Celebration of the Marriage
of
Anita and Jason
~
Piermont, New York
Traditional Hindu Chanting before Wedding
Bridesmaids Processional
Bride’s Processional
Greeting
Fr.
Rich: I’d like to
welcome you to this graced day in Anita and Jason’s life.
Each of you is here because you are special – in some way,
your love and friendship has contributed to making Anita or Jason,
or maybe both of them, the people who they are. And if they
weren’t who they are, they wouldn’t be here. In some
way, each of you has helped bring them to this moment. And because
of that they wanted you to be here to celebrate this great,
life-changing moment in their lives. Thanks for being here.
Not all the special people in Anita and Jason’s life could be
here, though – some are separated from us by space, and
others by time. But in a deeply spiritual way, those special people
are with us too. In this space that we share – which is made
sacred by their love, I’d ask you to remember these other,
very special people
Two
Traditions
Pandit
Jai: Out of two different
and distinct religious traditions, Anita and Jason have come
together to learn the best of what each has to offer, appreciating
their differences, and confirming that being together is far better
than being apart.
Now, let us pray…
Gathering
Prayer
Pandit
Jai: The Lord's hands are
always there to guide us. With his divine guidance, a person can
accomplish almost anything in this world. If the Lord is your
guide, you have nothing to fear. You will need nothing. He will
open the way for you. He will light up the path for you, so you can
draw from his abundance and reach your goal. Pray and live in
unison with the Lord and taste the honey of his divine
guidance.
Fr.
Rich: Gracious and
ever-living God, you have created us male and female in your image;
Look lovingly upon Jason and Anita who come to you for your
blessing, and assist them with your grace, that with true fidelity
and steadfast love they may honor and keep the promises they make
to each other today, through Jesus Christ, who has taught us to
love and sent us the spirit. He lives with you in the unity of the
spirit forever and ever.
Amen.
Havan
(Light the Fire)
Fr.
Rich: Someday, after the
ether, the winds, the tides, gravitation, we will harness for God,
the energies of love. And then, for a second time in the history of
the world, humankind will have discovered fire.
Pandit
Jai: "Agni, holy fire,
glorious one makes us glorious as you, glorious one, bring us to
glory. As you are inflamed by wood; so we are inflamed by life,
insight, vigor, offspring, holy luster."
The universal soul is perfect; this individual soul is perfect.
Perfect is born from perfect. After taking the perfect from the
perfect, the perfect remains.
I am the ritual, I am the sacrifice, and I am the offering to the
departed. I am the herbage and food grains; I am the sacred
formula; I am the clarified butter; I am the sacred fire, and I am
truly the act of offering oblation into the fire.
We want to become "Agniroop" - a fiery person, the ideal one who
has no smoke, doubt, filth, impurity, or any confusion. Such a
person has a firm mind, clear vision, penetrating eyes, progressive
thought, kind but spirited heart, healthy body, and aggressive
attitude.
He
or she can never tolerate unrighteousness and is born to destroy
wickedness for the benefit of the good persons. His or her aim of
life is to bring peace and prosperity to the world. This person is
not guided or controlled by the circumstances and is of great
promise.
It is only the fiery persons who come up as devotees. They are
children not of the world, but of God. The fire never burns
downward. Its flames always go upward. You are here to go higher
and higher. Never go down, rise ever, but never
fall.
From
the Navajo Wedding Ceremony
Fr.
Rich: Now you have lit a fire
and that fire should not go out. The two of you now have a fire
that represents love, compassion and a way of life together. It
will give you heat, food, warmth and happiness. The new fire
represents a new beginning - a new life and a new family. The fire
must be kept burning. You have lit the fire for
life,
Reading
from the Song
of Songs 2:8-10.14,16; 8:6-7
Arise,
my love, my fair one,
and come away.
Let me see you,
let me hear your voice,
For your voice is sweet,
and you are lovely.
Set me as a seal on your heart,
as a seal on your arm;
For stern as death is love,
relentless as the nether world is devotion;
its flames are a blazing fire.
Deep waters cannot quench love,
nor floods sweep it away.
Laa
Jaa-Homa (Circumambulation of Fire)
Pandit
Jai: Laa Jaa-Homa symbolizes
fertility and prosperity. The couple goes around the holy fire.
Pakrima or going round means that "We shall obey from beginning to
end."
The
brother putting puffed rice in the hands of his sister declares
that even after marriage he will never forget her and will keep
giving her gifts and presents expressing his love for her. He also
assures her of his support in all her activities of
righteousness.
The groom leads three times and the bride four times. This
indicates that in marriage they will follow each other. As the
offerings are made, the bride and groom make special petition to
the Holy Fire for (1) protection and guidance (2) complete removal
of all fears and distress (3) happiness (4) compassion and love for
God (5) sinless life (6) healthy life (7) favorable conditions from
all directions.
Anita:
To God, the
girl has made sacrifice to the Holy Fire. God may loose us from
here but not from my husband's side.
May my husband live long and my relatives are prosperous.
This grain I have thrown into the fire, may this bring prosperity
to you and may it unite me with you.
To God, may the Holy Fire grant us that wish.
Jason:
Oh God, you
are the Lord of all created and uncreated things. You alone pervade
the living and lifeless objects. Your supremacy is beyond all
doubts. We take refuge in you. You can fulfill all our desires so
we may become wealthy and prosperous.
Oh Lord, you are our relation and creator. You sustain and know all
places and regions. You are the abode of eternal happiness and
bliss. You may fulfill all of our desires.
Oh
self effulgent God, the knower of all things, you are our best
guide, endow us with all noble desires, and lead us through the
path of goodness to prosperity and knowledge. Protect us from all
sins and evil deeds and shower upon us your blessings so that we
may live in unison with your blissful nature and be always
happy.
Reading
–
1
Corinthians 12:31 – 13:13
Strive
eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts. But I shall show you a
still more excellent way.
If I speak in
human and angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a resounding
gong or a clashing cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy and
comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so
as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give
away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may
boast but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient; love is kind. It is not jealous, (love) is not
pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its
own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over
injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the
truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things,
endures all things.
Love never fails. If there are prophecies, they will be brought to
nothing; if tongues, they will cease; if knowledge, it will be
brought to nothing.
For we know partially and we prophesy partially, but when the
perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child I
used to talk as a child, think as a child, reason as a child; when
I became a man, I put aside childish things. At present we see
indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. At present I
know partially; then I shall know fully, as I am fully known. So
faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is
love.
This is the Word of the Lord
Gospel
Reading – John 2:1-11
Fr. Rich: This is a reading from the Holy Gospel according to
John:
On the third day there
was a marriage at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was
there; Jesus also was invited to the marriage, with his disciples.
When the wine failed, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have
no wine." And Jesus said to her, "O woman, what have you to do with
me? My hour has not yet come." His mother said to the servants, "Do
whatever he tells you." Now six stone jars were standing there, for
the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty
gallons. Jesus said to them, "Fill the jars with water." And they
filled them up to the brim. He said to them, "Now draw some out,
and take it to the steward of the feast." So they took it. When the
steward of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not
know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the
water knew), the steward of the feast called the bridegroom and
said to him, "Every man serves the good wine first; and when men
have drunk freely, then the poor wine; but you have kept the good
wine until now." This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in
Galilee, and manifested his glory; and his disciples believed in
him.
This is the Gospel of the Lord
Reflection
– Fr. Rich, Pandit Jai
Saptapadi
(Seven Steps Ceremony)
Pandit
Jai: Saptapadi is an
important aspect in the marriage ceremony. The bride and groom take
seven steps, symbolic of their journey together through
life.
The
Saptapadi is the formula for a happy life:
•
Proceed
always together and move on simultaneously.
•
Be always
friendly.
•
Never do a
thing or speak a word that loosens this knot or cut this tie. Make
it eternal. This is tied by God and will be foolish to cut
it.
•
The right
foot represents righteousness while the left one stands for worldly
affairs. Moving the right first to be joined later by the left one
reminds that whenever you plan a worldly thing, you should first
think whether it would harm your spiritual progress in any way or
not. You should work on the plan only when you are sure that it
would not in anyway hinder your spiritual prosperity. If you see it
will harm, you should leave it altogether. Secondly, the injunction
that your left foot should not go beyond the right one warns you to
care that your efforts for worldly progress never surpass your
efforts for spiritual development.
•
The worldly
enjoyment should always follow the spiritual duties. To spend all
the time for worldly affairs and enjoyment without having a minute
to spare for spiritual prosperity of you, your children, family, or
country is a mistake.
•
Always go
on, keep moving forward. Do not plan a thing in such a hurry that
you are compelled to pull your feet back.
•
Always keep
in mind that the goal of this life is attainment of God, and you
are entering this household to reach that goal. Therefore, any of
your movements that carry you away from your Lord should be
discarded. Keep God and his instructions always in your mind.
•
Proceed in
life slowly and steadily, step by step. Do not hasten or jump to
conclusions or leap forward lest you fall short of your achievement
or fail in your efforts and earn tension and worries that are
messengers of death.
•
Never have
unlimited desires that are difficult to be fulfilled.
Walk seven steps one
after another right feet first. They step forward in a northern
direction.
1.
Let us take the first step to provide nourishing and pure diet for
our household and avoid the things that are injurious to our
healthy living.
May the Lord bless and
grant your desires.
2.
Let us take the second step to develop physical, mental, and
spiritual powers.
May
the Lord bless you with strength and
courage.
3.
Let us take the third step with the aim of increasing our wealth by
righteous means and proper use.
May
the Lord bless you with wealth.
4.
Let us take the fourth step to acquire knowledge, happiness, and
harmony by mutual love and trust.
May
the Lord grant you all sorts of happiness. Whatever is conducive to
my happiness is totally dependent upon
you.
5.
Let us take the fifth step to be blessed with strong, virtuous, and
heroic children.
May
the Lord bless and give you in abundance all
assets.
6.
Let us take the sixth step for accomplishing self-restraint and
longevity.
May the Lord bless and
grant you all pleasures in the seasons.
7. Let us take the seventh step with the vow that we shall always
be true to each other, have mutual understanding, work together for
prosperity, and happiness and enjoy the world as life long ideal
partners.
May
the Lord bless and grace you on earth and all the other worlds with
fidelity, righteousness, modesty, and
charity.
Exchange
of Vows
Fr.
Hasselbach:
Jason and
Anita, you have come here today, in the presence of your friends
and family, to declare your love for each other before God, and to
begin your life together as a married couple. So if it is your
intention to unite yourselves as husband and wife, I invite you to
express this profound love that you have for each other. Please
repeat after me…
Jason:
I take you,
Anita, to be my wife. I promise to love you, comfort you, honor and
keep you, in sickness and in health; forsaking all others, to be
faithful to you as long as we both shall live.
Anita:
I take you, Jason, to be my husband. I promise to love you, comfort
you, honor and keep you, in sickness and in health; forsaking all
others, to be faithful to you as long as we both shall
live.
Blessing
and Exchange of Rings:
Fr.
Rich: Lord, bless these
rings, and make them signs of love and enduring faithfulness:
Jason:
Anita, take this ring as a sign of my love and devotion; and wear
it as a symbol our commitment to each other, so that the world will
know that we are one.
Anita:
Jason, take this ring as a sign of my love and devotion; and wear
it as a symbol our commitment to each other, so that the world will
know that we are one.
Acknowledgement
of the Community
Pandit
Jai: Will you who have
witnessed these promises do all in your power to uphold Jason and
Anita in the vows they make to each other today?
All:
We
will
Declaration
of Marriage
Fr.
Rich and Pandit Jai, together: We rejoice in your
happiness and we pray that this day marks only one of many more
blessings that you will share in the days and years ahead. And now
that you have spoken the words and performed the rites that unite
your lives, by the power of your love and the commitment you have
made, we declare you to be husband and wife.
What God has united, no
one must divide.
Exchange
Garlands -
Pandit
Jai: Jaimala is the name
of the garland prepared for this purpose. It means the garland of
victory. Both have won the hearts of each other, and it is a
spiritual victory over the other for them. They celebrate this
victory with beautiful garlands thereby praying for each other
victory in life and assuring their wholehearted support to each
other to attain the goal.
Prayer
of Groom and Bride
Anita
and Jason, together: O Almighty God, we are
your children. We have given these offerings with all love and
devotion. Please bestow upon us all the pleasures and prosperity,
long life, and good health. While enjoying this world, may we never
forget you. May we pray to you daily together to have your
blessings, so we may never face any hardships in our household and
are ever happy under you kind protection.
Closing
prayer and dismissal
Fr.
Rich: The wedding is almost
over, but the marriage is just begun. Not once and forever, but
again and again shall the mystery of two people, together in love,
touch the world. And so, blessed by the graced love that Anita and
Jason have promised each other, and renewed in commitment to the
loves in our own lives, let us pray…
Pandit
Jai: Oh Lord, we give you
thanks for Anita and Jason and their love for each other. We ask
you to shower your blessings on this newly married couple. Please
impart to them the knowledge and wisdom that will guide them in
their journey of life towards prosperity and happiness, and towards
you.
Fr.
Rich: Our Celebration is
over, go in peace and continue to
celebrate!
Recessional: