#Catholic matrimony

[catholic-saint-tournament]

While we wait for our final four to come down to the last two, here's another fun poll! Choose your favorite sacrament.

If you don't know what they are or need a refresher, click here.

[myremnantarmy]

For a Christian, it is not sufficient to get only the civil contract, because it is not a sacrament, and therefore not a true marriage. Spouses who would live together united by only a civil marriage would be in an habitual state of mortal sin, and their union would always be illegitimate in the sight of God and of the Church.

-Pope Saint Pius X, on Matrimony

[pink-fiat003]

If you had to pick one area where Christianity is better than Islam, what would it be?

View on marriage. In Islam there’s too much focus on the contract aspect and allowing the man to be married to multiple women at a time, promoting carnal desires. Marriage is seen as the natural, automatic vocation. In Christianity different vocations are respected - especially celibacy, not just marriage, and follows the concept of two becoming joined together as one. No polygamy, no sex slaves in heaven, no divorce. It’s a sacrament. You are joined until death. I feel more respect and dignity in that.

Here’s one of my favorite sources on the main differences between marriage in Islam and Christianity: https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/marriage-christianity-vs-islam

[catenaaurea]

Catechism of Pope Saint Pius X

The Sacraments

The Sacrament of Matrimony

Nature of the Sacrament of Matrimony

1. Q. What is the sacrament of Matrimony?

A. Matrimony is a sacrament, instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ, which creates a holy and indissoluble union between a man and woman, and gives them grace to love one another holily and to bring up their children as Christians.

2. Q. By whom was Matrimony instituted?

A. Matrimony was instituted by God Himself in the Garden of Paradise, and was raised to the dignity of a sacrament by Jesus Christ in the New Law.

3. Q. Has the sacrament of Matrimony any special signification?

A. The sacrament of Matrimony signifies the indissoluble union of Jesus Christ with the Church, His Spouse, and our holy Mother.

4. Q. Why do we say that the bond of marriage is indissoluble?

A. We say that the bond of marriage is indissoluble or that it cannot be dissolved except by the death of either husband or wife, because God so ordained from the beginning and so Jesus Christ our Lord solemnly proclaimed.

5. Q. Can the contract be separated from the sacrament in Christian marriage?

A. No, in marriage among Christians the contract cannot be separated from the sacrament, because, for Christians, marriage is nothing else than the natural contract itself, raised by Jesus Christ to the dignity of a sacrament.

6. Q. Among Christians, then, there can be no true marriage that is not a sacrament?

A. Among Christians there can be no true marriage that is not a sacrament.

7. Q. What effects does the sacrament of Matrimony produce?

A. The sacrament of matrimony: (1) Gives an increase of sanctifying grace; (2) Gives a special grace for the faithful discharge of all the duties of the married state.

Minister — Rite Dispositions

8. Q. Who are the Ministers of this sacrament?

A. The Ministers of this sacrament are the couple themselves, who together confer and receive the sacrament.

9. Q. How is this sacrament administered?

A. This sacrament, preserving, as it does, the nature of a contract, is administered by the contracting parties. themselves, who declare, in the presence of the parish priest, or another priest delegated by him, and of two witnesses, that they take each other in marriage.

10. Q. What use, then, is the blessing which the parish priest gives to the married couple?

A. The blessing which the parish priest gives to the married couple is not necessary to constitute the sacrament, but it is given to sanction their union in the name of the Church and to invoke on them more abundantly the blessing of God.

11. Q. What intention should those have who contract marriage?

A. Those who contract marriage should have the intention: (1) Of doing the will of God, who calls them to that state; (2) Of working out in that state the salvation of their souls; (3) Of bringing up their children as Christians, if God should bless them with any.

12. Q. How should those about to be married prepare themselves to receive this sacrament with fruit?

A. In order to receive this sacrament with fruit, those about to be married should: (1) Earnestly recommend themselves to God, so as to know His will and obtain the graces necessary for that state; (2) Consult their parents before making any promise, because obedience and the respect due to them demand this; (3) Prepare themselves by a good confession, or, if necessary, a general confession of their whole life; (4) Avoid all dangerous familiarity in word or act while in each other’s company.

13. Q. Which are the principal obligations of married persons?

A. Married persons should: (1) Guard inviolably their conjugal fidelity and behave Always and in all things as Christians; (2) Love one another, bear patiently with one another, and live in peace and concord; (3) Think seriously of providing for their children, if they have any, according to their needs; bring them up as Christians, and leave them free to choose the state of life to which they are called by God.

Conditions and Impediments

14. Q. What is necessary to contract Christian marriage validly?

A. To contract Christian marriage validly it is necessary to be free from every diriment impediment to marriage; and to give consent freely to the marriage contract in the presence of the parish priest (or a priest delegated by him) and of two witnesses.

15. Q. What is necessary to contract marriage lawfully?

A. To contract marriage lawfully it is necessary to be free from every impeding impediment to marriage; to be instructed in the principal truths of religion; and, finally, to be in a state of grace; otherwise a sacrilege would be committed.

16. Q. What are impediments to marriage?

A. Impediments to marriage are certain circumstances which render marriage either invalid or unlawful. The former are called diriment impediments and the latter impeding impediments.

17. Q. Give examples of diriment impediments.

A. Diriment impediments are, for example, relationship to the fourth degree, spiritual relationship, a solemn vow of chastity, or difference in religion, that is, when one party is baptized and the other is not. [This has been altered by the 1983 code of canon law]

18. Q. Give examples of impeding impediments.

A. Impeding impediments are, for example, the forbidden times, a simple vow of chastity, and the like.

19. Q. Are the faithful obliged to make known to ecclesiastical authority impediments of which they have a knowledge?

A. The faithful are obliged to make known to ecclesiastical authority impediments of which they have knowledge; and for this reason the names of those who intend to get married are published in the Church.

20. Q. Who has the power to regulate impediments to marriage, to dispense from them, and to judge of the validity of Christian marriage?

A. The Church alone has power to regulate impediments to marriage, to judge of the validity of marriage among Christians and to dispense from the impediments which she has placed.

21. Q. Why has the Church alone power to place impediments and to judge of the validity of marriage?

A. The Church alone has power to place impediments, to judge of the validity of marriage, and to dispense from the impediments which she has placed, because the contract, being inseparable from the sacrament in a Christian marriage, also comes under the power of the Church, to which alone Jesus Christ gave the right to make laws and give decisions in sacred things.

22. Q. Can the civil authority dissolve the bonds of Christian marriage by divorce?

A. No, the bond of Christian marriage cannot be dissolved by the civil authority, because the civil authority cannot interfere with the matter of the sacrament nor can it put asunder what God has joined together.

23. Q. What is a civil marriage?

A. It is nothing but a mere formality prescribed by the [civil] law to give and insure the civil effects of the marriage to the spouses and their children.

24. Q. Is it sufficient for a Christian to get only the civil marriage or contract?

A. For a Christian, it is not sufficient to get only the civil contract, because it is not a sacrament, and therefore not a true marriage.

25. Q. In what condition would the spouses be who would live together united only by a civil marriage?

A. Spouses who would live together united by only a civil marriage would be in an habitual state of mortal sin, and their union would always be illegitimate in the sight of God and of the Church.

26. Q. Should we also get the civil marriage?

A. We should perform the civil marriage, because, though it is not a sacrament, it provides the spouses and their children with the civil effects of conjugal society; for this reason, the ecclesiastical authority as a general rule allows the religious marriage only after the formalities prescribed by the civil authorities have been accomplished.

[In many countries, especially English speaking countries, the civil authority acknowledges the religious marriage and gives it the civil effects, thus there is no need of a separate ceremony. However the states often add certain requirements and formalities which should be observed.]

[cmcsmen]

Sand Castles

Note: This is a guest blog post by Deacon Bob Slobig, who is a Chicago Deacon and also a blogger. We'll be sharing from time to time blog entries for Catholic men by a Chicago Deacon. Enjoy!  -- Frank

Life, like skyscrapers, we are created, serve our purpose, then move out of the way for the next era. Because we are humans, though, we have the benefit of absorbing the beauty of the buildings we create.  Life is God's gift to us, how we invest our time and what we do with our lives is our gift to God. Photo: 'People and Skyscrapers - Square' 2011 Frank J Casella - Click here to purchase on my art website (and support my work with CMCS).

----

Whatever human beings can do, other human beings can undo.  The Supreme Court of the United States, in its last two terms, has undone a lot of the law that had become ingrained in this country’s traditions in the past half-century.  When I was at the beach I saw people making sand castles.  One little boy, who couldn’t have been more than 3 or 4, wanted to get in on it, so he was filling a plastic cup with wet sand and turning it over.  He was just delighted to build his little castles.  And then he got up and stomped on them and destroyed them, and he laughed and laughed; he was just as delighted to destroy them as he had been to make them.  He could put them together, and he could smash them apart.  

            Along the Tri-State Tollway, you pass by the Allstate headquarters in Northbrook, an impressive campus of suburban office buildings connected by a long, enclosed second-story passageway.  This summer I drove by what had been a dependable landmark for decades, and they are tearing it all down.  I thought of Mr. Mayhem from the Allstate commercials – it’s like they turned him loose on the company’s home office, bringing it down like a sand castle.  What men built, men can also dismantle. 

            Whatever people can do, people can undo.  

            A Christian wedding is different.  What God joins together, no human being can undo.  The blessing of marriage is conferred not by the minister or even by the community, but by God living in the groom and God living in the bride.  These two call upon divine power to join them and sustain them, to empower them to face all the rest of life’s challenges together, to experience all the rest of their lives’ joys and sorrows together.

            The presence of God is within us.  All of us.  The presence of God dwelling in the groom and dwelling in the bride is what drew them together.  That same presence of God draws guests to their wedding, and it gives the groom and the bride the courage to make this lifelong commitment to each other.  That presence of God within the bride and the within the groom and living in all of us is what holds them together. 

            That divine power that lives within the bride and lives within the groom and lives within all of us, is what St. Paul described in the letter to the Corinthians, the second reading we so often hear at weddings.  The word we use to name that power of God within us is Love.  Love is the presence of God, dwelling in us, calling us to love one another as God loves us.  It’s Love that joins the married couple together.   The bride and the groom put their trust in the power of God, who lives in each of them and lives in all of us, to keep them together, because what God puts together, no human can take apart.

            The gospel of Mark is part of the marriage ritual: “Therefore what God has joined together, no human being must separate.”  God is doing something at a wedding that no one else can undo.  What the bride and groom want, and what we all want, is for them to be joined to each other forever, and we know is that human beings can’t do that on their own.  What human beings put together can always be taken apart.  In marriage, it’s God who is joining these two together, and that’s why it’s going to last. 

            The way God accomplishes that outcome is to make the people do the work of becoming one flesh, and always with God’s help.  The bride and groom are “no longer two but one flesh,” because they trust in each other enough to give all of themselves to the other, and because they are equals, joining together to form one.  We want them to live out what we hear in the Scriptures, and we want it to be as joyful as sand castles, but to last forever.

         Because God is the One who put them together.  

[ominouspositivity-or-else]

*The Eucharist is the body of Christ under the appearances of bread and wine.

**God is bound to these sacraments, meaning he always gives grace through them when they are done, but he is not bound by these sacraments, meaning that God can do literally whatever he wants and can of course go around them and provide grace in other ways.

***7 sacraments, listed: Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Eucharist, Confession, Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders, and Matrimony.

Feel free to add nuance in the tags or talk about why you find the teachings strange! Let me know if there's anything utterly baffling that I didn't include!!!

Also please remember to be respectful!!! Not everyone knows theology like you might!!!

[artthatgivesmefeelings]

Rogier van der Weyden or Roger de la Pasture (Netherlandish, c.1399-1464) The Seven Sacraments, ca. 1440-45 Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp The 7 Sacraments celebrated in the Catholic Church are Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Penance and Reconciliation, Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders, and Matrimony. They are divided into three categories: Sacrament of Initiation, Sacraments of Healing, and Sacraments at the Service of Communion.

[sandwichsapphic]

i might have went a little crazy this weekend but. derry-ifies your beloved english characters

bertie is perfect for the wee english fella role, obviously. the others don’t translate as simply but i don’t care i was sketching for fun and the concept of bertie in a girls catholic school is so stupid. i love his female friends so much i wish they got more time to hang out without the threat of matrimony, so this is teenage-them wish fulfilment

also they would meet jeeves at that FATB event. i just think it’s really funny if they can’t date still, not because of a class divide, but because he’s a prod

[bucky-barnes-diaries]

Day 21 — Thigh Fucking

Pairing || Beefy!CatholicPriest!Bucky x Inexperienced!Innocent!Virgin!Female!Reader

Word Count || Around 2000

Contents & Warnings || Smut, Dark/Taboo Themes — NSFW, 18+ Only, Minors DNI, non-con, explicit content/language, pet names, religious themes, blasphemy of religion, sacrilegious acts, biblical references, sexual content involving a catholic priest, strict/religious parents, age-gap (Reader is early 20s, Bucky is early/mid 30s), Father kink, priest kink, size kink, corruption kink, authority kink, inappropriate/forceful touches, begging, thigh fucking, mention of bodily fluids.

Disclaimer || English is not my first language so I apologise for any mistakes or misunderstandings!

Kinktober Masterlist

Most Sundays after mass, you would accompany Father James in tidying up the beloved church of your small community. Some people would probably be annoyed being tasked with cleaning and organising, but you seized every opportunity to be in his presence, knowing what it would most likely lead to when you and he were alone.

You were in the process of placing Bibles on the pews in front while casually humming along to the soft radio echoing through the vast and holy hall. Your mid-length dress rose slightly as you bent over to place the books down. It was such a small gesture that you didn't think much of it, but it seemed like someone had caught a glimpse of you.

It was hard to ignore the manifestation that lurked up behind you—the essence that exuded from him. His unholy and ungodly behaviour was out to show and play. All of his holiness put away for the day.

His broad and muscular chest made soft contact with your back—a significant contrast to the determined power that radiated from him. You automatically tilted your head slightly to the side as your body had become accustomed to this scenario since it wasn't the first time Father James had crept up behind you like this.

His lips skimmed your earlobe, and his warm breath tickled the sensitive skin of your neck, making a wave of shivers flow down your spine. He placed his colossal palm on your clothed mound, pulling you flush into his firm chest, making you lightly gasp. The hardness that outlined his tight pants rubbed against your behind, and he groaned so deep in your ear that you felt a delicious tingle in your stomach.

“When will you finally let me defile this innocent little cunt of yours, sweet thing?” His alluring voice dropped an octave lower when he spoke, making your knees almost buckle at the sinister tone. You clutched a bible tightly to your chest, making Father James chuckle as you held onto the frail words of God, but that wouldn't help you here when the mighty Devil had come out to play.

This wasn't the first time Father James had shown you the ways of impureness, and it certainly wouldn't be the last.

But losing your virginity? That was a step you were not ready to take, not yet, at least. You weren't willing to give up your pureness, not when it was so engrained in your brain by your strict religious parents that sex was a great sin unless conducted between a man and a woman that had been wed in holy matrimony.

“When will you finally let me corrupt this tiny pussy, angel?” He uttered again as he groped your covered core, wanting an answer from you.

Father James had never forced his way on you in the sense of penetrative sex, but he did lust for it every sexual moment you had together, and it seemed like he was trying his hand on it again. But you just couldn't.

“Father, I-I can't. I-I'm sorry.”

He groaned in slight annoyance as he put more pressure on your poor core, making you shut your eyes tight before he loosened his grip. You felt ashamed that you couldn't please him the way he wished the most, but you wanted to make him satisfied in a way he had taught you some weeks ago.

“But, I-I can get on m-my knees a-and worship you.”

He chuckled darkly at your willingness to submit to him in the sense of wicked prayer and worship.

“Or, we can both be pleased and blessed at the same time while still keeping the pureness that you so desperately hold on to.”

“I-I don't understand, Father.” You'd only known blowjobs and fingering from him. What other possible solutions did he have for pleasure that didn't involve those two and penetrative sex?

“Let me show you.” He growled like a possessed man.

He came to stand in front of you, towering over your small frame with his enormous one, a sinister smirk and a sinful glimmer in his eyes. His pants and long-sleeve shirt were as dark as his demeanour. The white clerical collar was the only thing that indicated that this was a man of God, after all. You practically shook, in both exhilaration and horror, for what his wicked plan was as you peered up at him.

He took the book from you and tossed it to the side before he sat down at the pew and relaxed his arms on the back of it, and spread his thick legs. Since he was now at your eye level, it was a little less scary, but still, you became flustered as you stared into his crystal eyes with hints of darkness, so you averted them to the floor as you twiddled with your fingers.

“Take off your dress.”

Your eyes went wide at his words. You've never undressed for him, ever. The thought terrified you—in both factors that it was sinful to reveal your flesh and fear that Father James would be disappointed in what you had to offer.

“Father, I-”

“Take. It. Off.”

With shaking hands, you slowly lifted the dress off your body and let it drop beside you. Once it was off and you stood bare in front of him with nothing on than your peachy cotton underwear. His devilish behaviour displayed a hint of softness as he leaned forward a little, and his lips parted in awe.

The way his eyes skimmed all over your untouched flesh made you incredibly shy to be so exposed to him, so you brought your hands up to cover yourself, prompting Father James to be highly disappointed.

“Hey,” he took your hands in his and pried them away from your body and pulled you to him until you stood between his open legs. “Don't shy away from me, sweet thing,” you met his eyes again that now held nothing but adoration in them, “you're the most perfect angel ever to walk this earth. God spent his time perfecting your beautiful body. So pretty, sweet one.” Heat rose to your cheeks at his sincere compliments.

“T-thank you, Father.”

As quickly as his sweetness came, it disappeared in a flash, and he returned to his true and wicked nature. He chuckled darkly as he undid his belt and pants, pulling them down with his underwear until his mighty impressive dick stood heavy and erect. The sheer size of him always left you astonished and nervous at the same time.

Father James always found it amusing how innocently in awe you were at the size of him. He took great pleasure in how his dominant and assertive demeanour contrasted to your innocent and inexperienced one. It drove him wild with desire.

“Turn around for me.”

With wobbly legs, you turned around until you faced the altar, peering up at Jesus hanging from the cross as you said your forgiveness for the great sin that would be conducted in this holy church.

“Oh, sweet little thing.” His massive palms took a soft grasp on your hips and pulled you closer until the back of your thighs met his inner ones, and his throbbing length rested against your behind. “You're so godly perfect,” he mumbled, softly kissing your shivering spine.

He peeled your panties off and quickly found your folds as he ran his fingers through the sticky arousal, making a breathy and needy sound escape your mouth as he played with you.

“Your little pussy is so messy, sweet thing. Are you sure you don't want me to take your innocence? It seems like your pretty cunt wants it.”

“N-no, Father,” you softly sobbed.

Suddenly, his fingers disappeared and were replaced with his bulbous head teasing your quivering opening. You tried wiggling away from him, but he kept a steady and firm grip on your mound.

“I can just slide in here, you know. Force my cock through your tiny velvet walls and split you in half. It's not like a frail little girl like you can stop me,” he sneered as he pushed just half an inch inside you.

“N-no, Father, p-please,” you cried as you shut your eyes tight, forcing tears back. Your fingernails dug into his plump thighs to brace yourself in case he didn't care for your pleas to stop.

“It's ok, sweet thing.” He kissed your spine again as an apology for taking it a little too far. “I won't be that cruel. Let’s both be blessed and pleased while still keeping within your boundaries, yeah?”

“Y-yes, Father.”

He situated the upper side of his thick length against your delicate flower. “Keep your thighs closed. I need you nice and tight for me,” he demanded in a husky tone.

You closed your thighs around his whole dick, moaning softly as he throbbed against your leaking folds. A groggy groan sounded from him as you squeezed hard, resulting in some of his pre-cum squirting out of his tip and coating your bundle of pleasure.

“Please,” you pleaded sweetly, making him groan against your spine as he left a sloppy kiss on your skin.

He took a firm grip on your hips, wanting total control of your body. With a heavy grunt, he drags himself back before pushing forward between your folds again, his tip flickering your sensitive nerve, making you gasp softly at the buzzing tingle.

His groans are thick and heavy as he moves with slow movements into you repeatedly. His dick splits your folds in half as he runs through your slick mess with his girth while his bulbous head bumps and leaks against your tingling and needy nerve with each slow and torturous thrust. The slickness makes it easier for him to pump through your tight flesh effortlessly.

“Father, it feels so good,” you mew as your eyes struggled to stay open as you peered up at Jesus on the cross again, who looked mighty disappointed at the violation happening in his church.

Your soft and pretty whines and cries prompt Father James to handle your body with such ease as he drags you into his heavy and rough thrusts, making your luscious behind smack against his pelvis.

“God, your thighs feel amazing, sweet thing. I can imagine how good your tiny hole must feel. One day I'll corrupt it and make you all mine,” he groaned possessively, making your empty walls flutter around nothing.

A swarm of tantalising butterflies tingled and teased at the pit of your stomach, aching to be released and provide that heavenly and sinful sensation that would ascend you into pleasure.

“O-oh, Father, please. I-I,” your words were broken off by a series of high-pitched moans and whines as you came for him. Your body shaking, and hadn't it been for Father James holding you up; you would have collapsed to the floor due to the raging intensity coursing through your nerves.

His hips stuttered as his thick and raspy voice sang praises to the good Lord while his holy seed painted your swollen folds and stomach. He was breathing heavy and hard as he thrust through both of your highs, making sure you both felt blessed and satisfied.

He hissed while you whined when he pulled away from your tight and used flesh, plopping you down on his lap and making you rest your head on his strong shoulder. He wrapped his arms around your frail and tired body as he gave you some much-needed gentle care and love.

“Good girl,” he praised you while you melted further into his warm and comforting touch as he kissed your forehead, making you sigh in relief and contentment.

“T-thank you, Father.”

“No, thank you, sweet thing. For keeping myself and the Lord happy.”

Feedback through a comment is highly appreciated! Or let me know through an anonymous ask if that feels more comfortable. As well as a reblog to share my work with other people!

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[i-cant-sing]

Oh man, there's just something about weddings- no matter what religion/country, that each have their certain features that is just oh so endearing and I'd just love to have it all😭

Okay, so take Hindu weddings. There's a lot of things to love, but my fav? The sindoor, because it's just so so intimate and like- some people say that if some of that red powder falls on your nose, it means that your husband loves you very much 😭😭😭😭 oh not to mention, I saw some guy touching his forehead with his brides to apply the sindoor and I just- 🫠

Then take Muslim weddings, and like yes, indo obviously love the whole "mehr" thing, but it's always so adorable to see what the bride asks for her mehr (which is often money, but not always. Some brides ask for a kitten, a trip, or even a verse from Quran)🩷🩷🩷 and also the first halal hug- oh its just so heartwarming to see the way the groom embraces his bride in his arms with the utmost carr, maybe a peck on the forehead if they're into PDA.

And then there's catholic weddings, where they do the vows- "in sickness and in health" omg😭 and and the bride wearing something "blue, borrowed" etc that's cute too- BUT ALSO THE "ANYONE HAS ANY OBJECTIONS?" omg I would die if some (handsome and wanted) guy did actually object to my matrimony.

But apart from religious weddings, I also love everyone's traditions- I saw a video of Hunza people in Pakistan, where the couple make rotis (bread) together to signify the bond of their relationship- teamwork.

I know some of u guys would LOVE this- in Roma weddings, the guy kidnaps the girl of his liking (as far as I know, the guy already has the blessings and permission from the girl's parents) and then after negotiations, a wedding happens.

*gasps* I JUST REMEMBERED when I was little I used to watch Indian soap dramas and I was so jealous when I found out that not everyone does that ceremony where there's a bowl of milk with rose petals in it, and they drop a ring in it for the bride and groom to find and whoever finds it first, will mean that that person will be more dominant in the relationship- and EVERY SINGKE TIME THE GUY WOULD FIND THE RING FIRST BUT DISCREETLY PASS IT TO HIS WIFE SO THAT SHE COULD BE THE WINNER ONGGGGG

And then the Arab countries just practically frowning the bride in gold and money... I like that very much.

Wait omg I remember that Pakistanis have these GRAND welcome for the new bride in their home. I mean, first the groom brings her home in a fancy car or something, then the entire house is lit up with fairy lights and then they do FIREWORKS 😭😭

And in Indian, Pakistani, Bengali weddings, there's the henna tattoo ceremonies, and I love that so much, maybe because I grew up watching bollywood and desi shows, so I'm just gonna say they have amazing weddings.

*sniffle* I get it- I get why women dream of their weddings all their life.

[a-big-apple]

Gideon, Harrow, and "Wedding Vows"

i frequently see the interpretation that this:

"The land that shall receive thee dying, in the same will I die: and there will I be buried. The Lord do so and so to me, and add more also, if aught but death part me and thee," said Gideon. (GtN 438)

plus this:

"If I forget you, let my right hand be forgotten," her mouth was saying. "Add more also, if aught but death part me and thee." And, unsteadily: "Griddle." (HtN 360)

plus this:

It didn't even matter when Kiriona said, "Sure, Cam. Marry a moron, then die. I get the urge." (NtN 372)

equals Gideon and Harrow are married! crying face emoji!

i'm not disparaging that interpretation, i think it's valid and has some basis in the text, and even if it wasn't/didn't, i think fans should have all the fun they want. but for me, it doesn't fully capture the complexity of what Gideon and Harrow are to each other, and i want to explore a slightly less straightforward reading.

Catholic weddings, vows, and Ruth under the cut ;)

Gideon and Ninth House traditions

let's start with Gideon quoting Ruth. i've seen folks repeating the idea that this is a wedding vow. it's more accurate to say that this is a verse often used as a wedding vow, in other denominations of Christianity, and secularly as well. but in a (traditional) Catholic wedding, the couple can't write or choose their own vows--the Celebration of Matrimony has specific text, with one or two variations, that is always used.

now, we haven't seen a Ninth House marriage ceremony. if we do see such a thing in AtN and discover that Ruth 1:17 is part of that tradition, i will cry a million happy queer tears about it. but i think it's somewhat likely that Gideon has never even seen a Ninth House wedding, given how small and trending elderly the population is, and that we know no couples in her lifetime have had kids other than the Reverend Parents.

what i'm getting at here is that this quotation from Ruth doesn't seem, to me, to represent something that's religiously or traditionally binding in Ninth House culture. it uses some similar language to Catholic marriage vows, "until death do us part" etc, but i don't think these are words that make them married in the eyes of the Ninth or the Houses at large, i think these are words Gideon has chosen as a specific expression of her devotion. and where does she get them from, if not some Ninth House ceremony or scripture?

well, this is a slightly longer stretch, but at the point in the story when Gideon says this, she's already dead. Harrow has begun to absorb her--and thanks to "The Unwanted Guest," we know that souls are porous, permeable, and rub off on each other when they're in contact. Gideon's soul is at this moment being integrated into Harrow's; Harrow has certainly read all kinds of books on the Ninth ranging from usual to totally heretical, some of them probably extremely old, and it's not unreasonable to think writings from before the Resurrection might have been copied and recopied into something Harrow could access. And speaking of soul permeability, Harrow's had Alecto's soul clinging onto hers for seven years, and Alecto's soul is in intimate contact with John's soul--there are so many ways for this bit of scripture to make its way into Gideon's non-corporeal mouth. the STI (Soulfully Transmitted Infection) of biblical knowledge.

Ruth in context

now let's talk a little about Ruth, the book of the Bible and also the character of the Bible, and Naomi, who she is swearing her devotion to. tl;dr, Naomi and her husband and two grown sons are Israelites who immigrate to Moab, a "pagan" nation, to escape famine. Naomi's two sons marry Moabite women; then the sons both die, as does Naomi's husband. Naomi, having lost everything, decides to return home where she'll be penniless and have a bad life but at least she'll be among her people; she tells her two daughters-in-law to go back to their families. One of them goes.

The other, Ruth, refuses, and swears beautiful devotion to Naomi, as we've heard Gideon quote: "She answered: Be not against me, to desire that I should leave thee and depart: for whithersoever thou shalt go, I will go: and where thou shalt dwell, I also will dwell. Thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God. The land that shall receive thee dying, in the same will I die: and there will I be buried. The Lord do so and so to me, and add more also, if aught but death part me and thee."

in a biblical context, this has nothing to do with a wedding vow. Ruth is promising to leave the comfort of her own people, religion, and homeland to stay with her mother-in-law Naomi, even though the connection they had (Naomi's son, Ruth's husband) is gone, and all they have to look forward to is a terrible life of grief and bitterness. this is frequently interpreted as a parallel to Jesus, who (in the religious perspective) made the sacrifice of leaving his place with God and becoming human out of devotion to humanity, in order to live and suffer and redeem us. woof, this is giving me flashbacks to CCD.

of course, many Christians resist interpreting what passes between Ruth and Naomi as resembling a wedding vow for homophobic reasons too--making it about Jesus is a way to make it less queer--but i think the point still stands that this is a more complicated, and less marriage-related, expression of love than it seems taken on its own.

Harrow's lamentation

when Harrow later echoes it back, she conflates it with a different biblical quotation: "On the willows in the midst thereof we hung up our instruments. For there they that led us into captivity required of us the words of songs. And they that carried us away, said: Sing ye to us a hymn of the songs of Sion. How shall we sing the song of the Lord in a strange land? If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand be forgotten. Let my tongue cleave to my jaws, if I do not remember thee: If I make not Jerusalem the beginning of my joy."

it's a lament, an expression of mourning, a longing for home from someone who has been forcibly removed from it. when combined with the Ruth quotation, in which Ruth is giving up her home in her devotion, this really reads to me as both Harrow's grief, immediate and overpowering, and a realization that Gideon is her home, and failing to acknowledge that is as disabling as the loss of a hand or of the power of speech. Gideon is the beginning of her joy, and Harrow is, in this moment, putting Gideon above the Ninth House in her devotion. above Alecto. above everything.

and again, i'm not saying all of that can't be about marriage, but it's about a relationship much more complicated than marriage can encompass in the context House cultural norms.

Kiriona Gaia, saddest girl

this brings me to Kiriona, and "marry a moron, then die." consider the context of this, and the tone. Kiriona's deeply, deeply hurt. the saddest girl in the universe. she died for Harrow, avowed her devotion to Harrow, and then (from her perspective) was rejected; buried; excised from Harrow's brain and then from her body. Kiriona, as she did when she was Gideon, covers her emotions with humor and sarcasm. i suspect she's even less able to handle being vulnerable as Kiriona than she ever was before. she's making light of Canaan House and what happened there, and it's only in sarcastically downplaying what she's been through that she recounts her relationship to Harrow as a marriage--something she has almost no positive examples of, something that is in her experience frequently political and joyless. also notably, she frames it as a marriage that occurred before she died.

Their actual vow

what Gideon (and Kiriona) really wants--she tells us over and over again--is to be a true cavalier.

and what does Gideon's ghost repeat right before she devastates us with Ruth 1:17?

"One flesh, one end," said Gideon, and it was a murmur now, on the very edge of hearing. Harrow said, "Don't leave me." (GtN 438)

it's taken me a dozen paragraphs just to propose that this is their vow. "One flesh, one end" are the actual words that need to be spoken, in Gideon and Harrow's cultural context, to bring them into an official union with each other; a union that is arguably more fundamental in the Houses, and certainly more complicated, than a marriage. a union Gideon specifically wants, and has seen in action.

in the pool, they vow to each other as cavalier and necromancer. in the moments before Gideon's death, she forgives Harrow again, and exposes her heart: "'You know I only care about you,' she said in a brokenhearted rush" (GtN 430). then she repeats their oath again, acknowledges the pain she's about to cause for Harrow, and rededicates herself to the Ninth--a place she never really belonged, Harrow's home and people more than her own, as Ruth dedicated herself to Naomi's home and people. Gideon "married" her moron in the pool, and now she dies to fulfill that vow.

and as we saw above, after Gideon's death, she reminds Harrow again of their union--of its importance, of how she's fulfilling what she has interpreted to be her whole purpose as a cavalier--and it's in response to Harrow's "don't leave me" that Gideon offers a final reassurance of her devotion. in her mind, this sacrifice is its ultimate expression, the most inextricable and undeniable union two people can achieve.

Gideon believes she'll be part of Harrow forever.

[underqualified-human]

Pomefiore: I can be your Angle or your Devle

→ Request: hiii I would like to request headcanons relationahip for vil schoenheit, rook hunt,  epel felmier from twisted wonderland, with a fem mc who is actually a real angel (you know, with wings, ethereal, believer in God, etc) but at first it didn't seem like it since mc is usually stubborn and very naughty, the opposite of what would be expected of an angel jeje it's all, thanks in advance  → A/N: Okay so I changed it slightly  → ⚠ Warnings ⚠: Mentions of family issues, → Fandom: Disney:Twisted Wonderland → Genre: Headcanons → Pronouns: She/Her

You were born from a literal holy matrimony- and you hated it.

Your father was an angel (the key word being was. He fell almost directly after your birth) and your mother was a human. The apple clearly didn't fall far from the tree when it came to following rules. When you first arrived in Twisted Wonderland you figured it was some weird last resort after your expulsion from your Catholic All-Girls School (long story, don’t ask), but quickly came to realise that it was definitely not. On the bright side, you ended up getting a boyfriend, score!

General Headcanon:

I'm pretty sure a Nephilim/Giborim would be mistaken as a kind of fae, so keep that in mind as you read

Vil Schoenheit:

One of the first people to notice the more ethereal aura that your appearance has and finds himself staring at you more than what is considered normal, even after you start dating

It almost scares him sometimes, how you look in certain lights. Like when you punch someone in the nose for badmouthing him.

Normally he can smell rebellious spirit like a bloodhound, but your appearance caught him off guard. Which definitely intrigues him.

Tries to curb some of your more violent urges to varying degrees of success. You still end up getting into a bunch of fights and he still ends up helping you tend to your  

Whenever somebody brings up parents you go silent and he definitely notices.

If you want to talk about it he'll listen, if not then so be it

Definitely pushes you to do at least one photoshoot with him, whether he's successful or not is up to you

No clue how to help with your wing care, but provides you with any products you need

If any of his fans say anything he's not afraid to defend you

Rook Hunt:

A little bit creepy at first. asking invasive questions and general stalking

He tones it down later but definitely has a notebook about you (that you don't know about)

You get a lot of love poems throughout the entire relationship. He never runs out of ways to compliment you. It is insane.

Likes picnic dates, also teases you by bringing some sort of bird dish

Knows every bad thing you do, he’s just there, watching. He’s not going to try and stop you or report you if no one else does.

I like to think he's a bit of an artist, both visually and by the written word. You're the subject of most if not all his creations. 

Some he gives to you and some he keeps to himself. Just as a little keepsake.

If you'll allow him, he would love to sketch and pet your wings. He will start to describe them in great and poetic detail so be warned.

If there's anything special you need to do with your wings to keep them healthy/hidden he'll do everything to help you.

Epel Felmier:

Relates so hard to having an appearance contradicted by actions/attitude

Likes to join you in any rebellious/ general delinquent activity 

Tries to fight people that stare at you for too long

Makes sure to keep you far away from Vil, even if you like make-up and fashion he does not want to put you through that

Skips things like etiquette and dance classes to just hang out with you (Vil thinks you're the problem child, which isn't completely wrong)

Likes to give you little apple carvings he makes, some of wings and birds others just things he likes to carve

He didn't grow up with chickens, but his family did know some people who did. What I'm saying is he applies chicken grooming tactics to your wings and is surprised when you take offence. (You get a new nickname from it.)

One of his favourite things to do is to lie down with your wings wrapped around him. It makes him feel safe and helps him calm down, like being wrapped in a blanket while listening to your heartbeat. He'd kill anyone if they ever found out though.

Can't really relate to your family issues, but introduces you to his pretty early on in the relationship.

[catalinadearagonsblog]

A musical portrait of the life of Katharine of Aragon, Henry VIII’s Spanish Queen, ‘K of A’ is an instrumental album by English composer and keyboard player Geoff Proudley, drawing on orchestral, classical, filmic and rock elements to paint some of the key moments and emotions in Katharine’s life.

As Geoff describes ‘It’s been a three-year labour of love. Starting with an original mysterious Spanish theme that came to me when I was reading about Katharine, I gradually started to write more, fleshing out episodes and moments of her life. I suppose it was a bit like writing for plays and getting inside the characters, what she was feeling and then painting musical pictures of events in her life’. It’s something I find I can do. It usually comes through in what I write, through my subconscious. For this album I think I wrote about 70% of the themes and main frameworks of the pieces in one weekend of piano improvisation. Again, thinking about the events in her life and capturing everything I played into Logic. Then going back and listening to what I had. I often write that way and I find it really productive.’

Track listing:

Why the Tudors and why Katharine?

“Well, I know they’ve been done to death (literally!). But it’s still fascinating five hundred years later. I mean you couldn’t write it could you? It’s easy to be appalled by the brutality of people and their thinking. But these people thought completely differently to us. Everyone was intensely religious. Kings and Queens had real power and the survival of their dynasties was a matter of life and death lest they be usurped by someone with an equally tenuous claim to the throne!

But I know what you might be thinking. Didn’t Rick Wakeman do Henry’s six wives back in the seventies? Well yes, but that was an album about all his wives. A whistle-stop tour of the matrimonial set. This is purely about Katharine and follows her life from leaving Spain as a teenager to marry Prince Arthur, through her subsequent widowhood and betrothal to Prince Henry. Then her coronation when Henry ascended to the throne and life as queen consort and then queen regent (when Henry was at war with France). It moves on through her fall from grace, her cruel banishment and divorce after failing to provide a male heir, the split with the Catholic church of Rome and her eventual death while under effective house arrest in 1536. It’s been a really interesting project. I learned a lot about her. I empathised with her plight too having been through a divorce myself. That might sound pretentious, but those sorts of emotions resonate through history. They are as real today as five centuries ago”.

[scotianostra]

Robert III was crowned King of Scots on August 14th 1390 at Scone.

King Robert was born as John, he took the name Robert as his given name brought back defeatist memories of John Balliol. He was also illegitimate, his Father, Robert II, the first of The Stewart, and his mother Elizabeth Mure, although were married in 1336, the marriage was not recognised by the Catholic Church, they received a matrimonial Papal dispensation in 1347, and the young John/Robert was made legitimate.

He succeeded his father as King of Scots in 1390, he was advanced in years by then, at 53, and to make matters worse had been deemed lame, after a kick from a horse in 1388 in a tournament. He was married to Annabella Drummond, the daughter of Sir John Drummond, of Stobhall, near Perth, 11th Thane of Lennox and Chief of Clan Drummond, and Mary Montifex. Her father’s sister was Margaret Drummond, the second wife of David II.

The new King, like his father before him, was weak willed, hesitant and ineffectual, anything less like his namesake the great Robert he Bruce is difficult to imagine. Anarchy reigned in Scotland during the years of his feeble rule, the country was beset by problems including rivalry between the Highlanders, his brothers and the lords of the isles.

The King’s more forceful brother, Robert, Duke of Albany, had been appointed Governor of the realm by their elderly father, towards the end of his reign. The King took over these powers, but owing to the King’s ‘sickness of body’, the council humiliatingly removed them from him and vested them in his eldest son, David Stewart, Duke of Rothesay, appointing him as lieutenant of the kingdom. The Duke of Albany proceeded to have David arrested and imprison David, who died in mysterious circumstances at Falkland Palace in 1402 and his uncle Robert again took up the title. According to rumour rife at the time, David was starved to death. Albany and Douglas fell under suspicion of the murder of David but were cleared of all blame by a general council.

While at Dundonald Castle in Ayrshire and in failing health, Robert made an attempt to save his second son and heir, the twelve year old Prince James, from the ambitions of the powerful Albany, whom he strongly suspected of contrivance in the murder of his elder son. Robert had James hidden at Dirleton Castle and on February 1406, he was dispatched to France. James had to escape to the Bass Rock in the Firth of Forth along with the Earl of Orkney after his escorts were attacked by James Douglas of Balvenie. They remained on the rock for over a month before a ship from Danzig, en route for France picked them up. On 22 March 1406 the ship meant to be carrying James to safety was attacked and taken by English pirates just off Flamborough Head and the heir to Scotland was taken prisoner to the court of Henry IV of England.

The disastrous news was brought to the aging King Robert Rothesay castle. Distraught and depressed by the event and overcome with his grief and despair he asked to be buried with the epitaph 'Here lies the worst of Kings and the most miserable of men.’ He died soon after on 4th April, 1406 and was buried at Paisley Abbey. The original tomb was destroyed in 1560 during the Scottish reformation . Queen Victoria later paid for the construction of the present tomb when she visited Paisley Abbey in 1888.

Scotland would be without a King for 18 years as James I remained a prisoner of the English, albeit, with all the trappings and education etc afforded to someone of his high office.

[boycow69]

temenos and crick are absolutely flamechurch’s poster couple. like a cleric and a sacred guard knight combined in the sacrament of matrimony? it’s like a blessing from the gods themselves in that little town’s eyes.

like you can’t go anywhere in flamechurch without hearing someone talking about the latest gossip about them. they’re like sonny and cher but gay and catholic.

the “gods-blessed” couple, if you will

[leighrobertsreads]

In my research for “Under the Sacred Canopy,” a continuation of @azdaema-archive’s excellent “Open Your Eyes,” I’ve had a good look at lists of reasons that bishops could give for approving matrimonial dispensations like the one our imaginary friends would need for the Catholic Church to let them marry, and they look like the basis of a fic challenge and/or drabble series (along with giving some insight into the mentality of old, mostly Italian and allegedly celibate men around 1900):

smallness of place or places

smallness of place coupled with the fact that outside it a sufficient dowry cannot be had

lack of dowry

insufficiency of dowry for the bride

a larger dowry

an increase of dowry by one-third

cessation of family feuds

preservation of peace

conclusion of peace between princes or states

avoidance of lawsuits over an inheritance, a dowry or some important business transaction

the fact that a fiancée (bride) is an orphan or has the care of a family

the age of the fiancée (bride) over twenty-four

the difficulty of finding another partner, owing to the fewness of male acquaintance, or the difficulty the latter experience in coming to her home

the hope of safeguarding the faith of a Catholic relation

the danger of a denominationally mixed marriage

the hope of converting a non-Catholic party

the keeping of property in a family

the preservation of an illustrious or honourable family

the excellence and merits of the parties

defamation to be avoided, or scandal prevented

intercourse already having taken place between the petitioners, or rape

the danger of a civil marriage

of the danger of marriage before a Protestant minister

revalidation of a marriage that was null and void

finally, all reasonable causes judged such in the opinion of the pope (e. g. the public good), or special reasonable causes actuating the petitioners and made known to the pope, i. e. motives which, owing to the social status of the petitioners, it is opportune should remain unexplained out of respect for their reputation

On the off-chance you follow this tag and haven’t read “Open Your Eyes” already, here it is: