“The Eastern Orthodox wedding ceremony is an ancient rite full of profound symbolism and meaning. The couple is led through the ceremony by their priest and their koumbaros, a best man who remains an important figure in the couple’s life. Most rituals are performed three times to represent the Holy Trinity.” There is much here that we in the West can learn from.
The two become one in a life of mutual love and mutual subjection to each other in Christ. Neither the husband nor the wife places any sort of cord around the other’s neck, the wedding ring symbolizes alliance never bondage. Christ changes the union of one man and one woman into something new. Marriage becomes more than a mere human institution, existing for whatever purpose a society assigns it. It becomes, like the Church Herself, a sign that God’s Kingdom has already begun in our midst. Yes that was/is what Pat and I believe – united as one forever in the image of God. Much more than just a civil contract between two people.

The civil contract is the State’s to change; not so, the union created by Christ. Matthew 19:6: So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” “The gospel, from John (2:1-11),  is the familiar account of the Marriage at Cana where Christ turns the water into wine. A person must drink water simply to survive. Wine, on the other hand, is more than just a drink that quenches thirst and continues life. Wine is associated with joy, with celebration, with life as being more than mere survival. By His presence at this wedding He changes the union of man and woman into something new. Marriage becomes more than a mere human institution, existing for whatever purpose a society assigns it. It becomes, like the Church Herself, a sign that God’s Kingdom has already begun in our midst.