The Melkites are Catholics of the Middle East, and they have a proud history. They were often glorious in defense of the faith, and at the same time were frequently persecuted because of it. The story of the Melkite church goes back a long way - to the very dawn of Christian history. The Melkite Church is part of the Apostolic Church of Antioch, first founded by St. Peter, and now spread throughout the world. The city of Antioch, located near the modern Turkish-Syrian border, was the first Gentile city to receive the Gospel. Melkites are proud to lay claim to being the most ancient of all the Gentile churches and love to quote from the Acts of the Apostles that "It was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians." The Melkite Church is known as an "Eastern" Catholic Church because our spirituality and ritual are steeped in the rich mystical language and symbolism of the Christian East. Under the leadership of our Patriarch of Antioch, our Church is in full communion with the Church of Rome. His Beatitude Maximos IV, our late Patriarch, once aptly described the Melkite Church as "an Orthodox Church in communion with Rome." (Taken from the pamphlet for the Mystery of Holy Crowning from Our Lady of the Cedars Melkite Catholic Church)

Holy Crowning is a Mystery in which Christ, through His Holy Church, sanctifies the union of a man and a woman in marriage. (In the Eastern tradition, Catholics use the word "mystery" to signify a sacrament.) Each of the ritual elements of the marriage ceremony has deep meaning and significance to the Eastern Christian. The music or chants used in the marriage service are ancient in origin and, in accord with this ancient tradition, are always sung "a capella" (unaccompanied). The actual ceremony consists of two services that are normally joined together: the Betrothal Service and the Service of Holy Crowning. In the Betrothal Service, the couple is blessed and the priest exchanges the wedding rings three times, taking the bride's ring and placing it on the groom's finger, and vice-versa. The exchange signifies that in married life the weaknesses of one partner will be compensated for by the strength of the other, and imperfections of one by the perfections of the other. By themselves, the newly-betrothed are incomplete; together they are made perfect. Thus the exchange of rings gives expression to the fact that the spouses in marriage will be constantly complementing each other. Each will be enriched by the union. Traditionally, the man and woman about to be married carry lighted candles. The candles are reminders of baptism, the first of sacraments, as well as symbolic of the lamps of the five wise maidens of the parable, who because they had enough oil in them were able to receive the Bridegroom, Christ, when He came in the darkness of the night. The candles symbolize the spiritual willingness of the couple to receive Christ, who will bless them in this Holy Mystery. In the Service of Holy Crowning, the priest joins the right hands of the bride and groom together and prays that they be united "In one mind and in one flesh." The Crowning is the climax of the wedding service. The crowns are signs of the glory and honor with which God crowns them during this Holy Mystery. The groom and bride are crowned as the pinnacle of God's creation and as heads of their own home, which they are called to rule with wisdom, justice, and integrity. The crowns also symbolize the crowns of victory given to the martyrs, since every true marriage involves immeasurable self-sacrifice. After the reading of the Epistle and Gospel, the couple share in the "common cup" of wine, which calls to mind the marriage at Cana of Galilee, where Christ performed His first miracle by changing water into wine. The drinking of wine from the common cup serves to impress upon the newly married couple that, from this moment on, they will be called to share everything in life, joys as well as sorrows, and that they are to "bear one another's burdens." Their joys will be doubled and their sorrows halved, because they will be shared. (The wine from the "common cup" is blessed wine, not consecrated wine.) The priest then leads the bride and groom in procession around the marriage table upon which is the Gospel Book. In this joyful procession the couple begins their marriage journey with a few symbolic steps, and the Church, in the person of the priest, leads them in the way they should walk. The way is symbolized by the circle, at the center of which is the Gospel of the Lord. This expresses the fact that the way of Christian living is a perfect orbit around the center of all life, who is Jesus Christ the Lord. During the ceremonial procession around the marriage table a hymn is sung to the Holy Martyrs, reminding the newly married couple of the sacrificial love they are to have for each other in marriage - a love that is willing to sacrifice all for the one loved. After the procession, the couple returns to their place, the crowns are removed, and the priest gives the final blessing. In attending this wedding service you are called not only to witness the marriage of two people, but also to add your prayers to theirs that God may bless their life together. For "Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain." (Psalm 127:1) (Taken from the pamphlet for the Mystery of Holy Crowning from Our Lady of the Cedars Melkite Catholic Church)