Marriage is one of the seven sacraments or symbolic actions of the Church by which Christ continuesto accomplish the mystery of redemption. In Xhristian sacramental system Eucharist has its centrality. All the other sacraments are oriented to the Eucharist. Matrimony has a special role in this Eucharist centred sacramental system in as much it prepares the community that celrbratesthe Eucharist.Sacramentality is not somethingsuper- added to the human reality of marriage, but is rather its intrinsic elevation elevation and sanctification through the baptism which the couple has received. "Authentic married love is caught up into divine love and is governed and enriched by Christ's redeeming power and the saving power of the Church...for this reason, Christian spouses have a speacial sacrament by which they are fortified and receive a kind of consecration in the duties and dignity of their state. By virtue of this sacrament, as spouses, they fulfill their conjugal and family obligations: they are penetrated by the Spirit of God. This Spirit suffuses their whole lives with faith , hope and charity" We shall now analizeand see the various elements that constitute the sacramental process of Christian marriage.
a) Sacraments are the efficasious signs of grace.
Sacraments are instituted by Christ. They are efficacious signs of grace. Grace is nothing but the love of God. This is present in the world always; when it is expressed through a sign it becomes experiential. in the sacrament of matrimony the couple experience the love of God manifested in Christ's love for Church, both physically and spiritually. Christ is the one who acts in the sacraments. The Church is the minister of Christ who makes the effects of the sacrament visible. Being a sign of salvation , sacraments also have an eschatological significance , that is, they are prognostic expressions of the Kingdom to come when human love will be permanently taken up[ and made experiential in the risen body of he saved.
b) Marriage, Instituted by Christ as sacrament.
The Sacramental nature of marriage cannot be proved by using individual words of institution. It is based on the fact that the marriage bond is related to the saving work of Christ. In the letter to the Ephesians the covenant between man and wife in marriage is seen as the image of the covenant between Christ and the Church. "Just as Christ loved the Church and gave himself upn for her in order to make her holy by cleaning her with the washing of water by the word, soas to present the church to himself in splendour, without a spot or wrinkle or anything of the kind -- just so that she may be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as they do their own bodies... This is a great mystery (sacrament)"(Eph. 5,25-32). Besides , there are also the New Testament statements regarding marriage in the Lord' which we have already explained.
c) The sign of the sacrament of marriage is the human bond of love which characterizes every marriage.
When the baptized enter into this bond, it becomes the signs of Christ's self gift to the Church by which God's grace , divine life enters into the life of the couples. In order to make this sign authentic, it must be purified of all selfishness. The love and faithfulness that Christian husbands and wives have for each other are the effective sign, the fulfilled symbol and the real epiphany of the love of God that has appeared in Jesus Christ. If marriage represents a special form of being human in Christ that is based on Baptism, it is also a special form of sharing in the death and resurrection of Christ. If marital love is seen as existing undre the sign of Christ's cross, it must also been seen as being sustained by giving and being given.
d) Marriage is the sacrament of the Church.
Just as baptism is the ecclesial espression of the faith of the believer in Christ, sacrament of marriage is an ecclesial expression of the love that is given and recieved by the couples which symbolizes Christ's love for the Church. The Church plays an important role in the celebration as well as in living the sacrament of marriage. That is why Vatican 11 calls the family a 'domestic Church' . Although it is the bride and bridegroom who give the sacrament to each other, sacramental marriage is a covenantal act - public and legal - concerning the whole community of believers. This is the reason why the validity of marriage requires that the marriage be celebrated in the Church and before the ministers of the Church.
e) Marriage is an eschatological sign.
The festive mood of a wedding is a symbol of the joy and the fulfillment of human hope that will be present at the end of time (Mark 2, 19ff, Mt. 22, 1-14, 1-13). The means used by God for for the growth of the children of God is the sacrament of marriage. Besides , the growth towards the fullness of human life, which is an eschatological goal, will be normally realized through the family where the love is already active.
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