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The Sacramental Journey, Marriage:
1. As a passage point of personal power, the Church discusses the
sacrament of marriage as a strictly internal matter for each person.
(a) The first marriage one must enter is a sacred bonding with
oneself, and one's own happiness.
It is held as a sacred truth within the Church that it is
impossible for anyone to know true love unless one truly and
unconditionally loves oneself, first and foremost.
(b) When one moves into this passage point, one discovers the
depths of divine compassion which are contained in every human
heart. The energies of forgiveness and compassion begin a
subtly profound reordering of one's entire emotional
landscape.
(c) It is in the exploration of this new internal reality that one
discovers that Love is the true, divine source of all
power. It is only in this Love that our internal hurts and
sorrows, as well as all physical illnesses, can be truly
healed. Love is the only True Power.
(d) It is therefore encouraged for all members of the Church to
make this covenant with themselves, and to mark it with an
outward ceremony symbolic of the commitment they've made.
(e) Couples who are already married to each other in the civil
sense but who have not achieved this state of internal grace
are strenuously encouraged to make this personal commitment as
soon as they feel able, and to seek out an ordained minister
of the Church for assistance when necessary.
2. Individuals seeking out the Church and its clergy for the
celebration of the marriage ceremony should be advised that such
personal covenants as outlined in this Canon are considered an
essential precursor to the performance of the sacrament in public
or private.
3. Clerics are constrained in the performance of this sacrament to the
following extent: Only those whose demeanor, manner, and energy
proclaim they understand the true covenant of marriage shall be
deemed candidates for the marriage ceremony.
(a) Should a cleric's determine that candidates for marriage do
not meet the criteria setforth above, but the commitment of
the parties to the relationship is such that with further
training a marriage might be successful, a ``handfasting'' may
be offered.
(b) A ``handfasting'' as defined herein is a formal agreement
between the parties in the relationship and their cleric,
initiated by clerical ceremony, which shall last for a year
and a day from the date of the ceremony, and in which the
parties in the relationship agree, under the supervision of
the cleric who performed the ceremony, to ``act as if'' they
were wed, and in which the cleric who performed the ceremony
agrees to work with the parties in the relationship to
facilitate their preparation for marriage, or realization that
a marriage should not be made.
(c) At the end of the year and a day the handfasting shall end and
may not be renewed by any cleric of the Church.
4. Clerics are responsible for ensuring that the candidates for
marriage have no moral impediments which would prohibit the
undertaking of marriage vows.
5. If the candidates for marriage wish for a certificate of marriage
to be filed with the civil authority, then the clergymember is
responsible for ensuring that no legal impediments exist which
would render the marriage legally invalid. These include but are
not limited to legal age, previous marital status, etc.
(a) If, however, no legal status of marriage is desired by the
candidates, then the cleric is free from the obligations above
and is only obliged to ensure that the participants are in
full understanding that the contract of marriage exists only
among parties.
6. Irrespective of the civil status of the marriage, the performing
cleric shall ensure that the completion of the sacrament is
accurately recorded in the Church records. |
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