St. Valentine's Day came and went without me noticing. But that is expected since this particular day has always been a non-event in my family. I don't know if the organizers planned it or it was just incidental, but it was also the first day of a conference I am attending on the "nuptial mystery". Although, not one of the speakers mentioned anything about Valentine's day, love was at the heart of the lectures that day.
There is an old song called Love and Marriage that says...
Love and marriage, love and marriage
Go together like a horse and carriage
This I tell you brother
You can't have one without the other
Love and marriage, love and marriage
It's an institute you can't disparage
Ask the local gentry
And they will say it's elementary
Try, try, try to separate them
It's an illusion
Try, try, try, and you will only come
To this conclusion
Love and marriage, love and marriage
Go together like the horse and carriage
Dad was told by mother
You can't have one, you can't have none, you can't have one without the other!
Go together like a horse and carriage
This I tell you brother
You can't have one without the other
Love and marriage, love and marriage
It's an institute you can't disparage
Ask the local gentry
And they will say it's elementary
Try, try, try to separate them
It's an illusion
Try, try, try, and you will only come
To this conclusion
Love and marriage, love and marriage
Go together like the horse and carriage
Dad was told by mother
You can't have one, you can't have none, you can't have one without the other!
This is exactly what the Catholic Church teaches. Angelo Cardinal Scola writes in his book, that "only in the category of nuptial mystery do we find a way to adequately describe the phenomenon of love". Love in the context of marriage is a gift of self, a surrender so that two may become one.
