'''Marriage''' (also, '''matrimony''') is one of the seven [[holy mysteries]] or [[(sacraments]] ) in the Orthodox Church, as well as many other [[Christian]] traditions. It serves to unite a woman and a man in eternal union before God, with the purpose of following Christ and His [[Gospel]] and , when possible, raising up a faithful, holy [[family]] through their holy union. It is referred to extensively in both the [[Old Testament|Old]] and [[New Testament]]s. Christ declared the essential indissolvibility of marriage in the Gospel.

Married life, no less than monastic life, is a special vocation, requiring a particular gift or [[charismacharism]] from the [[Holy Spirit]]. A , a gift bestowed in the sacrament of Holy Matrimony. The same Trinitarian mystery of unity in diversity applies to the doctrine of marriage as it does to the Church. The family created by this sacrament is a small church.

The Orthodox Church teaches that man is made in the image of the [[Trinity]], and he is not intended by God to live alone, but in a family, except in special cases. And just as God blessed the first family, commanding [[Adam and Eve]] to be fruitful and multiply, so the Church now gives its blessing to the union of man and woman. The sacrament mystery of Christian marriage, in the Church, gives a man and a woman the possibility to become one spirit and one flesh in a way which no human love can provide by itself. The Holy Spirit is given so that what has begun on earth is fulfilled and continues most perfectly in the Kingdom of God.  St John Chrysostom held that procreation is a normal feature of marriage, but not essential to it.  :Marriage does not always lead to child-bearing, although there is the word of God which says, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth." We have as witnesses all those who are married but childless. So the purpose of chastity takes precedence, especially now, when the whole world is filled with our kind. At the beginning, the procreation of children was desirable, so that each person might leave a memorial of his life.... But now that resurrection is at our gates, and we do not speak of death, but advance toward another life better than the present, the desire for posterity is superfluous. If you desire children, you can get much better children now, a nobler childbirth and a better help in your old age, if you give birth by spiritual labor.  :So there remains only one reason for marriage, to avoid fornication, and the remedy is offering for this purpose.<ref>Chrysostom, pp. 85-86.</ref>

For the Orthodox Christian, the marriage service (wedding) is the Church's formal recognition of the couple's unity, a created image of the divine God's love of God which is eternal, unique, indivisible and unending. The early Church simply witnessed the couple’s couple's expression of mutual love in the Church , and they received the blessing upon their union which was sealed in blessed by their mutual partaking of the holy Holy [[Eucharist]].

When a marriage service was developed in the Church, it was patterned after the service for [[baptism]] and [[chrismation]]. The couple is addressed in a way similar to that of the individual in baptism. They confess their faith and their love of God. They are led into the Church in procession. They are prayed over and blessed. They listen to God's Word.

===Office of betrothalBetrothal===At the Betrothal service, the chief ceremony is the blessing and exchange of rings. The rings are blessed by the [[priest ]] in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. The couple then exchange the rings, taking the bride's ring and placing it on the groom's finger and vice-versa. Then they exchange then them again, symbolizing that each spouse will constantly be complementing, and enriching each the other by the union. This is also an outward symbol that the two are joined in marriage of their own free will and consent. It is celebrated in the [[Narthex|vestibule]] of the church building before their procession into the [[nave]] of the church.  ===Office of crowning=== The second part of the service has the ceremony of coronation.

===Office of Crowning=== The second part of the service is the ceremony of coronation, in which the heads of the bridegroom and bride the are crowned by the priest. In the Russian tradition, the crowns are gold or silver, while the Greek tradition has uses crowns of leaves and flowers.

The crowns are crowns of joy, but also crowns of martyrdom, since marriage involves a self-sacrifice on both sides.

The Christian sacrament mystery of marriage can only be available to those who belong to the Church; that is, only for baptized i.e., to communicants. Dispensation may be sought from one's diocesan bishop in cases on mixed marriages between an Orthodox Christian and a Christian of a non-Orthodox but Trinitarian church (e.g., Roman Catholic, Lutheran, etc.) but the wedding must take place in the Orthodox church.

The Orthodox Christian tradition encourages widows and widowers to remain faithful to their spouses who are dead to this world but alive in Christ. Yet [[Dumitru Staniloae]] says, "However, in the case of the death of one of the two spouses, the other is admitted to a second marriage without any ecclesiastical process of divorce, because the marriage is considered to no longer exist (Rom 7:2)."<ref>Staniloae, p. 175.</ref>

Orthodoxy regards the marriage bond as indissoluble, and it condemns the breakdown of marriage as a sin and an evil. The Orthodox Church does permits permit remarriage after divorce and remarriagein some cases, as an exception, a necessary concession to human sin. While condemning sin, the Church desires to help the sinners and to allow them a another chance, with an act of ''[[oikonomiaeconomy]]'' . When a marriage has entirely ceased to be a reality, the Orthodox Church faces the reality with ''[[philanthropy | philanthropia]]'' (loving kindness).  ==Second and third marriage== The Orthodox Church teaches that a second union "is tolerated only by condescension to human weakness (1 Corinthians 7:9). It may also be recognized as a second chance, given to a man or a woman, to enter into a real marriage in Christ when a first union was a mistake (for even Church blessing cannot always magically repair a human mistake!)."<ref>Meyendorff, Marriage: An Orthodox Perspective, pp. 44.</ref> In the service for a second marriage, some of the joyful ceremonies are omitted and replaced by penitential prayers, althoughh the penitential prayers might be omitted if it is a first marriage for one of the spouses.<ref>Meyendorff, p. 46.</ref>

==Second marriage== The Orthodox Church teaches that a second union can never be the same as the first. In the service for also "allow a second third marriage, some of the joyful ceremonies are omittedbut formally forbids a fourth."<ref>Meyendorff, and replaced by penitential prayersp. 46.</ref>

* [http://www.beliefnet.com/story/161/story_16180_1.html Raising Children With Christ, Compassion, and Commitment] by Fr. [[Peter Gillquist|Peter E. Gillquist ]] (''Again Magazine'' and ''Beliefnet'')

==See alsoFurther reading==*''The Experience of God: Orthodox Dogmatic Theology, vol. 5: The Sanctifying Mysteries'' by [[Pastoral Guidelines#Weddings|Pastoral Guidelines Dumitru Staniloae]] (Brookline: Holy Cross Orthodox Press, 2012.) ISBN 978-1-935317-29-6*''The Sacrament of Love'' by [[Paul Evdokimov]]. (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 2011.) ISBN 9780881413977*''Attending to Your Marriage: A Resource for WeddingsChristian Couples'' by Fr. Charles Joanides. (Minneapolis: Light and Life Publishing Company, 2006.) ISBN 1880971992*''Christianity and Eros: Essays on the Theme of Sexual Love'' by [[Philip Sherrard]]. (Limni, Evia, Greece: Denise Harvey, 2002.) ISBN 9607120108*''Marriage: An Orthodox Perspective'' by Fr. [[John Meyendorff]]. (Crestwood, New York: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 2000.) ISBN 9780913836057*''After the Honeymoon: How to Maintain a Happy Marriage'' by Dr. Peter M. Kalellis. (Pittsburgh: Syndesmos, 1999.)*''On Marriage and Family Life'' by St. [[John Chrysostom]]. (Crestwood, New York: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1997.) ISBN 9780913836866*''Preserve Them, O Lord'' by Fr. John Mack. (Ben Lomond, California: Conciliar Press, 1996.) ISBN 1888212012*''Preparing for Marriage'' (Marriage in the Orthodox Church, v. 1) by Dr. Peter M. Kalellis. (Westfield, New Jersey: Ecumenical Publications, 1984.)*''Holy Matrimony'' (Marriage in the Orthodox Church, v. 2) by Dr. Peter M. Kalellis. (Westfield, New Jersey: Ecumenical Publications, 1984.)

*[http://www.geocities.com/canonical_orthodox_2000/betrothal-crowning.html Full text of the Rite of Betrothal and Crowning]* [http://www.holyghost-oca.org/orthodoxy/practices/wedding.htm The Right of Betrothal and Crowning] - Holy Ghost Orthodox Church, Ambridge, Pennsylvania* [http://goarch.org/en/chapel/liturgical_texts/betrothal.asp The Service of Betrothal] and [http://goarch.org/en/chapel/liturgical_texts/wedding.asp The Service of the Crowning (The Service of Marriage)] ([[GOARCH]])*[https://www.oca.org/OCchapter.asp?SID=2&ID=56 orthodoxy/the-orthodox-faith/worship/the-sacraments/marriage Marriage(sacramental)] - ''The Orthodox Faith'' by Fr. [[Thomas Hopko]], Dean Emeritus of St. Vladimir's Seminary, Crestwood, NY. *[https://www.oca.org/orthodoxy/the-orthodox-faith/spirituality/sexuality-marriage-and-family/marriage1 Marriage (Christian life)] - ''The Orthodox Faith''*[http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/praxis/marriage.aspx Marriage: The Great Sacrament] by Archimandrite [[Aimilianos (Vafeidis)|Aimilianos]] of [[Simonopetra Monastery (Athos)|Simonopetra]], [[Mount Athos]]*[http://www.oca.org/DOCencyclical.asp?SID=12&ID=4 Encyclical Letter of the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America on Marriage]