Any use of sacred power without authority is
sinful, and all who take part in such ceremonies are guilty of sin.
LESSON TWENTY-SIXTH.
ON MATRIMONY.
Q. 1005. {282} What is the Sacrament of Matrimony?
A. The Sacrament of Matrimony is the Sacrament which unites a Christian
man and woman in lawful marriage.
Q. 1006. When are persons lawfully married?
A. Persons are lawfully married when they comply with all the laws of
God and of the Church relating to marriage. To marry unlawfully is a
mortal sin, and it deprives the souls of the grace of the Sacrament.
Q. 1007. When was marriage first instituted?
A. Marriage was first instituted in the Garden of Eden, when God created
Adam and Eve and made them husband and wife, but it was not then a
Sacrament, for their union did not confer any special grace.
Q. 1008. When was the contract of marriage raised to the dignity of a
Sacrament?
A. The exact time at which the contract of marriages was raised to the
dignity of a Sacrament is not known, but the fact that it was thus
raised is certain from passages in the New Testament and from the
constant teaching of the Church ever since the time of the apostles. Our
Lord did not merely add grace to the contract, but He made the very
contract a Sacrament, so that Christians cannot make this contract
without receiving the Sacrament.
Q. 1009. What is the outward sign in the Sacrament of Matrimony, and in
what does the whole essence of the marriage contract consist?
A.
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