MARRIAGE
795
MARRIAGE
33 one to be condemned by the Judge, and banished with everlasting destruction from liis presence and the glory of his power! Oh the infatuation of the folly which leads to unite, where evils like these are created, rather than where God will sanction, and where time and eternity will both combine to bless ! 3. Its effects upon what may be regarded as the supreme end of the marriage relation, the I'eligious education of children, is another most distressing consideration. What must it be ! Wliat Ilus it ever been ! That much injury, there- fore, has arisen to the public interests of the Church of Christ from this transgression cannot be doubted. In- jury done to individual character is injury done to the community to which the individual is attached. It has always been a fact, that whoever sins in the household of faith, sins not only against himself, but against oth- ers; and that this transgression is one peculiarly ex- tended in its influence, operating more than, perhaps, any one else which can be named to bring religion from its vantage ground, to clog its progress, and to retard its triumph. See Coh.^. jt/«y. May, 1831 ; JMalcolni on the Christian Rule ofMarriar/e; H.More's CaleVs in Search of a Wife. — Henderson's Buck, s. v.
Yl. MiiJ-riage Ceremonies. — In the early Christian Church marriages were to be notified to the bishop or society, and in the first centuries were solemnizecl by the clergy, but with very many exceptions. JMuch was borrowed from the customs of the Roman law. Banns were required about the 12th century. See Banns. No prescribed form for the solemnization of marriage seems to have existed in early times. Witnesses were retiuircd, and the dowry was settled in writing. The sponsalia or betrothal preceded, and tokens or pledges were given or exchanged. The ceremonies were to all appearances not regarded as essential by the earl}' Chris- tians, but were merely considered appropriate and be- coming, and when celebrated were observed as follows : " The use of the ring, in the rites both of espousal and of marriage, is very ancient. It is mentioned both by TertuUiau and Clement of Alexandria, the latter of whom says, 'It was given her, not as an ornament; but as a seal, to signify the woman's duty in preserving the goods of her husband, because the care of the house be- longs to her.' " The crowning of the married pair with garlands was a marriage-rite peculiar to many nations professing different forms of religion. Tertullian in- veighs against it with all the zeal of a Montanist, but it is spoken of with approbation by the fathers of the 4th and 5th centuries, from whom it appears that the friends and attendants of the bridal pair were adorned in the same manner. These chaplets were usually made of myrtle, olive, amaranth, rosemary, and evergreens, in- termingled with cypress and vervain. The croivn, ap- propriately so called, was made of olive, myrtle, and rosemary, variegated with flowers, and sometimes with gold an<l silver, pearls, precious stones, etc. These crowns were constructed in the form of a pyramid or tower. Both the bride and the bridegroom were crown- ed in this manner, together -with the groomsman and the bridesmaid. The bride frequently appeared in church thus attired on the day when proclamation of the banns was made. Chaplets were not worn by the parties in case of second marriage, nor by those who had been guilty of impropriety before marriage. In the tireek Church the chaplets were imposed by the officiating minister at the altar. In the Western Church it was customary for the parties to ])resent themselves thus attired. The wearing of a veil by the bride was borrowed from the Romans. It was also conformable to the example of Rebecca (Gen. xxiv). From this mar- riage-rite arose the custom of taking the veil in the Church of Rome. By this act the nun devotes herself to perpetual virginity as the spouse of Christ, the bride- groom of the Church. It appears to have been custom- ary also to spread a robe over the bridegroom and bride, called ritta nuptiulis, pallium jiiyale, etc., and made of a mixture of white and red colors. Torches and lamps
were in use on such occasions, as among the Jews and pagan nations. The festivities were celebrated by nup- tial processions going out to meet the bridegroom and conductmg him home, by nuptial songs and music, and marriage feasts. These festivals were frequently the subject of bitter animadversion by the fathers, especial- 1}' by Chrysostom, and often called for the interposition of the authority of the Church. At marriage festivals it was customary to distribute alms to the poor. The groomsman had various duties to perform — to accom- pany the parties to the church at their marriage; to act as sponsor for them in their vows ; to assist in the mar- riage ceremonies; to accompany them to the house of the bridegroom ; to preside over and direct the festivi- ties of the occasion.