. It seams to me that this is not the case

I hope this clarify, please help
Armando

 

[paperbackwinter]

I’ve always been told that marriage is a sacrament that is exchanged between a couple, that is, a husband gives the sacrament to his wife and a wife gives the sacrament to her husband. It’s an ongoing thing 'til death do you part. There’s no need for a priest and you don’t have to ask the Church for this sacrament.

Note that I’m not trying to explain how you get into a marriage, i.e., the ceremony, only how marriage is a sacrament.

 

[LilyM]

There’s no need for a priest and you don’t have to ask the Church for this sacrament.

There IS a need for either a priest or deacon - no-one else can set a sacramental seal upon a marriage, and it’s certainly not valid (at least not for a Catholic) without a Catholic priest or deacon to officiate.

So you DO have to ask a priest or deacon to officiate.

 

[angelic06]

There IS a need for either a priest or deacon - no-one else can set a sacramental seal upon a marriage, and it’s certainly not valid (at least not for a Catholic) without a Catholic priest or deacon to officiate.

So you DO have to ask a priest or deacon to officiate.

In general, this is true, but between a Catholic and an Orthodox Christian it is necessary for a priest, not a deacon (but it can be an Orthodox priest) to officiate, for validity—for licitness as far as Catholics are concerned, it must be a Catholic priest.

For marriages involving Eastern Catholics (either exclusively or with us Latins), the officiant must be a priest (not a deacon).

And for those involving Protestant Christians, it is possible (but not necessarily desired from the Catholic point of view) that the bishop may dispense from canonical form and be married by a Protestant minister. Absent said dispensation, said marriage is invalid.

Finally, even the Eastern Catholic code provides that in rare cases a marriage may be celebrated w/o the “sacred rite”, that is the assistance of a priest—in these cases, the couple is obliged to seek the priest’s blessing as soon as possible.

I hope this helps.

 

[puzzleannie]

Is it ok to say: “we ask to the church for the Sacrament of Marriage …”?, please I’m expecting a theological answer

thanks
Armando

we ask for all the sacraments, they are gifts, we also express gratitude for them. I am not a theologian so that is as good as I can give. are you speaking of wording for a wedding invitation? what is your context?

 

[Friar_David_O.Carm]

There IS a need for either a priest or deacon - no-one else can set a sacramental seal upon a marriage, and it’s certainly not valid (at least not for a Catholic) without a Catholic priest or deacon to officiate.

So you DO have to ask a priest or deacon to officiate.

Actually it can be vaild without a priest or deacon if the bishop allows for it. There is (or was) a sister who could offciate at weddings in very rural Alaska.

In the Latin Church the sacrament is confered by the couple.

 

[PaschalCatholic]

In the Latin Church the sacrament is confered by the couple.

Exactly, I think what the real question here is what he said above about why is the grace not bestowed upon them by the Church through the apostles (priests/deacons). But I think the problem is not the set up, it’s a misunderstanding of the theology. If we want to understand sacraments, we must understand covenantal theology. A good book to read is Men and Women are From Eden, I don’t remember the female author’s name, but she does a good job of breaking down that theology through the wonderful Theology of the Body. The reason for the conferring by the couple (as I understand it) is that this time the covenant is between husband and wife with God between them (like glue lol). This is different from EVERY other sacrament in that, this covenant is the agreement of full exchange between two non-divine humans rather than full exchange between us and God. Actually something interesting to research would be the comparison between the sacrament of the Eucharist that Christ completes on the cross and the sacrament of marriage. One thing that strikes me is the language Christ uses when he says “it is completed”, but the English doesn’t quite do it justice because in Latin it is “Consumatum Est” literally “it is consumated”. Interesting isn’t it that we use the same word for Christ handing himself over fully, dying to himself for love, that we use in the context of the marriage covenant when they have received one another fully, and agree to die to themselves for love, becoming one flesh. Wow, that was a mouthful and I’m sure there are mistakes within, but it was the best I could do, hope that helps.
God bless,
B

 

[Friar_David_O.Carm]

Exactly, I think what the real question here is what he said above about why is the grace not bestowed upon them by the Church through the apostles (priests/deacons). But I think the problem is not the set up, it’s a misunderstanding of the theology. If we want to understand sacraments, we must understand covenantal theology. A good book to read is Men and Women are From Eden, I don’t remember the female author’s name, but she does a good job of breaking down that theology through the wonderful Theology of the Body. The reason for the conferring by the couple (as I understand it) is that this time the covenant is between husband and wife with God between them (like glue lol). This is different from EVERY other sacrament in that, this covenant is the agreement of full exchange between two non-divine humans rather than full exchange between us and God. Actually something interesting to research would be the comparison between the sacrament of the Eucharist that Christ completes on the cross and the sacrament of marriage. One thing that strikes me is the language Christ uses when he says “it is completed”, but the English doesn’t quite do it justice because in Latin it is “Consumatum Est” literally “it is consumated”. Interesting isn’t it that we use the same word for Christ handing himself over fully, dying to himself for love, that we use in the context of the marriage covenant when they have received one another fully, and agree to die to themselves for love, becoming one flesh. Wow, that was a mouthful and I’m sure there are mistakes within, but it was the best I could do, hope that helps.
God bless,
B

This is just the Western understanding.

In the East the sacrament requires the blessing of a priest to be vaild.