Thank you for joining us as we prepare to be united in the Mystery of Marriage in the Orthodox Christian Church! We can't wait to share this beautiful day with you!

Look at the benefits good marriages bring to humanity. Who are the teachers of wisdom, the discoverers of the deepest knowledge, the explorers of everything on the earth, in the sea, or in the sky? Who are the lawgivers in the cities, and before them, the founders of the cities themselves? Who founded the arts? Who populated the squares, and the houses, the tables of banqueters? Who brought together the choirs that sing in the churches? Who tamed the ferocity of primitive life, first tilled the soil, and crossed the seas?

What, if not marriage, could unite what was divided? Here is a better point still. Through marriage we become one another's hands, ears, and feet. Marriage doubles what had been weak. It is a great joy to our friends, a distress to our enemies. Sharing our troubles lessens the pain; joys put in common are sweeter; harmony makes riches more precious. And marriage is more precious than riches themselves.