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Beloved friends, family, those who have travelled from far or near, those who are here with us in spirit but have passed on, and those who wished they could be here but cannot. We gather here today, to witness, to celebrate and to bless the joining of Peter and Mary in the holy and mysterious union of marriage.

Today, Mary and Peter both of you have arrived at this moment not on your own as fully formed, but through the guidance and support of your many friends and family and through the Divine by way of personal insights and realizations. From the moment you met in poetry class until this, you have been on a journey as two separate entities, together. But it is today you are enacting a TRANSITION OF THE SPIRIT – from one way of life to another, into marriage.

Peter and Mary as you stand side by side as bride and groom you represent to all present the archetype of wholeness; the coming together of opposite energies, yin and yang, into unity and balance. Through this ritual you represent a place where time stops and everything is perfection, just for an instant. In this very moment, you stand in the NOW and ETERNITY simultaneously; one foot in heaven and one on earth. You are creating a new, holy and mysterious entity.

This rite of passage from two single beings into a married couple is not an act to be taken lightly. You are moving from love’s entrance to love’s most sacred and inner core. You are walking into a future with its numerous vicissitudes, with its joys and sorrows, its journeys to foreign places and sometimes static home life, a future filled with prosperity and adversity and daily chores. Holdfast in FAITH and TRUST, not only in yourself but in your beloved. SURRENDER and FALL INTO the arms of your COMMUNITY and the DIVINE, remembering God, the highest power will be with you when times get tough.

And so, not knowing what is before you, you are vowing today in front of God and these witnesses to accept one another in times of scarcity, fear, calamity, and hardship as well as in times of prosperity, health, serenity and joy, AS LONG AS YOU BOTH SHALL LIVE.

As Mary and Peter begin the next step on this new path together, let us pause for a moment in silence to pray for their new life.