And let them see their children’s children, like a newly-planted olive orchard, around their table; that, obtaining favor in Your sight, they may Shine Like the Stars of Heaven, in You, our God.
The Orthodox Mystery of Holy Marriage
"For the husband and wife should be similar to the hand and the eye. When the hand hurts, the eyes should be crying, and when the eyes cry the hands should gently wipe away the tears." Saint John Chrysostom
Priest: Blessed are You, O Lord our God, the Priest of mystical and pure marriage, and the Ordainer of the law of the marriage of the body, the Preserver of immortality, and the Provider of good things. As the same Master, Who in the beginning made man and set him to be, as it were, a king over Creation, and said: It is not good for man to be alone on the earth; let us make a helpmate for him. And taking one of his ribs You fashioned woman, which when Adam beheld, he said: This is now bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, for she was taken out of man; for this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cling to his wife, and the two shall be one flesh.
Those whom God has joined together let no man put asunder.
Now, also, O Master, our Lord and our God, send down Your heavenly grace upon these Your servants, Michael and Mary; and grant that this Your handmaid may, in all things, be subject unto her husband; and that this Your servant may be the head of his wife, that they may live according to Your will.
Bless them, O Lord our God, as You blessed Abraham and Sarah. Bless them, O Lord, our God, as You blessed Isaac and Rebecca. Bless them, O Lord, our God, as You blessed Jacob and all the patriarchs. Bless them, O Lord, our God, as You blessed Joseph and Asenath. Bless them, O Lord, our God, as You blessed Moses and Sepphora. Bless them, O Lord, our God, as You blessed Joachim and Anna. Bless them, O Lord, our God, as You blessed Zachariah and Elizabeth.
Preserve them, O Lord our God, as You preserved Noah in the ark. Preserve them, O Lord our God, as You preserved Jonah in the belly of the whale. Preserve them, O Lord, our God, as You preserved the three Holy Children from the fire, sending down upon them dew from heaven; and let that gladness come upon them which the blessed Helena had when she found the precious Cross.
Remember them, O Lord our God, as You remembered Enoch, Shem, Elijah. Remember them, O Lord our God, as You remembered Your Forty Holy Martyrs, sending down upon them crowns from heaven. Remember them, O Lord our God, and the parents who have nurtured them; for the prayers of parents make firm the foundations Remember, O Lord our God, Your servant, Michael and Your handmaid, Mary, and bless them. Grant them of the fruit of their bodies, fair children, harmony of soul and of body: exalt them like the cedars of Lebanon, like a luxuriant vine. Give them seed in number like the full ears of grain; that, having sufficiency in all things, they may abound in every work that is good and acceptable to You.
And let them see their children’s children, like a newly-planted olive orchard, around their table; that, obtaining favor in Your sight,
they may Shine like the Stars of Heaven, in You, our God.
For to You belong all glory, honor and worship, to the Father, Who is without beginning, and to the Son, and to Your life-creating Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages.
Amen.
+ Glory to God for All Things +
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