Marriage (as Sacrament)
A covenant of husband and wife — and, for some, a sacred mystery
Marriage is the lifelong covenant union of husband and wife, which some traditions regard as a sacrament. Paul's Letter to the Ephesians likens it to Christ and the Church, and Tertullian wrote of its sanctity. Catholic and Orthodox traditions hold it to be a sacrament or mystery, while most Protestant traditions honor it as a sacred ordinance but not a sacrament. Thus the traditions differ on its sacramental standing.
How it traveled
- 1 CorinthiansEphesus · c. 67 CEexplains
- On Monogamy.— · c. 220 CEexplains
- On Exhortation to Chastity.— · c. 220 CEexplains
- The Canons of the Councils of Ancyra, Gangra, Neocæsarea, Antioch and Laodicea, which Canons were Accepted and Received by the Ecumenical Synods— · c. 360 CEexplains
- Homilies on First CorinthiansConstantinople (Istanbul) · c. 407 CEexplains
- The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Philippians, Colossians, and ThessaloniansConstantinople (Istanbul) · c. 407 CEexplains
- The Commentary and Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Galatians and EphesiansConstantinople (Istanbul) · c. 407 CEexplains
- The Homilies of St. John ChrysostomConstantinople (Istanbul) · c. 407 CEredefines
- The Letters of St. JeromeBethlehem · c. 420 CEexplains
- Against JovinianusBethlehem · c. 420 CEapplies
- On Marriage and ConcupiscenceHippo Regius · c. 430 CEexplains
- On the Good of MarriageHippo Regius · c. 430 CEexplains
- Of Holy VirginityHippo Regius · c. 430 CEexplains
- A Treatise on the Grace of Christ, and on Original SinHippo Regius · c. 430 CEexplains
- Our Lord’s Sermon on the MountHippo Regius · c. 430 CEexplains
- The Letters and Sermons of Leo the GreatRome · c. 461 CEapplies
- The Book of Pastoral Rule, and Selected Epistles, of Gregory the GreatRome · c. 604 CEexplains
- Selected Epistles of Gregory the GreatRome · c. 604 CEapplies
- The Canons of the Council in Trullo; Often Called The Quinisext CouncilConstantinople (Istanbul) · c. 692 CEexplains
- Treatise on the Sacraments (qq[60]-90)Paris · c. 1274 CEexplains
- Book Fourth. of the Holy Catholic ChurchGeneva · c. 1564 CEapplies
Key passages(20)
Each passage is tagged by what it does with the idea: explains it, applies it in practice, redefines it with a new meaning, or challenges it. Relevance shows how directly the passage is about this idea.
A Treatise on the Grace of Christ, and on Original Sin · Augustine of Hippo
Chapter 39 [XXXIV.]—Three Things Good and Laudable in Matrimony. Marriage, therefore, is a good in all the things which are proper to the married state. And these are three: it is the ordained means
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Book Fourth. of the Holy Catholic Church · John Calvin
35. They adduce the words of Paul, by which they say that the name of a sacrament is given to marriage, “He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth
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On Marriage and Concupiscence · Augustine of Hippo
Chapter 11 [X.]—The Sacrament of Marriage; Marriage Indissoluble; The World’s Law About Divorce Different from the Gospel’s. It is certainly not fecundity only, the fruit of which consists of offspri
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On the Good of Marriage · Augustine of Hippo
17. That marriage can take place of persons first ill joined, an honest decree following after, is manifest. But a marriage once for all entered upon in the City of our God, where, even from the first
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On the Good of Marriage · Augustine of Hippo
32. Therefore the good of marriage throughout all nations and all men stands in the occasion of begetting, and faith of chastity: but, so far as pertains unto the People of God, also in the sanctity o
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Selected Epistles of Gregory the Great · Pope Gregory the Great
For to me, as you know, when I was resident at the footsteps of my lords in the royal city, many used to come of those who were accused with respect to the aforesaid points. But I declare, my conscien
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The Canons of the Councils of Ancyra, Gangra, Neocæsarea, Antioch and Laodicea, which Canons were Accepted and Received by the Ecumenical Synods · The Ecumenical Councils
The Canons of the Holy Fathers Assembled at Gangra, Which Were Set Forth After the Council of Nice This is the title in the Paris Edition of Zonaras. The Bodleian text simply reads “The Canons of the
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The Commentary and Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Galatians and Ephesians · John Chrysostom
Here he does not think it right to introduce his counsel, as he in many cases does, with examples from them that are without. That of Christ, so great and forcible, were alone enough; and more especia
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The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians · John Chrysostom
“Remember,” he saith, “my bonds.” Marriage is a bond, a bond ordained of God, a harlot is a severing and a dissolving. It is permitted you to embellish marriage with other things, such as full tables,
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The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians · John Chrysostom
Shall I tell how marriage is also a mystery of the Church? As Christ came into the Church, and she was made of him,2 Cor. xi. 2.) And that we are of Him, he saith, of His members, “and of His flesh.”
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The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom · John Chrysostom
Homily LXII. Matt. XIX. 1. “And it came to pass, that when Jesus had finished these sayings, He departed from Galilee, and came into the coasts of Judæa beyond Jordan.” Having constantly left Judæa
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Book Fourth. of the Holy Catholic Church · John Calvin
OF THE FIVE SACRAMENTS, FALSELY SO CALLED. THEIR SPURIOUSNESS PROVED, AND THEIR TRUE CHARACTER EXPLAINED. There are two divisions of this chapter,—I. A general discussion of these five sacraments, se
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Book Fourth. of the Holy Catholic Church · John Calvin
31. It is, if you please, the sacred oil which impresses an indelible character. As if oil could not be washed away by sand and salt, or if it sticks the closer, with soap. But that character is spiri
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A Treatise on the Merits and Forgiveness of Sins, and on the Baptism of Infants · Augustine of Hippo
Chapter 57 [XXIX.]—The Good of Marriage; Four Different Cases of the Good and the Evil Use of Matrimony. The good, then, of marriage lies not in the passion of desire, but in a certain legitimate and
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Book Second. of the Knowledge of God the Redeemer, in Christ, as First Manifested to the Fathers, Under the Law, and Thereafter to Us Under the Gospel · John Calvin
41. The purport of this commandment is, that as God loves chastity and purity, we ought to guard against all uncleanness. The substance of the commandment therefore is, that we must not defile ourselv
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Homilies on First Corinthians · John Chrysostom
How then in this case is the uncleanness overcome, and therefore the intercourse allowed; while in the woman who prostitutes herself, the husband is not condemned in casting her out? Because here ther
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On Marriage and Concupiscence · Augustine of Hippo
Chapter 54 [XXXII.]—How Marriage is Now Different Since the Existence of Sin. God forbid that we should say, what this man pretends we say, “Such marriages as are now enacted are the invention of the
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On Marriage and Concupiscence · Augustine of Hippo
Chapter 19 [XVII.]—Blessing of Matrimony. In matrimony, however, let these nuptial blessings be the objects of our love—offspring, fidelity, the sacramental bond. See above, ch. 11, and On Original
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On Marriage and Concupiscence · Augustine of Hippo
Chapter 13.—In the Marriage of Mary and Joseph There Were All the Blessings of the Wedded State; All that is Born of Concubinage is Sinful Flesh. The entire good, therefore, of the nuptial institutio
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On Marriage and Concupiscence · Augustine of Hippo
Chapter 23 [XXI.]—Sin Has Not Arisen Out of the Goodness of Marriage; The Sacrament of Matrimony a Great One in the Case of Christ and the Church—A Very Small One in the Case of a Man and His Wife. I
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