In a word,
the ante-nuptial covenant manifests and establishes the sacred decrees
of love truly conjugial, and binds libertines to the observance of them.
Moreover, by this covenant, the right of propagating children, and also
the right of the children to inherit the goods of their parents, become
legitimate.
308. XII. MARRIAGE IS TO BE CONSECRATED BY A PRIEST. The reason of this
is, because marriages, considered in themselves, are spiritual, and
thence holy; for they descend from the heavenly marriage of good and
truth, and things conjugial correspond to the divine marriage of the
Lord and the church; and hence they are from the Lord himself, and
according to the state of the church with the contracting parties. Now,
as the ecclesiastical order on the earth administer the things which
relate to the Lord's priestly character, that is, to his love, and thus
also those which relate to blessing, it is expedient that marriages be
consecrated by his ministers; and as they are then the chief witnesses,
it is expedient that the consent of the parties to the covenant be also
heard, accepted, confirmed, and thereby established by them.
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