Your Marriage Vows

Marriage is a joyous occasion, yet it carries with it grave responsibilities.  It is essentially a religious institution.  It has its origins in religious ceremony.  It is a fulfilment of a Divine command, and the finest of its products are spiritual.  Marriage is the greatest of all unions.  It implies a most sacred and binding covenant dating back to the beginning of time.  The highest and noblest aspirations of our existence find expression in this ancient institution of holy matrimony.  Yet is also ever new as the world unfolds around us. 

There are four parties to each marriage compact: 
The man, the woman, the State and the Church.

You each are contracting parties, entering into this union of your own free will and choice, your hearts filled with the love you have for each other.  Your love is the origin and basis of your proposed union.  If you care for and preserve your love, it will be the supreme benediction of your wedded lives.  You preserve your love through adequate consideration of each other.  Cherish your love as a priceless gem.  You have chosen to share the great responsibilities of life together.  Happiness is your goal.

The State is interested because the State is concerned about the welfare of society.  The home you will build will add to the community.  Good homes and families are indispensable to a good society and an enduring nation.  Build your home and family embracing the great and lasting values of purity, honesty, thrift, kindness, and patriotism.

The Church is deeply concerned because it is the instrument through which your marriage can be sanctified.  By Divine power your lives are to be unified and consecrated to holy purposes.  Find a place in your hearts for faith and the hope of immortality.  Take God into your partnership.  Promise that you will sustain Him and His truth as you look to Him to sustain and bless you.

Strengthen each other in all your labours.  Rest upon each other in your sorrows.  Minister to one another in your times of pain.  Build a safe and harmonious life together.  Create a home wherein each of you might fulfil the purposes of your existence.  Savour the blessed memories you make.  Become one.  The time will come when one or both of you depart this life – make the most of the time you are able to be together.

Our Saviour gave us the pattern of the marriage covenant when he said “… from the beginning of creation God made them male and female.  For this cause shall a man (and woman) leave his father and his mother and cleave unto his wife.”

The marriage vows you make are very sacred.  Adhere to them and they will bring you the happiness and joy you seek.  Happiness is often illusive.  It is like a butterfly – be peaceful, let it settle on you.

You will be individually named.  You will take each other by the right hand in token of the covenant you enter into to become his/her companion and husband (companion and wife), to forsake all others, to love, honour and cherish your spouse as long as you both shall live.   You will promise to observe all the laws, covenants, and obligations pertaining to the Holy State of Matrimony.  You will be reminded that you do this of your own free will and choice, in the presence of witnesses, and as if in the presence of God.  You will promise to take him/her to be your lawful wedded husband/wife. 

The ring/s are given and received as a token and pledge of the covenant between you.  The precious metal is a symbol of the purity of your love, the circle a symbol of the enduring nature of your union.  You are individually named and pronounced husband and wife, legally and lawfully wedded for your mortal lives.

“May God bless your union with joy in your posterity and a long life of happiness together. 

May He enable you to keep the covenants you have made.”  Will be the words said in conclusion.