· Resources, News And Information For Ex-Mormons And Mormons
· News, Testimonials, Humor and More
· Established and reporting since 2004.
|
|
|
If you are new to The Mormon Curtain there are things you should know. |
 |
Sealings - Temple Marriage
|
Unlike the majority of Christian religions, which teach that marriage is only an earthly institution, Mormonism maintains that marriage
bonds were intended to survive the grave. The survival of the marriage relationship in the afterlife is a necessary condition for
exaltation, considered "the greatest of all the gifts of God." Exaltation is a state in which faithful, resurrected LDS become
joint-heirs with Jesus Christ, thereby receiving the fullness of the glory of God the Father and becoming
Gods themselves, who will one day create and populate worlds of their own. This somewhat unorthodox view of marriage
was revealed through the Prophet Joseph Smith and is recorded in the current edition of the Doctrine and Covenants, section 135.
The bride and the groom enter a "Sealing Room" and kneel on opposite sides of the altar and face each other. They are
dressed in their full temple robes, with the robe on the right shoulder. They join hands in the
Patriarchal Grip, or Sure Sign of the Nail, which signifies that the marriage ordinance is
under the operation of the Melchizedek Priesthood.
The Officiator who will perform the sealing stands at the head of the altar. Seated behind
the Officiator are two witnesses to the ceremony, whose signatures will appear on the temple's
marriage certificate. Guests are seated on either side of the altar.
When this ceremony is performed for dead individuals extra words are added and are
represented here by the following brackets [---]
OFFICIATOR (Sealer): Brother ____, [acting as proxy for ____, who is dead] do you take
sister ____ [acting as proxy for ____, who is dead] by the right hand and receive her unto yourself to be
your lawful and wedded wife for time and all eternity, with a covenant and promise that you will observe
and keep all the laws, rites, and ordinances pertaining to this Holy Order of Matrimony in the New and
Everlasting Covenant, and this you do in the presence of God, angels, and these witnesses of your own free will and choice?
GROOM: Yes.
OFFICIATOR : Sister _____, [acting as proxy for ____, who is dead] do you take
brother _____ [acting as proxy for ____ who is dead] by the right hand and give yourself to
him to be his lawful and wedded wife, and for him to be your lawful and wedded husband, for
time and all eternity, with a covenant and promise that you will observe and keep all the laws,
rites, and ordinances pertaining to this Holy Order of Matrimony in the New and Everlasting
Covenant, and this you do in the presence of God, angels, and these witnesses of your own
free will and choice?
BRIDE: Yes
OFFICIATOR: By virtue of the Holy Priesthood and the authority vested in me, I pronounce
you _____, and you, ____, legally and lawfully husband and wife for time and all eternity, and
I seal upon you the blessings of the holy resurrection with power to come forth in the morning
of the first resurrection clothed in glory, immortality, and eternal lives, and I seal upon you the blessings
of kingdoms, thrones, principalities, powers, dominions and exaltations, with all the blessings of
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob [and say unto you: be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth, that
you may have joy and rejoicing in the day of the Lord Jesus Christ]. All these blessings, together with
all the blessings appertaining unto the New and Everlasting Covenant, I seal upon you by virtue of the
Holy Priesthood, through your faithfulness, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, Amen.
If the couple is actually being married or sealed to each other, they kiss across the altar.
|
