Readings
CR-3
May these two souls find a communion of ideal being and perfect grace. May their love reach the level of every day's most quiet need. By sun and candlelight, May they love freely as men strive for right. May they love purely as men turn from praise. May they find strength to meet the adversities; Tolerance for the prejudices, Reverence For the Beauties, Respect for the Truths,
And Faith for the Uncertainties
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CR-4
Throughout the memory of man, the founding of a new home has been noted as an act of a high and holy order. It has been celebrated with a service of marriage-in sacred groves, in humble meeting houses, under vaulted arches, in temples with ancient rites, and in bombed-out cellars with hurried words.
Yet neither state, church, nor family relations can by the sole weight of tradition, ceremony, or expectation create a genuine joining of man and woman. Such a wedlock comes only through the ripening of love freely given.
It is in your power, therefore, and your power alone
to bless this service, by the sincerity of your purpose, the strength of your common devotion, and the enduring character of your dedication.
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CR-5
Take Time while Time doth last,
Mark how Fair fadeth fast,
Beware if Envy reign,
Take heed of proud Disdain.
Hold fast now in thy youth,
Regard thy vowed Truth,
Lest when thou waxeth old
Friends fail and Love grow cold.
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CR-7
These are two individual souls, who nonetheless embody certain universal and enduring truths: that we need each other, that we can achieve unity only
through tenderness, and that the protection of one human being by another is a solemn responsibility.
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CR-8
This marriage is an event in the lifetime of a love. Neither we nor all society can join these two lovers today. Only they could do what they have chosen. They have joined themselves, each to the other. As they have found union with one another, they proclaim that union today and pledge its future. We by our participation in this celebration do but recognize and honor their intention to dwell together as husband and wife.
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CR-9
May your ring be always the symbol of the unbroken circle of love. Love freely given has no beginning and no end. Love freely given has no giver and no receiver. You are each the giver and each the receiver. May your ring always call to mind the freedom and the power of
this love.
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CR-10
Death is a mystery we see and meet, but love is a mystery in which we live and breathe and have our being. It is an eternal truth which surrounds us to be touched and treasured and known of man. It is an abiding element which has no bounds of time, no limits to its generous outpouring, no fears to make it weak.
It is our great adventure of faith, our lifelong giving and receiving of the
unending blessings of life.
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CR-13
Out of all the hosts of earth, these two have come, have looked in each other's faces, and have seen their
uniqueness and their oneness. Here they have pledged each to the other, to make their future common. Out of the depth of their love they will make their home
and in it rear their children. Out of their wisdom they will face the varied experiences of life and draw from each event of the day that which will make them stronger for the next day's adventure. Out of their faith in the love with which they make this venture, may they find growing a courage sufficient to meet all the perilous chance and change which must touch us all.
May all their living be so bright and shining that no darkness about, no sorrow or separation, ever dim the light by which they walk on life's road. Throughout
all the days of their years may they remember this day with tenderness and joy, remember it as the day when the glory and the beauty of our precious mortality
began to open before them.
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CR-14
May you both look beyond the limits of your own existence to the larger family of humankind, realizing its just claim upon you. For no marriage ought to be celebrated, nor none fulfilled lest a portion of its end be directed toward the ennoblement of all mankind.
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CR-16
The secret of love and marriage is that of religion itself; it is the emergence of the larger self; it is the finding of one's life by losing it. Such is the privilege of husband and wife-to be each himself, herself, and yet another; to face the world strong
with the strength of two, wise with the wisdom of two, and brave with the courage of two. And the high and fine art of married life is in this mutual
enrichment, mental and spiritual, this give and take between two personalities.
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CR-17
To _______and _______who have pledged their love and joined their lives: May theirs always be a shared
adventure, rich with moments of serenity, as well as excitement; vital with problems that test, as well as successes that lift; marked by a sense of personal freedom, as well as mutual responsibility.
May they find in each other, companionship as well as love; understanding as well as compassion, challenge as well as agreement.
May the home they establish be an island where the pressures of a cluttered world can be sorted out and brought into focus; where accumulated tensions can
be released and understood; where personal needs do not tower over concern for others and where the immediate does not blur more distant goals; where the warmth of humor and love puts both crisis and dullness into perspective.
And above all, may they find an ever richer meaning and joy in the high adventure of lifelong loving and learning together.
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CR-18
In every passing era, new challenges are revealed to those who strive for a larger determination of their destinies. This is as true of marriage as it is for any other part of life's adventure.
A husband and father can no longer expect his position to be one of unquestioned authority. Nor can a woman expect the full measure of those words -wife and mother-to be hers as her due.
Each worthwhile goal must be earned by the degree of insight and unbounded love which we bring to it. So may you continue to grow in separateness and togetherness that your marriage may truly illuminate the challenges of your years.
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CR-20
As we stand here at the altar of life, where life is touched by love, and love by life, we share with these who have taken their marriage vows, their newfound happiness. We see the door open for comradeship and mystery, for growth and fulfillment.
So we pray that each may bring his whole and best self to the other. May they bring intelligence as well as faith, to the task that is set before them. May
they maintain enduring trust and respect, remembering that to understand all is ever to forgive all.
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CR-22
What greater thing is there for two human souls than to feel that they are joined for life, to strengthen each
other in all labor, to rest on each other in all sorrow, to minister to each other in all pain, to be one with each other in silent unspeakable memories at the moment of the last parting.
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CR-23
When two individuals meet, so do two private worlds. None of our worlds is big enough for us to live a wholesome life in. We need the wider world of joy and
wonder, of purpose and venture, of toil and tears. What are we, any of us, but strangers and sojourners forlornly wandering through the nighttime until we
draw together and find the meaning of our lives in one another, dissolving our fears in each other's courage, making music together and lighting torches to
guide us through the dark? We belong together. Love is what we need. To love and to be loved. Let our hearts be open; and what we would receive from others,
let us give. For what is given still remains to bless the giver-when the gift is love.
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CR-30
If life has meaning to us at all, it possesses it because of love. It is that which enshrines and ennobles our human experience. It is the basis for the
peace of family and the peace of the peoples of the earth. The greatest gift bestowed upon humans is the gift not of demanding but of giving love between
man and woman.
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CR-31
This is a time that you have chosen to become husband and wife. We are here not only to witness your commitment to each other but to wish you every happiness in your future life together. Marriage is founded on sincerity and understanding which leads to tolerance, confidence and trust. And believe that
those qualities which attracted you both to each other can be best developed during a lifetime spent together. A happy marriage will enable you to establish a home with love and stability where your family and friends will always be welcome.
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CR-32
Happiness in marriage is not something that just happens A good marriage must be created. In marriage the little things are the big things. It is never being too old to hold hands. It is remembering to say “I love you” at least once a day. It is never going to sleep angry. It is at No time taking each other for granted
The courtship not ending with the honeymoon but lasting
throughout the years. It is having mutual sense of values and common objectives. It is standing together facing the world.
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CR-33
Marriage is a bit like driving a car. You get your licence and off you go. Your confidence is high, the new experience exciting. After a short while you stop seeing only yourself and suddenly realize there are thousands of others out there all doing much the same thing. Some are good at it, some never seem to get the hang of it, others have their ups and downs, their little mishaps and their near misses. Marriage, like driving, needs working at to become successful. Getting the licence is just the beginning. But what a happy and exciting beginning.
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CR-34
Today is a day you will always remember. The greatest in anyone’s life. You started off the day just two people in love. You will end it as husband and wife.
It’s a brand new beginning. The start of a journey.
You will experience moments to cherish and treasure.
And although there’ll be times when you both disagree,
these will surely be outweighed by pleasure. You have heard many words of advice in the past. Secrets of marriage were spoken. But you know that the answers lie hidden inside Where the bond of true love is lives.
So live happy forever as lovers and friends, as it is the dawn of a new life for you both. All your hopes and your dreams can be real. May success find its way to your hearts. Tomorrow can bring you the greatest of joys, but today is the day it all starts
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B-5
We read in I Corinthians 13, Though I speak with the tongues of men and angels, but have no love, I have become as sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am
nothing. Love suffers long and is kind. Love does not envy. Love does not parade itself, is not puffed up. Love rejoices in the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.
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B-6
We read in The Prophet, True love gives nothing but itself, and takes nothing but from itself, for love is sufficient unto love. Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself, to awake at dawn and give thanks for another day of loving, to rest at noon and meditate love's ecstasy, to return home at eventide with gratitude, and then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart, and a song of praise
upon your lips.
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B-7
We read in The Prophet, Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone, Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music. And stand together yet not too near together: For the pillars of the temple stand apart, and the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.
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B-8
We read in Colossians 3:12, Therefore put on tender mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you
also must do. But above all these things, put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which you were called in one body; and be thankful.
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