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StratusRose
Guest
I was talking about this subject with co-workers today, and I didn’t have a good answer for them. Does anyone know the reason(s) why we have to get married inside a church?
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kage_ar
Guest
Catholics recognize marriage as a sacrement, not just a romantic party. Why would one not want to celebrate a sacrement in a Church? A park or a beach can detract from the reverence. The Church is a special and holy place, the best place for a sacrement! After the wedding, there can be a party at any park or beach you want…
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La_Chiara
Guest
Search on “outdoor weddings” for a thread that discussed this topic. I vaguely recall that this was also a topic in the “Ask an Apologist” forum.
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Lance
Guest
Cause the Church said so. End of discussion.
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pittsburghjeff
Guest
We dont even have mass outdoors without special permission from the Bishop. I think it all has to do with the fact that we believe Christ is truly present in the Eucharist and it is not reverent to expose Christ to the elements.
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Tantum_ergo
Guest
The Church (all the people in it) form the mystical Body of Christ, whether they are “indoors” or “outdoors”.
The church (building) is “God’s home”–where we have the tabernacle, the Eucharistic Presence, where we come together to celebrate Mass (which is the sacrifice that He made for us, throughout eternity), and attendant sacraments, of which Matrimony is one. While God is present “everywhere”, indoors and outdoors, the church building is considered “special”. Think about the Ark of the Covenant and the Temple in Jerusalem. We are giving God a small portion of the honor and glory due to Him by establishing a special “house” for Him and celebrating there as His holy people.
So why wouldn’t we “get married INDOORS”, in God’s holy church, AS His Holy Church? And then, yes, celebrate outdoors by all means, if it floats your boat (myself, give me either air-conditioned or centrally heated indoor comfort, s’il vous plait, far over and above wind, rain, heat, bugs, slugs, poison ivy, tree roots, mud, dirt, and other delights of nature).
The church (building) is “God’s home”–where we have the tabernacle, the Eucharistic Presence, where we come together to celebrate Mass (which is the sacrifice that He made for us, throughout eternity), and attendant sacraments, of which Matrimony is one. While God is present “everywhere”, indoors and outdoors, the church building is considered “special”. Think about the Ark of the Covenant and the Temple in Jerusalem. We are giving God a small portion of the honor and glory due to Him by establishing a special “house” for Him and celebrating there as His holy people.
So why wouldn’t we “get married INDOORS”, in God’s holy church, AS His Holy Church? And then, yes, celebrate outdoors by all means, if it floats your boat (myself, give me either air-conditioned or centrally heated indoor comfort, s’il vous plait, far over and above wind, rain, heat, bugs, slugs, poison ivy, tree roots, mud, dirt, and other delights of nature).
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BLB_Oregon
Guest
Marriage is a sacrament, and sacraments are normally celebrated in the sacred space set aside for the gathering of the local community: that is, in church.
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sparkle
Guest
Being that marriage is one of the 7 sacraments ordained and instituted by God, anything but the reverence this act deserves is much less~~~~~~
Beautiful as they are many weddings at the beach, in a beautiful hotel, wherever–somehow they always lack something in these environments–that being the presence, blessing of the One Holy God, the One who created marriage!!! This has to take place in the Lord’s House! For it is one of the most important acts, sacraments, decisions and life-changing events anyone could ever undertake!!! And therefore it is only right for this glorious event to take place in THE house of the Almighty, the giver of Life, the joiner of two souls to become one.! Soooooo beautiful!
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KAISERE85
Guest
This subject never made any clear sense to me. Why can’t Catholics get married outside with a priest. These are my thoughts on this whole siutation.
- In the bible, Jesus says something about as long as theres two more more people present, I am there. So to me I would think that no matter where you want to get married, Jesus will be present for you to receive the sacrament on marriage.
- Back in Christ’s time, they did not have a church, so Jesus would worhship anywhere he possibly could, so once again why should it matter if you are in the church or on a beach.
- I thought the Priest was a spiritual form of Christ, so if a Priest is present, so is the sacrament of Marriage.
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StrawberryJam
Guest
Jesus never married anyone while on earth. He gave the keys to Peter, and let the church decide on these matters after he did what he needed to do. Did you want him to have to spell out all matters clearly for everyone? That job was left to the Bishops with Peter at the helm of the ship. There is room for everyone on the catholic ship, and if you don’t like it you can bail ship.
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Bob_Aliano
Guest
I’ve been to outdoor Christian weddings and found far too may distractions; Sun is too hot, breeze is too chilly, grass is too clumpy, decorations keep blowing around, kids are out of control, a DJ just isn’t the same as a Pipe Organ, etc.; I’ll take a church wedding anytime.
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Spencerian
Guest
Hi.
You’ve entered an older thread, but, since it’s still open, let’s review.
As a Catholic, we are beholden to specific rules for a valid marriage. Our bishops generally require us to marry within a Catholic church building because we are as close to God there (through the Holy Eucharist, which is always present except near Easter) than anywhere else.
A marriage is part of the seven Sacraments of the Church–important gifts from God that must be accepted in specific ways, such as baptism and confirmation.
As Jesus was a Jew, you can be sure that the wedding in Cana was done to Jewish norms of the time for a ceremony, although Scripture doesn’t elaborate on it (why would Jesus attend a scandalous wedding?).
That’s not to say that every Catholic must marry within their church. Couples can request a dispensation, or special exception, that allows them to marry outside in certain cases.
Most couples don’t have a problem marrying inside. Many Catholic churches are low in cost to reserve if you are a member, and their interiors are extremely beautiful.
In a Catholic nuptial Mass, it’s not the priest that marries the couple. The couple gives the Sacrament to each other. The priest is merely a witness to the pairing.
This link from the US Conference of Catholic Bishop’s “For Your Marriage” website gives more detail as well as support in Scripture for these requirements.
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LilyM
Guest
Have you not read the Gospels? Jews indeed had, in Jesus’ day as they do now, buildings set aside for purposes of formal public worship. They’re called synagogues. If memory serves, people were married in those buildings as well, where possible. Just like our churches.
Jesus is recorded as attending the synagogue in His home town of Nazareth - and must have been a regular, as they invited Him to read the scripture there and preach (which they wouldn’t have done for a stranger). The Apostles too are frequently recorded as going to synagogues in various places. Obviously because the easiest way to get to know the Jews of a particular town was to head for the one place they would all be guaranteed to gather on any given Sabbath - their synagogue.
Jesus and the Apostles (and others) are also frequently mentioned as attending at the Temple in Jerusalem, another building dedicated for formal public worship of God.
So no, Jesus did NOT just worship ‘anywhere He possibly could’.
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Danny_Clover
Guest
I’d really like to read more about that. Can you tell me what verses say that weddings that are not in a church are not blessed by God? Is God omniscient, or is God confined to Catholic churches?
I’d really like to know this because we have a chapel out in the woods where my daughter wants to be married.
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Suspicious_Mind
Guest
The Church has said many things over the last 2000 years, and not all of it has been correct.
End of discussion? Are you kidding me?
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Suspicious_Mind
Guest
The marriage is not null and void because you got married outdoors, so I don’t see anything wrong with marrying outdoors.
What is all this talk of reverence, and therefore it must be indoors? This is a fallacy of non-sequitir, it simply does not follow that because reverence is needed, that it must be indoors. What’s exactly wrong with the outdoors? No one’s saying you need to get married in an amusement park with Ronald McDonald doing the service, but to claim that there is a lack of reverence or it’s not Holy enough or whatever because it’s outdoors is plain silly, and lacks any form of reasoning.
In either case, if I’m getting married it will probably be a quite ceremony OUTSIDE in a nice lush garden, with a lot of flowers, overlooking the beach. Then again, I’m no longer Catholic.
What is all this talk of reverence, and therefore it must be indoors? This is a fallacy of non-sequitir, it simply does not follow that because reverence is needed, that it must be indoors. What’s exactly wrong with the outdoors? No one’s saying you need to get married in an amusement park with Ronald McDonald doing the service, but to claim that there is a lack of reverence or it’s not Holy enough or whatever because it’s outdoors is plain silly, and lacks any form of reasoning.
In either case, if I’m getting married it will probably be a quite ceremony OUTSIDE in a nice lush garden, with a lot of flowers, overlooking the beach. Then again, I’m no longer Catholic.
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Suspicious_Mind
Guest
Because with a population of 1.1 billion Catholics, not everyone is going to want to be married indoors.
The Holy Church isn’t just a building, so it shouldn’t matter. It’s erroneous to think Holy Church and automatically link that to something indoors. Most of Jesus’ preachings and teachings and what not has largely been OUTDOORS, so why can’t the marriage be OUTDOORS as part of his HOLY Church?
Failed logic.
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Tantum_ergo
Guest
Because while all space is sacred to God (in and out) certain places are CONSECRATED TO HIM. A Catholic Church is one of those places.Because with a population of 1.1 billion Catholics, not everyone is going to want to be married indoors.
The Holy Church isn’t just a building, so it shouldn’t matter. It’s erroneous to think Holy Church and automatically link that to something indoors. Most of Jesus’ preachings and teachings and what not has largely been OUTDOORS, so why can’t the marriage be OUTDOORS as part of his HOLY Church?
Failed logic.
Since when does a truth rest on whatever a given individual ‘wants to do’, my friend?
Do you accept the authority of the Church to speak for Christ? If you do, then you will accept its teachings.
If you don’t, then why would you want to be concerned about it? If you don’t want to be Catholic and don’t want to marry in a Catholic Church, you don’t have to.
If you are Catholic and you don’t want to follow the rules, well, you can disobey but there will be consequences. Not because I say so, because God says so.
Your opinion is noted, but I’ll stick with somebody tried and true–Jesus Christ and His Church, not an anonymous poster with absolutely no authority to make any kind of decision ‘against’ the teachings of Christ just because he thinks that ‘everything is sacred and it shouldn’t matter’.
“Can” may the wrong word to describe the situation.Because with a population of 1.1 billion Catholics, not everyone is going to want to be married indoors.
The Holy Church isn’t just a building, so it shouldn’t matter. It’s erroneous to think Holy Church and automatically link that to something indoors. Most of Jesus’ preachings and teachings and what not has largely been OUTDOORS, so why can’t the marriage be OUTDOORS as part of his HOLY Church?
Failed logic.
Under some circumstances Catholics **CAN **get married outside. Under most circumstances Catholics **MAY **not get married outside. Catholics must have the permission of the Church to enter a valid marriage. And the Church --entrusted with the protection of sacraments as well as with making them available-- has decided --in her wisdom-- that the *sacrament *of matrimony (like most sacraments) ought to take place in a church, chapel, or cathedral. But if there are circumstances that call for a dispensation from the normal rule the Church can grant it.
The desire of couples to place current wedding fashion ahead of the sacred nature of the sacrament is something the Church wants to protect the sacrament FROM. (Please forgive the hanging preposition.)
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Lycorth
Guest
Amen. You can go party outside, after the sacrament of Matrimony has been performed.
It’s a secular idea of marriage as the mere legal joining together of two people in love that colors much of this, an idea pervasive in our culture. We do not perform funerals or baptisms outside, so why weddings?
It’s a secular idea of marriage as the mere legal joining together of two people in love that colors much of this, an idea pervasive in our culture. We do not perform funerals or baptisms outside, so why weddings?
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