Marriage and Matrimony
Matrimony is a sacrament in which baptized spouses enter a lifelong covenant ordered to their good and the generation and education of children.
Historical context
Ignatius, Letter to Polycarp 5, exhorts husbands and wives to love faithfully and says their union should have the bishop's approval. This is an early witness to ecclesial accountability, not a description of the later Byzantine crowning service or a complete Latin theology of Matrimony.
Pastoral note
The Christ-and-Church analogy calls for self-giving love, not coercion or a justification of abuse. Questions about preparation, discipline, or a particular marriage require qualified pastoral care.
Avoid overclaiming
Jesus' presence at Cana and the word mystery in Ephesians do not alone establish a universally agreed later sacramental classification. Christian marriage also belongs beside the New Testament's esteem for celibacy, not a claim that marriage is required of every believer.
Strongest alternative reading
Ephesians calls the mystery great with reference to Christ and the Church. Catholic and Orthodox readers relate this to marriage's sacramental character. Many Protestant readers honor marriage as a creation ordinance and covenant without treating the word mystery as a definition of a New Testament sacrament.
Scripture
- Ephesians 5:25-32 — Christ's self-giving love supplies the analogy for marriage; verse 32 explicitly refers the great mystery to Christ and the Church.
- John 2:1-11 — Jesus' first sign at Cana reveals his glory in a wedding setting; the narrative does not itself define later sacramental categories.
- Genesis 2:18-24 — The creation narrative speaks of companionship and becoming one flesh, the passage Jesus and Ephesians later invoke.
- Matthew 19:3-9 — In a dispute about divorce, Jesus appeals to creation and what God has joined together; this is not a description of a complete wedding ceremony.
- 1 Corinthians 7:7-16 — Paul discusses marriage, celibacy, and households with an unbelieving spouse. The different gifts and situations prevent reducing Christian vocation to marriage alone.
Primary sources
Ignatius writes to Polycarp:
Ignatius gives an early witness to marriage formed with episcopal approval and ordered toward God.
it becomes both men and women who marry, to form their union with the approval of the bishop, that their marriage may be according to God
Passage context and translation
Ignatius exhorts both husbands and wives to love faithfully and places marriage within accountable ecclesial life. The wording witnesses to episcopal approval; it is not a complete later marriage rite.
Before the excerpt
exhort my brethren, in the name of Jesus Christ, that they love their wives, even as the Lord the Church.
After the excerpt
Let all things be done to the honour of God.