Bridal Theology as referenced in this material refers to the wedding of the soul to Jesus, its Divine Bridegroom. In other words, it explains and explores the mystery of our union with God through Jesus.
Interested in learning more? Visit: More Bridal Theology.
WEDDING ONE'S SOUL TO CHRIST ALONG THE WAY OF THE CROSS
Pray the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Holy Rosary while making a Holy Hour and consider this method of exchanging very personal and meaningful vows while accompanying Jesus and Blessed Mother along the Way of Sacrificial Love.
BRIDAL THEOLOGY AND SACRIFICIAL LOVE
An important thing to bring to your wedding is trust in the Lord. We all know intimately and sometimes very painfully what relationships become when there is no trust, and what families and also parish families become when trust is lacking.
Jesus is not only always present among us, He constantly reminds and encourages us to trust in Him.
We can, we should, and we must trust Jesus. The Lord is the source of everything good, and He so in love with us! Jesus will never, ever harm us. He is the safest bet in the universe. God's love changes everything, and there is an unlimited supply. Receive love in superabundance as you wed your life to Christ.
Sanctify your soul, prepare it, then surrender it as you promise to love lavishly and sacrifice extravagantly in imitation of your beloved Bridegroom. Jesus wants to have a very intimate, meaningful, powerful, fruitful, and eternally joyful union with you.
Have you heard His proposal? Have you accepted it? If not, don 't delay! God is so in love with you.
WEDDING YOUR LIFE TO CHRIST ALONG THE WAY OF THE CROSS
As you walk through the parking lot to enter God's house, you see that
the Lord has prepared lavishly for your arrival. Jesus has lined the
parking lot with a carpet of the most majestic hue of red to welcome
you. You step onto the magnificent carpet and find it leads through the
church doors, through the vestibule, into the church, and all the way up
to the altar!
Jesus has no little wedding isle runner for you
to set your feet on as you journey toward union with
God. You are that
special to Him.
This carpet
leads you along the Way of the Cross, and it is there that you are going
to profess your vows to Jesus while wedding your life to His.
The carpet cost Jesus extravagantly; He paid for it with Himself. This
mystical carpet which eases your steps toward God and also shows you the
Way consists of Christ's Precious Blood.
Begin by joining Jesus in the Garden.
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There, you find the Son of Man, our Savior and the Divine Bridegroom of every soul, on His knees.
Our humble and gentle Jesus welcomes you on bended knee.
Kneel down next to Jesus reverently and lovingly, take His Sacred Hands into yours, and kiss Them.
He is so in love with you; be sure to love Him in return.
THE 1ST SORROWFUL MYSTERY: THE AGONY IN THE GARDEN
The Devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus
As you pray with Jesus in the Garden, the words of your prayers surround one another, and you embrace one another in this very beautiful way.
Jesus presents your heart in the Garden as an open tabernacle with a veil, and His Sacred Heart appears this way to you also.
You remove your heart from the tabernacle and use it to absorb the Precious Blood running down Jesus Sacred Face as He cries tears of Blood and sweats Blood. In this way, you venerate the Holy Face of Jesus, which consoles Him so much.
THE 2ND SORROWFUL MYSTERY: THE SCOURING AT THE PILLAR
Love Transforms a Pillar into A Pedestal
As Jesus endures the unfathomably brutal scourging, profess your wedding vows to Him.
You are moved to shed mystical tears of blood as Jesus professes His wedding vows to you in between each strike.
The tabernacle doors leading to each of your hearts are wide open, and again you remove your heart and use it to tend to Jesus' injuries, and wipe up His Sacred Blood from the ground.
As the scourging continues, you hear Jesus praying to God our Father for you...how much He loves you...be sure to thank our Father for sacrificing His only Son for us.
Be sure to venerate Jesus' Holy Face as it becomes disfigured, and unrecognizable.
"Sweet and gentle Jesus, I give myself to you completely, and I love You. May the power of sacrificial love fuse our two lives into one. May I take on Your likeness completely and be transformed into Love Itself."
Look into His eyes and see the majestic beauty of sacrificial love, and recognize Its eternal value.
Jesus sees you suffering, and finds you very beautiful when you suffer in imitation of Him and our Most Holy Mother.
"Jesus, this is my body, which is given up for YOU...this is my blood, which I am willing to shed for the forgiveness of many sins..."
Sacrificial love is the most powerful force in the universe. Sacrificial love is so strong that the bonds formed by it cannot ever be broken, and the gates of hell cannot prevail against it.
Allow sacrificial love to bind your soul to Christ, forever. He is eternally in love with you!
THE 3RD SORROWFUL MYSTERY: THE CROWNING WITH THORNSMatching Crowns with Mutual Understanding
The Bridegroom of your soul stands before you.
He is bound and has been crowned with thorns.
You continue holding His Sacred Hands in yours, and within them cradle the souls of all of mankind.
You wed your life to Jesus for their sake also, to help them get to heaven.
You continue making your vows to Jesus with great love and longing, and bind your life to His while surrendering your will to God the Father in imitation of your Beloved.
God the Father honors your sacrifice which honors His Son by placing a crown of thorns on your head also.
"Jesus, I thank You for your unfathomable love and mercy. May I always seek to live, love, serve, forgive, and patiently suffer in imitation of You."
THE 4TH SORROWFUL MYSTERY: THE CARRYING OF THE CROSS
Exchanging Vows That Last Forever
Instead of bridal flowers you carry the Cross along with Jesus. You carry each others' burdens and sorrows, along with the responsibility of caring for the souls of every single person through all time, all those deceased, living, and
yet to be born. You carry a passion for suffering in imitation of your Divine Bridegroom, and a deep longing to see every soul in heaven for all of eternity, where pillars become pedestals and sorrow turns to eternal bliss.
As we carry the Cross along with Jesus or unified with Jesus, whichever we prefer, our attendants include angels, martyrs, saints, the Holy Innocents, and the Holy Souls in Purgatory…what a heavenly wedding party.
Vow to remain by Jesus' side throughout your life.
He has made this vow to us and remains with us always in the Blessed Sacrament. He also helps us carry our crosses, and as the strongest and most loving of Bridegrooms, does this best.
All the people traveling along the Way of Sacrificial Love benefit from your union with Christ and from your sacrifices as you bear the burdens of one another, carry each others' crosses, and love heroically and with great courage.
You exchange gifts of mutual sorrow and understanding as two missions become the accomplishment of God’s will through your sacred union.
THE 5TH SORROWFUL MYSTERY: THE CRUCIFIXION
The Wedding That Does Not Surrender Itself to Death
As a sign of His love for You and for all mankind, keys began appearing from the wounds in Jesus' Hands nailed to the Cross...they are wedding presents, they are the precious fruits of your union, and they continue to fall and land on the floor of the church.
Jesus is the perfect Bridegroom and the model for every marriage. He is always faithful, loving, forgiving, gentle, kind, compassionate, patient, fair, understanding, and honorable.
The door of the tabernacle within your heart remains open wide and from within it you remove your heart, and press it to His knee which was wounded by mankind's pride and defiance.Then, you use your heart to absorb Jesus' Precious Blood as it falls in drops from His Sacred Body onto the ground...
Instead of returning your heart to its bridal chamber, you gently place it within Jesus' Sacred Heart, and then go to the side of His Sorrowful Mother.
Jesus gives His Mother to you as a wedding present, and He promises that if you keep your vow, He will give you eternal salvation and many other souls will be saved.
You take Blessed Mother's hand and hold it in yours, and while caressing the souls of all humanity within them, continue professing vows to Jesus as He is crucified on the Cross.
"Jesus, I promise to remain faithful to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, for poorer, and promise to love You and honor You, all the days of my life."
Jesus makes more vows to you, from the Cross.
The vows you and Jesus made to one another as you wed your soul to Christ along the Way of the Cross do not surrender themselves to death. Vows exchanged with Jesus last forever.
Congratulations! May you both live happily forever after, and may your sacred union guide many precious, immortal souls to God, and to heaven.
"Trust all things to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and to Mary, Help of Christians,
and you will see what miracles are."
~ Saint John Bosco
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© Joseph Karl Publishing /Michele Bondi Bottesi
Images taken at Ss. Cyril and Methodius Slovak Catholic Church,
Sterling Heights, Michigan, U.S.A. Parish Website
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THE POWERFUL DEVOTION TO THE HOLY FACE OF JESUS
To learn more about the Work of Reparation through the Devotion to the Holy Face, which our Lord, Jesus Christ called "the most beautiful work under the sun,"
visit: Work of Reparation Through the Devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus
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To learn more about the Work of Reparation through the Devotion to the Holy Face, which our Lord, Jesus Christ called "the most beautiful work under the sun,"
visit: Work of Reparation Through the Devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus
Please share the information with others.
God is at work in you!!
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