The ceremony will be a traditional Coptic Orthodox ceremony. Holy matrimony is one of the seven sacraments of the Coptic church, and the service will consist of reading selections, hymns, and rituals. The ceremony will be performed in English and Arabic, with most hymns in Coptic. The ceremony will proceed as followed: The Procession Thanksgiving Prayer Reading from St. Paul's Epistle Reading from The Holy Gospel Anointing and Crowning Prayer and Final Blessings The Priest says ‘the commandments of love’ for both: the groom and the bride. He urges them to fulfill the divine commandments so that God, in return, shall grant them a blessed and peaceful life supported by the Holy Spirit which will fill their hearts and lives with joy and happiness. The Priest then gives the final blessing: allowing the congregation, along with the bridal couple, to depart in the peace of the Lord.
The robe is put on the groom, declaring him the ‘priest’ of the new kingdom-their house, which has been established with his wife, the bride.
The rings signify that in marriage the weakness of one partner will be compensated for by the strength of the other; the imperfection of one complemented by the perfections of the other. Together they are made perfect because separate they are incomplete. Each will be enriched by the divine sacred union. Their joys will be doubled, and their sorrow shared because they are experienced by both. They are transferred from the right hand to the left, which is closer to the heart to mark their covenant of love.
The Priest anoints the bridal couple with the oil of joy: announcing that a new king and queen are being anointed. They are establishing their own kingdom for God through them and their children. This is the same oil we use to anoint those being baptized.
The right hands of the groom and the bride are joined: while the priest recites the prayer that beseeches God to ‘join and unite them in one mind and one flesh’. The Holy Spirit descends here, after the inaudible prayer by the priest, and they are no more two but one, through the act of the Holy Spirit. The hands are kept joined throughout the remainder of the service, to symbolize the ‘oneness’ of the bridal couple.
The crowns are put on the heads of the bride and groom: The chaste and prudent life of the couple in the past, which demanded moral struggle for the preservation of the honor of both the flesh and the spirit, along with their decision to be married “in the Lord” and keep the Christian moral life and living faith intact and blessed with the symbol of the crowns. The right hands of the groom and the bride are joined: while the priest recites the prayer that beseeches God to ‘join and unite them in one mind and one flesh’. The Holy Spirit descends here, after the inaudible prayer by the priest, and they are no more two but one, through the act of the Holy Spirit. The hands are kept joined throughout the remainder of the service, to symbolize the ‘oneness’ of the bridal couple.