A Love Story to Remember

Now that my desk in my home office is slowly being cleared off (yay for getting somewhat caught up at the end of the semester), I'm able to once again have a clear view of this.  Both the rose and the leaf are from our Engaged Encounter Weekend we participated in this past October in Pennsylvania.  Adam had surprised me with the rose (and an adorable poem he had written: who knew?!) on our last day of the retreat and we snatched up this leaf outside our reception venue as we left our tasting.  I forgot to have Adam put it in his book I had made for him so hung on to the leaf.  As you can see, I forgot to press it so am not sure what I'll do with it now as it spent the last 8 weeks in this corner of my desk. 

The reading that is pictured above is one I learned about from one of my housemates during our first weekend of living here in this house.  On the last weekend of summer as we started in-service the following Monday I had frantically spent the last weekend of "freedom" working to meet a deadline in getting my dissertation article submitted upon my return to Ohio from California.  The hard work paid off as the article is currently in print in the Fall/Winter 2014 issue of The Volta Review!!  Pretty awesome stuff!!

Anyhow, Marita encouraged me to celebrate meeting the deadline by joining her in sipping a glass of wine in our living room....a girl after my own heart!  Throughout our conversation that evening, talk of wedding plans, hopes we had for our upcoming fall semesters, and marveling at events that had led to the both of us coming to Steubenville surfaced.  One topic I'm grateful for from that mid August evening conversation was when Marita shared with me the story of Sarah and Tobia from the book of Tobit.  I had heard bits of the story and was only vaguely aware of it until Marita read it to me that night. 

Taken from https://catholicsensibility.wordpress.com/2008/01/23/wedding-lectionary-tobit-84b-9/ this is what I printed after Marita's and my conversation.  It quickly became buried under the ever growing to-do list but I'm so glad I can see it now.  I love how the author of the post below talks about the story making for a great bedtime story as it reminds me of how Adam and I read each night.  I can't wait until we can read in person and no longer have to be at the mercy of Internet connections and dropped Skype calls.  That day (or rather I should say night) is coming so very soon!!

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One of the more beloved Old Testament selections for a wedding liturgy is the bedtime prayer of the newlyweds Sarah and Tobiah. In popularity, it probably comes in third behind the creation accounts.
These two have had a rather unorthodox courtship, even for ancient times. The angel Raphael, in disguise as a distant relative, has been employed by Tobiah’s father to accompany the son on a mission to recover money set aside in a far land many years ago. During the journey, the angel speaks of a “beautiful and sensible” woman who, by rights, is Tobiah’s to wed. (Tob 6:12ff) The very night the young man meets her, he practically demands Sarah be given him as his wife. (Tob 7:9ff) This, despite the knowledge that each of her seven previous husbands have been killed by a jealous demon on seven previous wedding nights.
Sarah is tearful at the thought of another young man’s likely death, and the shame this brings to her father. She is comforted by her mother Edna. (Tob 7:16-17) Raguel, the father, resigns himself to another tragedy. After the couple is put into the bridal chamber, Raguel instructs his servants dig a hole just in case a hush-hush burial is needed (Tob 8:9b).
Thanks to the advice and assistance of the angel, the young man has healed Sarah of this demonic possession. Throwing fish liver and heart on the coals drive away the jealous demon. Raphael gives chase to the other end of the world and binds him. (Tob 8:2-3)
Before the couple commences with marital bliss, the groom urges his bride to get up and thus they pray:

Tobiah arose from bed and said to his wife, “My love, get up. Let us pray and beg our Lord to have mercy on us and to grant us deliverance.” She got up, and they started to pray and beg that deliverance might be theirs. He began with these words:

“Blessed are you, O God of our fathers; praised be your name forever and ever. Let the heavens and all your creation praise you forever. You made Adam and you gave him his wife Eve to be his help and support; and from these two the human race descended. You said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone; let us make him a partner like himself.’ Now, Lord, you know that I take this wife of mine not because of lust, but for a noble purpose. Call down your mercy on me and on her, and allow us to live together to a happy old age.” They said together, “Amen, amen,” and went to bed for the night.

Tobiah is well-schooled in the Torah we see, as he quotes the second creation story in his prayer.
When would I counsel this reading be used? Couples who pray together seem drawn to it. Couples who have experienced hardships or who have known healing. Can an engaged couple express their hopes for marriage as a “noble purpose,” above physical desire? It’s the expression par excellence of Christian marriage: the elevation of the spiritual life, the placement of nobility above lust, the recollection of tradition, the role of the family.
Reading the whole book of Tobit is useful for an engaged couple. Or anyone, really. It’s the only romance book in the canon of Scripture. It’s a great bedtime story.