D
David_Rudmin
Guest
Full disclosure: I graduated Summa cum Laude in Theology and Classics, with a minor in Philosophy from Christendom college. I am NOT an SSPX-er.
Invalid?? This is so utterly preposterous, I’m hitting the ceiling. Canon Law has nothing to do with it. Canon Law cannot impose conditions for a marriage’s (in)validity. Why not? Because (in)validity concerns whether the Sacrament is real or not, that is, whether the Holy Spirit, i.e. God Almighty, effects it to be real, or not. (Whereas Canon Law only concerns what is “Licit” i.e. governmentally PERMISSIBLE, not what is “Valid,” i.e. REAL.)
Now that we understand what is meant by validity, . . . The only thing that distinguishes Christians’ sacramentally VALID marriages, from non-Christians’ sacramentally invalid ‘state-of-nature’ marriages, is that the Christian spouses are in a state of Grace. When both spouses are in a state of Grace, then their marriage is no longer just on the Level of the Flesh (as the Pagan marriage), but is now also on that higher Level of the Spirit. (Note: This 2-level model is consistent with the Theological maxim that “Grace builds upon Nature,” and is alluded to heavily in the writings of St. Paul.) Now THAT is what the Sacrament of Marriage is: It is the Holy Spirit abidingly present in the marital covenant. . . . Such a convenant is made not just before men, but rather before God. So therefore . . . only that which takes away the state-of-Grace, namely, Mortal Sin, can make a wedding invalid, not Canon Law. What?..So the local non-SSPX ordinary wasn’t consulted? Big whoop! The priest is only EVER consulted . . . and only EVER obeyed . . . out of pre-existent overflowing charity for (1) the church and (2) the community. But it’s purely incidental to validity whether he blesses it (in the church’s or community’s name), or not. Food for thought: Many divorcees’ 2nd marriages are blessed by the church, but are not valid (because God is wiser than the duped tribunal), and many non-blessed backcountry marriages ARE valid. But here’s what’s essential: Think: Who is the actual MINISTER of marriage? It’s not the priest, but the spouses themselves! That tells you that the Holy Spirit honors and ratifies baptized Christians’ decisions, as long as those decisions are ‘bona fide’ and genuine, as in, not so malicious as to drive Him away, and thereby create a state of Mortal Sin. Indeed, God only refuses to bless your wedding, when you do it sacriligiously, that is, in a state of Mortal Sin. And even if you do, . . . Guess what! . . . The moment you repent and come back into a state of Grace later, . . . the Holy Spirit returns and . . . SUDDENLY YOUR PREVIOUSLY INVALID MARRIAGE IS NOW VALID, and even binding “until-death-do-you-part.”
So now those who still want to scare SSPX couples are forced to try to convince them that —MERELY BY BEING IN SSPX— they were somehow necessarily in a state of Mortal Sin.
…Which of course is preposterous. There is no Mortal Sin unless a person is aware that what they are about to do is evil. So in other words, for your wedding to be itself a mortal sin, and for it thereby (“ipso facto”) to sacrilegously make that very same marrital covenant invalid, it would have to be a conscious act of rebellion against God’s Holy Spirit. NOW JUST HOW MANY SSPX MARRIAGES DO YOU THINK WERE CONTRACTED, AS A CONSCIOUS ACT OF REBELLION AGAINST GOD’S TRUE BISHOPS? Probably zero. Most brides and grooms do not have church politics on their mind, and even if they do, they are not (1) inwardly convicted/convinced that the SSPX is wrong and yet (2) wanting to just rebelliously do the wedding outside the church, anyways. Instead, my experience of SSPX persons is that they very fervently and genuinely believe in the rightness of what they’re doing. If this is you, and you’re an SSPX-er, then EVEN IF YOU’RE WRONG . . .EVEN IF IF THE SSPX IS TOTALLY SCHISMATIC AND ILLEGITIMATE (but I don’t think it is). . . , . . . then YET HOWEVER BECAUSE YOU BELIEVE THAT WHAT YOU ARE DOING IS RIGHT, therefore YOU ARE IN A STATE OF GRACE, AND ALL YOUR SACRAMENTS, EVEN THOSE RECEIVED FROM THE SSPX, ARE VALID. As regards sacraments non-dependent on Holy Orders (i.e. Baptism & Marriage) this ‘presumed validity’ goes not just for the SSPX-ers, but for the Orthodox, Protestants, indeed for any Christian who subjectively genuinely believes that they are acting rightly. 1 Final caveat: But don’t lie to yourself; only you know whether you’re genuinely following your conscience, or just putting on a vain, outward ‘show.’
Invalid?? This is so utterly preposterous, I’m hitting the ceiling. Canon Law has nothing to do with it. Canon Law cannot impose conditions for a marriage’s (in)validity. Why not? Because (in)validity concerns whether the Sacrament is real or not, that is, whether the Holy Spirit, i.e. God Almighty, effects it to be real, or not. (Whereas Canon Law only concerns what is “Licit” i.e. governmentally PERMISSIBLE, not what is “Valid,” i.e. REAL.)
Now that we understand what is meant by validity, . . . The only thing that distinguishes Christians’ sacramentally VALID marriages, from non-Christians’ sacramentally invalid ‘state-of-nature’ marriages, is that the Christian spouses are in a state of Grace. When both spouses are in a state of Grace, then their marriage is no longer just on the Level of the Flesh (as the Pagan marriage), but is now also on that higher Level of the Spirit. (Note: This 2-level model is consistent with the Theological maxim that “Grace builds upon Nature,” and is alluded to heavily in the writings of St. Paul.) Now THAT is what the Sacrament of Marriage is: It is the Holy Spirit abidingly present in the marital covenant. . . . Such a convenant is made not just before men, but rather before God. So therefore . . . only that which takes away the state-of-Grace, namely, Mortal Sin, can make a wedding invalid, not Canon Law. What?..So the local non-SSPX ordinary wasn’t consulted? Big whoop! The priest is only EVER consulted . . . and only EVER obeyed . . . out of pre-existent overflowing charity for (1) the church and (2) the community. But it’s purely incidental to validity whether he blesses it (in the church’s or community’s name), or not. Food for thought: Many divorcees’ 2nd marriages are blessed by the church, but are not valid (because God is wiser than the duped tribunal), and many non-blessed backcountry marriages ARE valid. But here’s what’s essential: Think: Who is the actual MINISTER of marriage? It’s not the priest, but the spouses themselves! That tells you that the Holy Spirit honors and ratifies baptized Christians’ decisions, as long as those decisions are ‘bona fide’ and genuine, as in, not so malicious as to drive Him away, and thereby create a state of Mortal Sin. Indeed, God only refuses to bless your wedding, when you do it sacriligiously, that is, in a state of Mortal Sin. And even if you do, . . . Guess what! . . . The moment you repent and come back into a state of Grace later, . . . the Holy Spirit returns and . . . SUDDENLY YOUR PREVIOUSLY INVALID MARRIAGE IS NOW VALID, and even binding “until-death-do-you-part.”
So now those who still want to scare SSPX couples are forced to try to convince them that —MERELY BY BEING IN SSPX— they were somehow necessarily in a state of Mortal Sin.
…Which of course is preposterous. There is no Mortal Sin unless a person is aware that what they are about to do is evil. So in other words, for your wedding to be itself a mortal sin, and for it thereby (“ipso facto”) to sacrilegously make that very same marrital covenant invalid, it would have to be a conscious act of rebellion against God’s Holy Spirit. NOW JUST HOW MANY SSPX MARRIAGES DO YOU THINK WERE CONTRACTED, AS A CONSCIOUS ACT OF REBELLION AGAINST GOD’S TRUE BISHOPS? Probably zero. Most brides and grooms do not have church politics on their mind, and even if they do, they are not (1) inwardly convicted/convinced that the SSPX is wrong and yet (2) wanting to just rebelliously do the wedding outside the church, anyways. Instead, my experience of SSPX persons is that they very fervently and genuinely believe in the rightness of what they’re doing. If this is you, and you’re an SSPX-er, then EVEN IF YOU’RE WRONG . . .EVEN IF IF THE SSPX IS TOTALLY SCHISMATIC AND ILLEGITIMATE (but I don’t think it is). . . , . . . then YET HOWEVER BECAUSE YOU BELIEVE THAT WHAT YOU ARE DOING IS RIGHT, therefore YOU ARE IN A STATE OF GRACE, AND ALL YOUR SACRAMENTS, EVEN THOSE RECEIVED FROM THE SSPX, ARE VALID. As regards sacraments non-dependent on Holy Orders (i.e. Baptism & Marriage) this ‘presumed validity’ goes not just for the SSPX-ers, but for the Orthodox, Protestants, indeed for any Christian who subjectively genuinely believes that they are acting rightly. 1 Final caveat: But don’t lie to yourself; only you know whether you’re genuinely following your conscience, or just putting on a vain, outward ‘show.’