CHAPTER IX.
HOLY MATRIMONY.
We have called Holy Matrimony the "Sacrament of Perpetuation," for it is the ordained way in which the human race is to be perpetuated.
Matrimony is the legal union between two persons,—a union which is created by mutual consent: Holy Matrimony is that union sanctioned and sanctified by the Church.
There are three familiar names given to this union: Matrimony, Marriage, Wedlock.
Matrimony, derived from mater, a mother, tells of the woman's (i.e. wife-man's) "joy that a man is born into the world". Marriage, derived from maritus, a husband (or house-dweller[[1]]), tells of the man's place in the "hus" or house. Wedlock, derived from weddian, a pledge, reminds both man and woman of the life-long pledge which each has made "either to other".
It is this Sacrament of Matrimony, Marriage, or Wedlock, that we are now to consider. We will think of it under four headings:—