Text Box: THE INVOCATION In the following passage taken from the greatest book ever written, the author attempts to capture the essence of love when he writes, "Love is patient and kind...Love is not jealous nor boastful...it is not arrogant or rude...Love does not insist on its own way...it rejoices in the right. Love bears all things... believes all things...hopes all things. There are three things that are eternal: Faith, Hope and Love. The greatest of all these is Love." MARRIAGE AS A Holy Union The holiness given by God to marriage is seen very clearly from the fact that the union of this couple is a Sacred and Holy Event performed in the presence God and witnessed by this community. This means that marriage itself is a sacred sigh through which God gives us his Holy Blessing and recognition.. What does this sign consist of? It is the simplest imaginable: the mutual promise, and the life in accordance with this promise. This is the most Sacred of Unions. Hence the form of the ritual is of no particular juridical formula taken in and of itself, nor the marriage ceremony by itself, but the will this couple expresses to each to each other and the promises they make and maintain in love and freely-chosen loyalty, till the day of death. Hence all the love, tenderness, compassion, concern and caring that married people offer each other is a source of grace, of God's presence This then is the nature of the Sacred union all couples enter into before God, regardless of their religious beliefs. THE ADDRESS In this Sacred hour and at this special moment in time, we open our hearts to you. You have come here with your very special and unique differences and traditions as gifts you offer each other. These gifts are your love, your hopes, your dreams and your faith in one another. May you be moved to give of yourselves, to grow together-as a couple and as individuals. May you share your experiences, your enthusiasm, and your feelings openly with one another and thereby find life's deepest meaning and richest happiness. From the very depths of our being, we pray that you will prosper in your chosen life together.