When you prepare for the wedding, don't run to your neighbors' houses borrowing extra mirrors, or spend endless hours worrying about dresses. A wedding is not a pageant or a theatrical performance. Instead, make your house as beautiful as you can, and then invite your family and your neighbors and friends. Invite as many people as you know that have good character, and they will be content with what you set before them. Don't hire bands or orchestras; such an expense is excessive and unbecoming. Before anything else, invite Christ. Do you know how to invite him? "Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers," he said, "you do to me." Don't think that it is annoying to invite the poor for Christ's sake. Don't adorn the bride with gold ornaments, but dress her modestly. Thus from the beginning of her married life she will shun excess. Let there be no disorderly uproar. When everything is ready, call the bridegroom to receive the virgin. Let there be no drunkenness at the banquets and suppers, but an abundance of spiritual joy. Think of the many good things that will result from weddings like this!
John Chrysostom,"Homily 12: On Colossians 4:18," On Marriage and Family Life, (Crestwood:SVS Press, 1986), 79.
John Chrysostom,"Homily 12: On Colossians 4:18," On Marriage and Family Life, (Crestwood:SVS Press, 1986), 79.
1 comment:
Now, if only modern Christians would follow this advice instead of spending thousands of dollars on a big show!
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