Divergence In Marriage

In the 21st century marriages have been altered in order to suit the lifestyles of family and friends. After conducting an interview and collecting primary source documents from Sophie Arnold concerning her Greek Orthodox marriage, divergence occurs to a moderate extent between how it is described and how the ritual is practised. The purpose of my research was to gain a deeper understanding of the rite of passage, marriage, and investigate whether or not there is any divergence to the modern practice. According to Carrie Frederick Frost, “There is no one Orthodox Christian theology of marriage.” My interviewee was Mrs Sophie Arnold, she grew up in a very Greek traditional, conservative family, however she herself is now liberal. Expressing
My interviewee follows this and did not have any vows said in her wedding. Stating, “We undertook the Greek Orthodox ritual and as adults we were ready to commit to each other.” Viewing the ritual from an outsider’s perspective, Sophie says, “I think it is a bit ritualistic and long, if they do not understand Greek but would probably appreciate it if they understood the language.” Ergo, the meaning and purpose of her ritual converges to the Greek Orthodox beliefs to a significant extent and there is no other great divergence evident.

Moreover, in the Orthodox tradition, the wedding ceremony is actually composed of two services. The first is the Service of Betrothal, or Engagement ceremony. The second is the Service of Marriage or Crowning. The structure of the interviewee’s marriage is almost identical to the tradition ceremony of Marriage. As stated by Arnold, “The Greek Orthodox marriage does have a definite structure. There are two parts to the ceremony. They both occur straight after each other.” This definition is extremely similar to the Church. The betrothal is officially known as a Sign of commitment and devotion to another where rings are exchanged. Mrs Arnold’s opinion is alike to this
These elements include; time, participants, leader, symbols and transforming power. Bill Sophie’s husband is British and not Greek. According to her, this marriage between the couple was permitted by her priest and church, because he was baptised as an Anglican. Conversely, it was frowned upon by her family. The time of the ceremony just happened to occur on new year’s eve due to restrictions made by the church and clashes with their personal calendar. The marriage was not permitted before and/or around Christmas, Easter or Lent because the church would not condone it occurring so close to such important festivals or the year. Also, on some particular dates, the orthodox priests had other events, for example: saint days, feast, etc. A male Greek orthodox priest is the only person who can perform the ceremony. This will not change as the church is very strict towards keeping the traditions alive, so, a female priest will never be accepted. As mentioned by Mrs Arnold, “For the Greek Orthodox community it is meant that we got married in the tradition of our faith and people came to the church to witness the marriage. It also was an important, special, religious approval to the parents” Various symbols held importance in the wedding, the wedding crowns which symbolises the glory and honour that is being bestowed on them by God. And the ribbon joining the two crowns