Matrimony: The Crowning in Byzantine Rite

1.Introduction
The joining of two souls in marriage is also considered to be a Holy mystery in the Orthodox Church. Marriage is a public celebration of the union of husband and wife. Spiritually, they become "one flesh," and by the Holy Spirit the couple is called to live out their eternal vocation together on this earth. They are to nurture and encourage each other in the spiritual life. Together, the husband and wife draw closer to God through the mutual submission of love. It is God joining a man and a woman into one flesh in a sense similar to the Church being joined to Christ . The success of marriage cannot depend only on mutual human promises, but on the promises and blessing of God. In the Orthodox marriage rite, the bride and groom offer their lives to Christ and to each other - literally as crowned martyrs. So marriage stands for the union of two human beings in God. This union has different purposes on the basis of the teachings and faith of the Church.

2. The Crowning in Byzantine Rite
Symbol of the Crowning: The ceremony of the crowning is a most expressive part of the Ritual of Marriage, for here the mutual commitment of the couple is now raised to share in the life of the Holy Trinity - "crowned in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” The crowns are the sign of God's blessing on this couple, for it is truly God Who unites the husband and wife. The three hymns (troparia) that precede the removal of the crowns reveal the call of marriage:
Crowns of royalty: in marriage, the husband and wife become king and queen of a new unit of society, a new family, a little church. Crowns of martyrdom: the word martyr really means witness; and so man and wife should give witness of God's undying love for them as they journey through life growing and suffering, rejoicing and loving.Crowns of the Kingdom: marriage is a living relationship, one that grows continually and only finds its fulfillment in the Kingdom of God.
Having been led into the church and into a new relationship with Christ, and having been crowned into the Kingdom of God, the marriage is then sealed in the ultimate union in the celebration of the Eucharist. Now joined to each other as Christ is to the Church, the couple begins a new mission: they are sent forth to live as a reflection of God's love in this world.
When the bride and bridegroom enter the middle of the church in procession psalm 128 is sung. It is a processional palm of feast days in the temple of Jerusalem, which exalts the happiness of family life, and the prosperity and peace which it brings along as the highest forms of divine blessing.
“Blessed is very one who fears the lord, who walks in his ways. You shall eat the fruit of the labors of your hand, you shall be happy, your wife will be like a fruitful wine, within your house your children will be like olive shoots around your table. May the Lord bless you from Zion. May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life May you see your children’s children”.
The first long sacerdotal prayer reminds us of the couple of the Bible whom god abundantly blessed with children in view of realizing His sacred plan for mankind. Thus Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebaca, Jacob and Rachael, Joseph and Aseneth, Zachariah and Elizabeth are recalled.
The second prayer seeks divine blessings on the couple so that “they may live according to God’s will:
Bless them as you did bless Abraham and Sarah, Bless them as you did bless Issac and Rebeca, Bless them as you blessed Jacob and al the patriarchs, Joseph and Aseneth, Moses and Zipporah…Joackim and Anna…. Zachariah and Elizabeth….preserve them as you Noah in the ark, Jonah in the belly of the whale….the three children from the fire.Let the gladness come upon them which the blessed Helen had when she found the precious cross. Remember them as you remembered Euoch, Shem and Elijah, as you remembered your forty martyrs sending down upon them crown from heaven”.
After a third prayer asking God to stretch out his hand on the bridegroom and the bride, they are crowned.
“Crowning in glory is a favorite theme of St. Paul. Every athlete in training submits to strict discipline. He does so in order to be crowned with a crown that will not last. But we do it for one that will last forever” (1 Cor. 9:25). Crown is seen as an eternal reward for righteousness. “I have fought a good fight, I finished my course, I have kept the faith; therefore there is laid for me a crown of righteousness” (2Them. 4:7-8). St. Peter speaks about a crown that will not fade away: “when the chief shepherded shall appear, you shall receive a crown of glory that does not fade away (1Pet. 5:4).
Hence the liturgical prayers refer to the martyrs who received the crown of glory “O Holy Martyrs, who forgot the good fight and have received your crowns, entreat the lord that he will have mercy on our souls”. While imposing the crown on the couple the priest says: the servant of God….is crowned in the hand maiden of God…..in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Thrice he sings O lord our God crown them with glory and honor while he gives the solemn blessing.
Conclusion
The new spouses are called to become one in an indissoluble unity. They become dedicated as a Eucharistic community building a house of God. By depicting these as the constitutive values or norms, liturgy draws out the conjugal ethos envisaged by the Malankara Church. The liturgy also affirms the virtues of charity, humility and honesty as habits of married life. A life based on these values helps the couple possess the ethos depicted in the liturgy. It is this ethos that gives the couple the identity of the Malankara couple. The configurative function can be seen also in the forms of exhortation in the liturgy. In order to take up the task of Christian married life as visualized by the Church, the liturgy exhorts the new couple and the community. The Old Testament couples are presented as models through which the new couples are exhorted to aspire to the values which these models lived. The miracle at Cana reminds the couple of the central position of Christ in the life of the couple. The rites of crowning in the marriage liturgy exhort the new spouses to penetrate into the depth of the mystery of their life. The services of the crowns exhort the couple to a total dedication. Here we see how natural symbols take on divine significance and lead at the existential level toward a change of life. The liturgy also makes direct and indirect appeals which make the spouses conscious of their goals and help them to live accordingly. Thus, the Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church Marriage liturgy presents itself as a configurative principle showing how the present life of the couple has to be shaped.


Bibliography
Brock S., Studies in Syriac Christianity, Variorum, Great Britain, 1992.
Chacko Aerath, Liturgy and Ethos,Marthoma Yogam,Rome,2000
Denzinger, Ritus Orientalium Coptorum, Syrorum et Armenorum, Tomus Secundus, Akademische druck und Verlagsanstalt, Graz-Austria,1961,.
Edakalathur L., The Theology of Marriage in the East Syrian Tradition, Mar Thoma Yogam, Rome, 1994.
Fonseca J.A., Marriage in India in a Christian Perspective, Academia Alfonsiana, Rome,1998
John Meyendorff, Marriage an Orthodox Perspective( New York: St. Valdimir’s Seminary Press, 1975
J. Vellian, Crown veil cross, in Syrian church series vol. 15 pune 14,1990.
Posner R., “Marriage” , in Encyclopaedia Judaica, Vol. XI, Keter Publishing House, Jerusalem, N.D., 1025-1042.