{"id":98944,"date":"2021-01-27T07:30:33","date_gmt":"2021-01-27T12:30:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=98944"},"modified":"2021-01-27T06:37:55","modified_gmt":"2021-01-27T11:37:55","slug":"for-his-feast-day-mike-aquilina-john-chrysostoms-discovery-of-the-blessings-mysteries-of-marriage-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=98944","title":{"rendered":"For his Feast Day-Mike Aquilina: John Chrysostoms Discovery of the Blessings & Mysteries of Marriage"},"content":{"rendered":"

We could honestly and accurately describe it as a mystagogy of marriage<\/em>. He wants us to move from the icon to the reality. Still, he insists that we must also learn to venerate the icon. \u201cLearn the power of the type,\u201d he says, \u201cso that you may learn the strength of the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is important for us to realize that John\u2019s mature doctrine of marriage is almost unique in ancient Christianity. His contemporaries tended to look upon marriage as an institution that was passing away, as more and more Christians turned to celibacy. The best thing Jerome could say about marriage was that it produced future celibates. In Antioch in John\u2019s day, there were 3,000 consecrated virgins and widows in a city of perhaps 250,000, and that number does not include the celibate men<\/em> in brotherhoods or the hermits who filled the nearby mountains.<\/p>\n

Yet John glorified<\/em> marriage. It pained him that Christian couples continued to practice the old, obscene pagan wedding customs. So shameful were these practices that few couples dared to invite their parish priest to attend and give a blessing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs the wedding then a theater?\u201d he told them in a sermon. \u201cIt is a sacrament,<\/em> a mystery,<\/em> and a model of the Church of Christ<\/em>. . . . They dance at pagan ceremonies; but at ours, silence and decorum should prevail, respect and modesty. Here a great mystery is accomplished.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\u00ab Prayer is the place of refuge for every worry, a foundation for cheerfulness, a source of constant happiness, a protection against sadness \u00bb. <\/p>\n

St. John Chrysostom, Patriarch of Constantinople ☦️⛪️🙏🏻🕯. pic.twitter.com\/ai6OFK20tK<\/a><\/p>\n

— St Thomas' Church \u271e\u0646 (@SThomasKT) January 27, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n