At that time: There was a marriage in Cana of Galilee, and the Mother of Jesus was there. And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage.
Sermon by St. Augustine the Bishop
The fact that the Lord was pleased to be asked, and thereupon to go to the marriage, sheweth plainly enough (apart from any mystical significance in his act) that he is the Author and Blesser of marriage. For there were those of whom the Apostle hath warned us, who were yet to come, which same were to prohíbit marriage, and to say that matrimony is a bad thing in itself, and a work of the devil. As against any such teaching, we read in the Gospel that when the Lord was asked, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? he answered that it was not lawful, saving for the cause of fornication. In which answer ye will remember that he used these words: What God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
They who are well instructed in the Catholic religion know that God is the Author and Blesser of marriage; and that, even as union in marriage is of God, so divorce is of the devil. But it is lawful for a man to put away his wife in case of fornication, because she herself hath refused to be a wife in that she keepeth not wedded-faith with her husband. They also who have made a vow of their virginity to God, and have thereby attained to a higher degree of holy honour in the Church, are not to be considered as unmarried, for they are a special part of the marriage of the whole Church, which is the Bride of Christ.
The Lord, being asked, went to the marriage, to strengthen the marriage bond, and to shed light on the hidden meaning of Holy Matrimony. In this marriage feast the bridegroom to whom it was said: Thou hast kept the good wine until now: was a figure of Christ, who hath kept until now the good wine, namely the Gospel.
Sermon by St. Augustine the Bishop
The fact that the Lord was pleased to be asked, and thereupon to go to the marriage, sheweth plainly enough (apart from any mystical significance in his act) that he is the Author and Blesser of marriage. For there were those of whom the Apostle hath warned us, who were yet to come, which same were to prohíbit marriage, and to say that matrimony is a bad thing in itself, and a work of the devil. As against any such teaching, we read in the Gospel that when the Lord was asked, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? he answered that it was not lawful, saving for the cause of fornication. In which answer ye will remember that he used these words: What God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
They who are well instructed in the Catholic religion know that God is the Author and Blesser of marriage; and that, even as union in marriage is of God, so divorce is of the devil. But it is lawful for a man to put away his wife in case of fornication, because she herself hath refused to be a wife in that she keepeth not wedded-faith with her husband. They also who have made a vow of their virginity to God, and have thereby attained to a higher degree of holy honour in the Church, are not to be considered as unmarried, for they are a special part of the marriage of the whole Church, which is the Bride of Christ.
The Lord, being asked, went to the marriage, to strengthen the marriage bond, and to shed light on the hidden meaning of Holy Matrimony. In this marriage feast the bridegroom to whom it was said: Thou hast kept the good wine until now: was a figure of Christ, who hath kept until now the good wine, namely the Gospel.
