Poročni obrednik - The Wedding Book

Tole je knjiga, ki skozi cerkveno poroko spremlja vsak par na poti v sveti zakon. 

V njej je zapisan potek obreda v nekaj različicah, najdejo se primeri besedil za poroko in poročno mašo ter tisto najbolj pomembno: opisan je pomen samega zakramenta.

Ko knjigo skupaj listava malo po malo že dober teden, se mi zdi, da so tu zapisane številne skrivnosti zakona, ki pa niso prav lahko razumljive. V nadaljevanju bom skušala povzeti tista dejstva, zapisana v knjigi, ki so me najbolj nagovorila.

Cerkvena poroka je nepreklicna privolitev, s katero se zakonca svobodno izročita in sprejmeta (le tako lahko skleneta veljavni sveti zakon). Smisel zakona je, da mož in žena drug drugemu pomagata na poti k svetosti. Lahko bi rekli, da si prizadevata po svojih najboljših močeh biti vsak dan boljša, bolj sveta. Otroci, ki naj pridejo v zakon s človeško in krščansko odgovornostjo zanje, so najlepši dar zakona. Otroci so dar in ne naša last, pri tem pa je pomembno, da se zakonca za darove zahvaljujeta, Bogu zaupata ter sta pripravljena tudi na odpovedovanje. Le tako lahko otroci in drugi blagoslovi, ki sta jih deležna "kot eno meso" največ prispevajo za dobro zakoncev. Tisti, ki se poročijo v Kristusu, zmorejo najlepše slaviti skrivnost zveze Kristusa in Cerkve, ko ostanejo zvesti Božji besedi, se trudijo prav živeti in to pred vsemi javno oznanjevati. 

Poročni obred

Naj na tem mestu povem, da sva se z Aljažem v smislu oznanjevanja v preteklem tednu trudila v resničnost spraviti idejo, da bi lahko najini poročni maši prisluhnili tudi v živo preko valov Radia Ognjišče (kako bi bili veseli moji sorodniki iz Amerike, ki se poroke žal ne bodo mogli udeležiti! Zagotovo bi bil prenos poročne maše lepa in pozitivna novica, morda prijeten spomin na katero drugo poroko za marsikaterega slovenskega kristjana ...). Žal sva dobila le potrditev, da je ideja nekaj nenavadnega, da česa takega še ni bilo, da pa žal ne bo šlo skozi. Škoda.

V obredniku lahko tudi preberemo, naj bo poroka skrbno pripravljena. Pomemben je izbor svetopisemskih besedil, pesmi pa naj bodo primerne poročnemu obredu in naj izražajo vero Cerkve. Praznični značaj obhajanja poroke naj se izrazi tudi s primerno okrasitvijo cerkve. Še najbolj pomembno pa je, da se bodoča zakonca na poroko dobro pripravita. Midva se bova potrudila po svojih najboljših močeh.

The nuts and bolts...

... or what is a marriage? 

Planning a wedding ceremony and sorting out all the niggly details that go into a wedding day can leave a future husband and wife lacking the awareness of what it is they are actually getting themselves into. To help us answer that question, we've enlisted the help of "The Man Upstairs". In other words, we're treating our future bond as a sacred and permanent commitment to one another. In the eyes of the Catholic Church, marriage is a sacrament sealed by the Holy Spirit, but what sets it apart from the six other sacraments is the fact that marriage is not "cast upon" the husband and wife by a priest. He is merely a witness of the Church, while the sacrament itself is bestowed by the very people committing to it. In light of this, I've spend some time researching a subject called theology of the body (religious or not, I highly recommend it, or if you'd prefer a shorter version, I recommend this book).

Explaining the meaning of a christian (catholic) marriage in detail is the book above. Although some parts (especially the ones about the true meaning of marriage are sometimes difficult to comprehend), it gives a profound insight of what a marriage is supposed to be. First and foremost, it is described as a commitment and an irrevocable consent (you know, the "for better or worse" part), focusing on the two entering into marriage giving each other to their husband/wife and accepting each other as a gift. The crowning achievement and the biggest responsibility of a marriage are children, who are to be taken care of in the best manner possible.

Thinking about these passages has not been easy. In today's fast-paced world, how can you truly commit to something (and someone) for the rest of your life? I don't think it will be easy, not by a long shot, but in the end, anything worth having is worth fighting for.

Aljaž - getting ready for the long haul

Vadiva plesne korake - Taking the Right (and Left) Steps

Kot sva že omenila, si nekaj posebnega želiva tudi za prvi ples, ki ga bova zaplesala kot mladoporočenca. Pri Valentini Pšag sva imela do zdaj dve vaji, malo je popravljala najino držo in nama pokazala nekaj lušnih plesnih figur, sicer pa ne želiva preveč komplicirati (niti nimava več veliko časa), temveč predvsem uživati.

Glasbo za prvi ples in slog plesa sva že izbrala, vendar bo do izvedbe pred svati vse skupaj ostalo kot skrivnost, medtem pa vadiva in skupaj kreirava. Aljaž je zelo dober plesalec in ker se jaz sedaj že znam sprostit (to je pač posebne vrste dosežek), nama je vse skupaj v veselje.

Tako kot petje, je tudi ples del izražanja človeka, ki obstaja že od prazgodovine. S petjem in plesom so ljudje že nekoč delili svoje občutke, tako vesele kot žalostne. Ples je dejavnost, ki jo počneva skupaj, imava se lepo in to je najpomembnejše. Moj pokojni oče bi dejal, da gre tudi za "vertikalno izražanje horizontalnih želja" :) tistih pristnih predvsem. Mislim, da ples krepi najino ljubezen, zato bi jo verjetno lahko dali še komu "na recept"! Naj povem le to, da nama je všeč klasika, zato bo ples nekaj v tem slogu, s tem da sva dopolnila besedilo izbrane pesmi. 

Zdaj pa prepuščam vaši domišljiji in ugibanju glede vsega preostalega, kar ni tu zapisano :)

Zaplešite tudi vi, četudi v dežju!

The first dance

Today is Friday, 8 August 2014, which means that the wedding is now only 3 weeks away and I'm not quite sure, why I'm not petrified yet (every Hollywood-made romantic puss-filled boil of a movie says I should be shaking by now). I suppose Kristina and I are probably doing something wrong. But what if we're doing something right? :)

One thing we hope to get right is our first dance as husband and wife. To make sure everything will go as smooth as possible, we've enlisted our good friend and neighbour, professional dance teacher (of all things :) ) Valentina Pšag to help us get the right moves. So far so good, we've dreamed up a (not to simple) choreography, and all that's left for us to do now is practice, practice, practice. 

But getting back to the question from the first paragraph, what if we're doing something right? As mentioned in one of the previous posts on this blog, the decision for us to get married was the only realistic option if we were to have any sort of an intimate relationship. And now that the big day is fast approaching, I'm beginning to realise that our decision to get married will make us outcasts. Why? I think that the reason the number of weddings is on the decrease (stated by several men of faith and government employees) is the fact that marriage presents a "terminal" decision. It's forever. Although one can get a civil divorce, the catholic Church does not accept divorce as an option for a valid marriage. But that's not merely down to a whim the Church might have, but the very nature of a marriage makes it not illegal but impossible to break up (see this book for further reference). But to make this paragraph sensible, I've started to notice that people are afraid to commit. And it's not just marriage and personal relationships. The very nature of the western world is geared towards the expendable, meaning "if it doesn't work properly, just get a new one". Frankly, that sort of an attitude is very disconcerting for me, or, in plain English, the fact that people lack the balls to commit to anything (a career, marriage, a hobby, etc.) pis**s me off (I know, because I'm still growing the cojones to commit to certain activities, and I went through the process of not being prepared to commit in a relationship).

Commitment takes work. Just ask anyone who's been married for several decades, or who's been pursuing a hobby all their life. It's often not easy and it takes dedication and a lot of patience, two major qualities people seem to lack nowadays. Hopefully, many of you reading this blog (hello, future me :) ) will find these words a source of inspiration towards dedication. :)

Aljaž - may I have this dance?