Chapter 19. Rituals

The historical and contemporary Rite of Matrimony

Original Arabic Text

Based on what the Holy Synod was entrusted [to consider] at the previous meeting (to conduct a detailed study into the rituals of property contract, and its relation to the Rite of Crowning and the Prayer of Engagement in our Coptic Church, with a comparison to the same rituals in the Greek Orthodox Church, which is the closest of the Old Apostolic Churches to us).

After studying the old Rite of Matrimony in the Coptic manuscripts, and the old and current Greek rituals, in both Greek and Arabic, the following was discovered:

  1. What is referred to as the “property contract” is properly translated as a “Commitment” of matrimony (Arabona
    ARRABWNA
    in Greek, and Areeb
    ARYB
    in Coptic), and this was the engagement in the old understanding of the heritage. "
  2. Engagement in its current status, has been drafted by Hegumen Philothaos Ibrahim, [and this was] after Pope Kyrillos IV (also repeated by Pope Kyrillos V) added the prayers of the Rite of Matrimony to the prayers of the Rite of Crowning.
  3. The historical Prayer of the Commitment of Matrimony in the Greek Church does not have a reading of the Pauline, or a chapter from the Gospel, but rather it focuses primarily on blessing the engagement rings, and putting them on the betrothed, and their exchange, and some other prayers for the Commitment of Matrimony.

    4. For this, the Holy Synod decided that the Rite of the Commitment of Matrimony (property contract) is to precede the Rite of Crowning, which includes: crossings of the rings, the Prayer of Thanksgiving, the litany specific to the Commitment of Matrimony, the Prayer of Blessing of the Garments, the hymn of “The Spiritual Garment”, the wearing of the rings to the betrothed at the hand of the Priest and not at the hands of the betrothed. After that, the prayers of the Rite of Matrimony begin starting with the reading from a Chapter of the Pauline Epistle to the Ephesians etc.

    This forms the Rite of the Commitment of Matrimony (property contract) and the Holy Crowning as follows:

    1. The three crossings: In the name of our Lord, God and Saviour Jesus Christ, the founder of the statute of perfection and the author of the law of graces, we hold the marriage of the blessed Orthodox son (…) etc.
    2. The Prayer of Thanksgiving, followed by the appropriate Verses of Cymbals (including a verse specific to matrimony), the raising of incense.
    3. Then the following prayer for the Commitment of Matrimony (property contract) is said (and when the names of the Groom and his Helpmate are mentioned, he [the Priest] crosses each of them on their foreheads with a cross):

      4. “O God who formed man by His own hands, and gave him the woman for his help and strength, now, also, our Master, be a mediator for the groom and his helpmate, adjoin (…) and (…) through the pledge of fellowship, and grant them the sign of their union, so that, through the bond of love, they may be unified in harmony, and say unto them, “My peace I give you both; My peace I leave with you both.” For You are the peace of us all. Unto You we offer the glory and honour with Your only-begotten Son and the Holy Spirit, the Giver of Life, now and unto the age of all ages amen.”

    4. The Prayer on the Vestments: “O Master, Lord Jesus Christ, our God, who ornamented the sky with the stars etc.” Then the hymn of “the Spiritual Garment” is chanted.
    5. Tishori [Tishori] and Tenosht [Tenost] are chanted the Pauline specific to the Crowning is read (from the Ephesians). The Rite of Crowning then continues as usual until the following is said: “Now since you have been present at this blessed time before the sanctuary of the Lord of Hosts and His holy altar and this Orthodox gathering, you have been joined by this blessed marriage and holy crowning. According to this rite and this law, so also the rest of the fathers, the believers, took one wife in purity and cleanness for the sake of descendants and childbearing. So, you should know each other’s rights and submit to one another, and let each of you be faithful to the other according to our teacher Paul the apostle: “The wife does not have authority over her own body, but her husband does. And likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does” (1 Cor 7:4).
    6. The prayers of the Crowning then continues as usual.

    The Holy Synod has agreed to the proposed amendments in the Rite of the Commitment (which some called the “property contract”) and in the Commandment of the Contract of Matrimony which is said in the Crowning prayers.