READINGS
The greatest happiness which a mortal man can imagine is the bond of marriage that ties together two loving hearts. But there is a greater happiness still: it is the embrace of truth. Death will separate husband and wife, but death will never affect him who has espoused the truth. Therefore be married unto the truth and live with the truth in holy wedlock. The husband who loves his wife and desires for a union that shall be everlasting must be faithful to her so as to be like truth itself, and she will rely upon him and revere him and minister unto him. And the wife who loves her husband and desires a union that shall be everlasting must be faithful to him so as to be like truth itself; and he will place his trust in her, he will provide for her. Verily, I say unto you, their children will become like unto their parents and will bear witness to their happiness.
The Gospel of Buddha LXXXI: 6,7
May God, who in the mystery of his vision and power transforms his white radiance into his many-coloured creation,from whom all things come and into whom they all return, grant us the grace of pure vision.
Svetasvatara Upanishad Part 4:1
Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, and patience, forbearing one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
COLOSSIANS 3:12-14
Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.
1 CORINTHIANS 13:4-8a
1 CORINTHIANS 13:4-8a
In the name of Allah,
the merciful, the compassionate.
God is the light of the heavens and the earth. The semblance of His light is that of niche in which is a lamp, the flame within a glass, the glass a glittering star as it were, lit with the oil of a blessed tree, the olive, neither of the East nor of the West, whose oil appears to light up even though fire touches it not, --light upon light.
AL-QUR’AN : Sura 24:35
Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up. Again, if two lie together, they are warm; but how can one be warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him.
ECCLESIASTES 4:9-12
Then the LORD God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner." So out of the ground the LORD God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the air and to every animal of the field; but for the man there was not found a helper as his partner. So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then he took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, "This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called Woman, for out of Man this one was taken." Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh.
Genesis 2:18-24 NRSV
Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm; for love is strong as death, passion fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, a raging flame. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it. If one offered for love all the wealth of his house, it would be utterly scorned.
Song of Songs 8:6-7 NRSV
Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
JEREMIAH 31:31-34
JEREMIAH 31:31-34
Lord, behold our family here assembled.
We thank you for this place in which we dwell,
for the love that unites us,
for the peace accorded us this day,
for the hope with which we expect the morrow,
for the health, the work, the food,
and the bright skies that make our lives delightful;
for our friends in all parts of the earth.
Amen
WEDDING PRAYER ~ By Robert Louis Stevenson
We thank you for this place in which we dwell,
for the love that unites us,
for the peace accorded us this day,
for the hope with which we expect the morrow,
for the health, the work, the food,
and the bright skies that make our lives delightful;
for our friends in all parts of the earth.
Amen
WEDDING PRAYER ~ By Robert Louis Stevenson
Do nondoing,
Strive for nonstriving,
Savor the flavorless,
Regard the small as important,
Make much of little,
Repay enmity with virtue;
Plan for difficulty when it is still easy,
Do the great while it is still small.
The most difficult things in the world
Must be done while they are easy;
The greatest things in the world
Must be done while they are small.
What is at rest
Is easy to hold.
What has not shown up
Is easy to take into account.
What is frail
Is easy to break.
What is vague
Is easy to dispel.
Do it before it exists;
Govern it before there’s disorder.
The most massive tree grows from a sprout;
The highest building rises from a pile of earth;
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a step.
Those who contrive spoil it;
Those who cling lose it.
Be as careful of the end
As of the beginning
And nothing will be spoiled.
True words are not beautiful,
Beautiful words are not true.
The good are not argumentative,
The argumentative are not good.
Knowers do not generalize,
Generalists do not know.
Sages do not accumulate anything
But give everything to others,
Having more the more they give.
The Way of heaven
Helps and does not harm.
The way for humans is to act without contention.
Lao Tzu, tr. Thomas Cleary
Tao Teh Ching, Sections 63, 64 & 81
From the beginning of creation God made them male and female. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; and they shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together let not man put asunder.
Mark 10:6-9
Anyone who has waded
through Love’s turbulent waters,
now feeling hunger and now satiety,
is untouched by the season
of withering or blooming,
for in the deepest
and most dangerous waters,
on the highest peaks,
Love is always the same.
Hadewijch of Antwerp
The fountains mingle with the river,
And the rivers with the ocean;
The winds of heaven mix forever
With a sweet emotion;
Nothing in the world is single:
All things by a law divine
In another's being mingle--Why not I with thine?
See, the mountains kiss high heaven,
And the waves clasp one another;
No sister flower could be forgiven
If it disdained its brother;
And the sunlight clasps the earth,
And the moonbeams kiss the sea; --
What are all these kissing worth,
If thou kiss not me?
LOVE'S PHILOSOPHY
~ By Percy Bysshe Shelley
~ By Percy Bysshe Shelley
Grandfather, look at our brokenness.
We know that in all creation only the human family has strayed from the Sacred Way.
We know that we are the ones who are divided and we are the ones who must come back together to walk in the Sacred Way.
Grandfather, Sacred One, teach us love, compassion and honor that we may heal the earth and heal each other.
Ojibway Prayer
For love is as strong as death.
I hear my Beloved. See how he comes
leaping on the mountains,
bounding over the hills.
My Beloved is like a gazelle,
like a young stag.
See where he stands behind our wall.
He looks in at the window;
he peers through the lattice.
My Beloved lifts up his voice, he says to me,
"Come then, my love,
my lovely, come.
"My dove, hiding in the clefts of the rock,
in the coverts of the cliff,
show me your face,
let me hear your voice;
for your voice is sweet
and your face is beautiful."
My Beloved is mine and I am his.
He said to me:
'Set me like a seal on your heart,
For love is strong as Death,
jealousy relentless as Sheol.
The flash of it is a flash of fir,
a flame of the Lord himself.'
Love no flood can quench,
no torrents down.
THE JERUSALEM BIBLE, Song of Songs
2:8-10, 14, 16a; 8:6-7a
I hear my Beloved. See how he comes
leaping on the mountains,
bounding over the hills.
My Beloved is like a gazelle,
like a young stag.
See where he stands behind our wall.
He looks in at the window;
he peers through the lattice.
My Beloved lifts up his voice, he says to me,
"Come then, my love,
my lovely, come.
"My dove, hiding in the clefts of the rock,
in the coverts of the cliff,
show me your face,
let me hear your voice;
for your voice is sweet
and your face is beautiful."
My Beloved is mine and I am his.
He said to me:
'Set me like a seal on your heart,
For love is strong as Death,
jealousy relentless as Sheol.
The flash of it is a flash of fir,
a flame of the Lord himself.'
Love no flood can quench,
no torrents down.
THE JERUSALEM BIBLE, Song of Songs
2:8-10, 14, 16a; 8:6-7a
Lord, make
us instruments of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let us sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is discord, union;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy;
O Divine Master, Grant that we may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen
us instruments of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let us sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is discord, union;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy;
O Divine Master, Grant that we may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen
THE PRAYER ~ By St. Francis of Assisi ~
May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sunshine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of his hand.
May God be with you and bless you;
May you see your children's children.
May you be poor in misfortune,
rich in blessings,
May you know nothing but happiness
from this day forward.
May the road rise to meet you
May the wind be always at your back
May the warm rays of sun fall upon your home
and may the hand of a friend always be near.
May green be the grass you walk on,
May blue be the skies above you,
May pure be the joys that surround you,
May true be the hearts that love you.
TRADITIONAL IRISH BLESSING
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sunshine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of his hand.
May God be with you and bless you;
May you see your children's children.
May you be poor in misfortune,
rich in blessings,
May you know nothing but happiness
from this day forward.
May the road rise to meet you
May the wind be always at your back
May the warm rays of sun fall upon your home
and may the hand of a friend always be near.
May green be the grass you walk on,
May blue be the skies above you,
May pure be the joys that surround you,
May true be the hearts that love you.
TRADITIONAL IRISH BLESSING
Now you will feel no rain, for each of you will be shelter for the other. Now you will feel no cold, for each of you will be warmth to the other. Now there will be no loneliness, for each of you will be companion to the other. Now you are two persons, but there is only one life before you. May beauty surround you both in the journey ahead and through all the years, May happiness be your companion and your days together be good and long upon the earth.
"Treat yourselves and each other with respect, and remind yourselves often of what brought you together. Give the highest priority to the tenderness, gentleness and kindness that your connection deserves. When frustration, difficulty and fear assail your relationship - as they threaten all relationships at one time or another - remember to focus on what is right between you, not only the part which seems wrong. In this way, you can ride out the storms when clouds hide the face of the sun in your lives - remembering that even if you lose sight of it for a moment, the sun is still there. And if each of you takes responsibility for the quality of your life together, it will be marked by abundance and delight."
"Treat yourselves and each other with respect, and remind yourselves often of what brought you together. Give the highest priority to the tenderness, gentleness and kindness that your connection deserves. When frustration, difficulty and fear assail your relationship - as they threaten all relationships at one time or another - remember to focus on what is right between you, not only the part which seems wrong. In this way, you can ride out the storms when clouds hide the face of the sun in your lives - remembering that even if you lose sight of it for a moment, the sun is still there. And if each of you takes responsibility for the quality of your life together, it will be marked by abundance and delight."
Blessing of the Apaches
Sonnet for a Wedding
Finding that one great love whom all of
us search for can become life’s ultimate quest.
We are inspired, spirited, motivated in love
by our faith in discovery of that perfect guest--
the one who will share our home, our life; whose eyes,
when looked into, reveal that there is only one
impossible thing, and that is to be in love and
to be apart; we crave the company
of our friend. We find our strength in that face
in which we see the recognizable
reflection of our own soul. We embrace
forever the bond that fate allows us to create.
Magic and mystery surround such a day
as this. Hold tightly as you go on your way.
Cynthia Trapanese
