_Now if at the same time they desire to be crowned, they go into the
temple with burning tapers, preceded by the priest with the censer, and
singing psalm cxxvii thus. And the people say after each verse,_
_Glory to thee, O our God, glory to thee._
Blessed are all they that fear the Lord.
_Glory to thee, O our God, glory to thee._
They that walk in his ways.
_Glory to thee, O our God, glory to thee._
Thou shalt eat the fruit of thy labours.
_Glory to thee, O our God, glory to thee._
Blessed art thou, and it shall be well with thee.
_Glory to thee, O our God, glory to thee._
Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine on the gables of thine house.
_Glory to thee, O our God, glory to thee._
Thy sons shall be as newly-planted olive trees round about thy table.
_Glory to thee, O our God, glory to thee._
Lo, thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the Lord.
_Glory to thee, O our God, glory to thee._
The Lord shall bless thee out of Sion, and thou shalt see the good things
of Jerusalem all the days of thy life.
_Glory to thee, O our God, glory to thee._
And thou shalt see thy son’s sons: peace be upon Israel.
_Glory to thee, O our God, glory to thee._
_After this the priest saith a word of instruction, telling them what is
the mystery of marriage, and how in marriage they have to live acceptably
unto God, and honourably. And after the conclusion of this, the priest
interrogateth the bridegroom, saying,_
Hast thou, _name_, a good and unconstrained will, and a firm intention
to take unto thyself this woman, _name_, whom here thou seest before thee?
_And the bridegroom answereth, saying_, I have, reverend father.
_The priest again_, Thou hast not vowed thyself to another bride?
_Bridegroom._ I have not vowed myself, reverend father.
_And straightway the priest, regarding the bride, interrogateth her,
saying_, Hast thou a good and unconstrained will, and a firm intention to
take unto thyself this man, _name_, whom thou seest here before thee?
_And the bride answereth, saying_, I have, reverend father.
_The priest again_, Thou hast not vowed thyself to another man?
_And the bride answereth_, I have not vowed myself, reverend father.
_Then the deacon saith_, Bless, master.
_Priest._ Blessed be the kingdom....
_Choir._ Amen.
_Deacon, the ectenia._
In peace let us pray to the Lord.
For the peace that is from above....
For the peace of the whole world....
For this holy temple....
For the Most Holy Governing Synod.
For our Most Pious....
For the servants of God, _name_, _name_, who are now being conjoined to
one another in the community of marriage, and for their salvation, let us
pray to the Lord.
That this marriage may be blessed as was that in Cana of Galilee, let us
pray to the Lord.
That there may be vouchsafed unto them chastity, and fruit of the womb
for their benefit, let us pray to the Lord.
That they may be rejoiced in the beholding of sons and daughters, let us
pray to the Lord.
That there may be granted unto them the acquisition of fair children, and
a blameless course of life, let us pray to the Lord.
That there may be granted unto them and unto us all desires that tend
unto salvation, let us pray to the Lord.
For their deliverance and ours from every affliction.
Help us, save us, have mercy....
Commemorating our most holy, most pure, most blessed....
_Priest, with a loud voice,_
For to thee is due all glory....
_Choir._ Amen.
_Deacon._ Let us pray to the Lord.
_Choir._ Lord have mercy.
_The priest, with a loud voice, this prayer._
O God most pure, and the Author of all creation, who, through thy love
to man, didst transform a rib of Adam the forefather into a woman, and
didst bless them, and say, Increase and multiply, and have dominion over
the earth, and, by the conjoining, didst declare them both to be one
member; for because of this a man shall forsake his father and mother,
and shall cleave unto his wife, and the two shall be in one flesh; and
whom God hath joined together let man not put asunder; who didst also
bless thy servant Abraham, and open the womb of Sara, and didst make him
the father of many nations; who didst bestow Isaac upon Rebecca, and
didst bless her offspring; who didst join Jacob unto Rachel, and from
them didst make manifest the twelve patriarchs; who didst yoke Joseph
and Aseneth together, and as the fruit of generation didst bestow upon
them Ephrem and Manasse; who didst accept Zacharias and Elizabeth, and
didst declare their offspring the Forerunner; who out of the root of
Jesse, according to the flesh, didst produce the Ever-Virgin, and from
her wast incarnate and wast born for the salvation of the human race; who
through thine unspeakable grace and plenteous goodness, wast present in
Cana of Galilee, and didst bless the marriage there, that thou mightest
show that a lawful union, and a generation therefrom is according to thy
will. Do thou thyself, O most holy Master, accept the prayer of us, thy
servants, and, with thine invisible presence being here, as there, do
thou bless this marriage, and give unto thy servants, _name_, _name_, a
peaceful life, length of days, chastity, love for one another in the bond
of peace, a long-lived seed, grace upon their children, and an unfading
crown of glory. Count them worthy to see their children’s children;
preserve their bed undefiled; and give them of the dew of heaven from
above, and of the fatness of the earth. Fill their houses with corn, wine
and oil, and with every bounty, that they may have to give to them that
are in need, bestowing also unto them that are here assembled with us all
desires that tend to salvation.
For a merciful, and compassionate, and man-loving God thou art, and to
thee we ascribe glory, with thine unbeginning Father, and thy most holy,
and good, and life-creating Spirit, now and ever, and to ages of ages.
_Choir._ Amen.
_Deacon._ Let us pray to the Lord.
_Choir._ Lord, have mercy.
_The priest this prayer with a loud voice._
Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, thou hierurgist of mystical and pure
marriage and lawgiver of that of the body, thou guardian of incorruption,
thou good provider of the means of life. Do thou thyself now, O Master,
who in the beginning didst create man, and appoint him as the king of
creation, and say, It is not good for man to be alone upon the earth,
let us make him a helpmeet for him; and, taking one of his ribs, didst
make woman, whom when Adam saw he said, This now is bone of my bones, and
flesh of my flesh: she shall be called woman, for she was taken out of
her man: for this cause a man shall forsake his father and mother, and
cleave unto his wife, and two shall be in one flesh: and whom God hath
joined, let not man divide: do thou thyself now, O Master, Lord our God,
send down thy heavenly grace upon these thy servants, _name_, _name_, and
grant unto this thine handmaid to be in all things subject unto the man,
and to this thy servant to be at the head of the woman, that they may
live according unto thy will. Bless them, O Lord our God, as thou didst
bless Abraham and Sara. Bless them, O Lord our God, as thou didst bless
Isaac and Rebecca. Bless them, O Lord our God, as thou didst bless Jacob,
and all the patriarchs. Bless them, O Lord our God, as thou didst bless
Joseph and Aseneth. Bless them, O Lord our God, as thou didst bless Moses
and Sepphora. Bless them, O Lord our God, as thou didst bless Joakim
and Anna. Bless them, O Lord our God, as thou didst bless Zacharias and
Elizabeth. Preserve them, O Lord our God, as thou didst preserve Noe in
the ark. Preserve them, O Lord our God, as thou didst preserve Jonas
in the belly of the whale. Preserve them, O Lord our God, as thou didst
preserve the three holy children from the fire, sending down upon them
dew from heaven; and may that joy come upon them which the blessed Helen
had when she found the precious cross. Remember them, O Lord our God,
as thou didst remember Enoch, Sem, and Elias. Remember them, O Lord our
God, as thou didst remember thy holy forty martyrs, sending down upon
them crowns from heaven. Remember, O God, the parents who have reared
them; for the prayers of parents confirm the foundation of houses.
Remember, O Lord our God, thy servants, the paranymphs, who are present
at this rejoicing. Remember, O Lord our God, thy servant, _name_, and
thine handmaid, _name_, and bless them. Give them fruit of the womb,
fair children, and unanimity of soul and body. Exalt them as the cedars
of Libanus, and as a well-cultured vine. Bestow upon them seed of corn,
that, having every sufficiency, they may abound in every work that is
good and acceptable unto thee; and let them behold their sons’ sons as
newly planted olive-trees round about their table, and, being accepted
before thee, may they shine as the luminaries in heaven unto thee, our
Lord. And, together with thee, be glory, might, honour, and worship, to
thine unbeginning Father, and to thy life-creating Spirit, now and ever,
and to ages of ages.
_Choir._ Amen.
_Deacon._ Let us pray to the Lord.
_Choir._ Lord, have mercy.
_And again the priest saith this prayer with a
loud voice._
O holy God, who didst form man from the dust, and from his rib didst
fashion woman, and yoke her unto him a helpmeet for him, because so it
was seemly unto thy majesty for man not to be alone upon the earth;
do thou thyself now, O Master, stretch forth thy hand from thy holy
dwelling-place, and conjoin this thy servant, _name_, and this thine
handmaid, _name_; for by thee a woman is conjoined unto a man. Yoke them
together in unanimity, crown them in one flesh, bestow on them fruit of
the womb, and the gain of well-favoured children.
For thine is the might, and thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the
glory, of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, now and
ever, and to ages of ages.
_Choir._ Amen.
_And after the Amen the priest, taking the crowns, crowneth first the
bridegroom, saying,_
The servant of God, _name_, is crowned for the handmaid of God, _name_,
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
_Then he crowneth also the bride, saying,_
The handmaid of God, _name_, is crowned for the servant of God, _name_,
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
_Then he blesseth them thrice, saying thrice,_
O Lord our God, crown them with glory and honour.
_Then the prokimenon of the epistle, tone viii._
Thou hast set upon their heads crowns of precious stones; they asked life
of thee, and thou gavest it them.
_Verse._ For thou wilt give them a blessing to ages of ages, thou wilt
make them glad through joy with thy countenance.
_The epistle to the Ephesians, section cci._