Vows

The Marriage Of

Filippo Vincenzo Rossi

and

Caroline Leslie Lennox

on

August 18, 2007 

Victoria, British Columbia

Officiated by,

Donald M. Gunn

Marriage Commissioner

Some Thoughts on Love and Marriage

It is love that brings us together today.

Fil and Caroline, it is the love that you have found in each other, that brings us to this point in your lives.

You have come here today to commit yourselves to a great adventure, a journey through which you will guide and encourage each other, sustained by the love that is in your hearts.

As in all of life’s most significant endeavours, this journey that you are embarking upon today will present you with both great opportunities and great challenges. However, it is through the power of love that you will grow stronger together, as day by day, you live the promises that you are about to make.

Edmund O’Neill expressed the essence of marriage when he wrote:

"Marriage Joins Two People in the Circle of Its Love"

Marriage is a commitment to life, to the best that two people can find and bring out in each other.

It offers opportunities for sharing and growth that no other human relationship can equal, a joining that is promised for a lifetime.

Within the circle of its love, marriage encompasses all of life’s most important relationships.

A wife and a husband are each other’s best friend, confidant, lover, teacher, listener and critic.

Marriage deepens and enriches every facet of life.

Happiness is fuller; memories are fresher; commitment is stronger; even anger is felt more strongly, and passes away more quickly.

Marriage understands and forgives the mistakes life is unable to avoid. It encourages and nurtures new life, new experiences and new ways of expressing love through the seasons of life.

When two people pledge to love and care for each other in marriage, they create a spirit unique to themselves, which binds them closer than any spoken or written words.  Marriage is a promise, a potential, made in the hearts of two people who love each other, which takes a lifetime to fulfill.

Caroline and Fil, this ceremony is an outward expression of your inward union of heart, mind and spirit. It is a celebration of the joining of two souls already attuned to each other. You stand before us to declare your love and to share with us the joy that you have found in each other. May you always carry in your hearts the love that is with you today.

I hope that your growing love will unite you, not only to one another, but also in a closer bond with all people, and, indeed, to the world of nature from which we all come. When your love is secure and you are secure in your love, you are then free to see the beauty of sunsets, the wonder of star filled nights and the preciousness of the people around you; to see each of these with a brilliant new perspective.

Such a state of love does not start with a public ceremony such as we are having today. This wedding ceremony is only a public testimony, a community “yes”, to what already exists in your hearts. This ceremony is your acknowledgement that the person who stands in front of you today is the one person in all of the world for you and that you want to spend the rest of your lives together.

Legal Statements

I require you both, in the presence of these witnesses, to make formal and legal statements of your eligibility to enter into this marriage.

Fil, please repeat the following words after me exactly as I say them:

I solemnly declare that I do not know of any lawful impediment why I,

Filippo Vincenzo Rossi may not be joined in matrimony to Caroline Leslie Lennox.

Caroline, please repeat the following words after me exactly as I say them:

I solemnly declare that I do not know of any lawful impediment why I,

Caroline Leslie Lennox may not be joined in matrimony to Filippo Vincenzo Rossi.

The Wedding Promise

I will now ask you to make a solemn promise to each other.

Do you, Fil, take Caroline Lennox to be your wife?

Do you promise to be to her a loving and loyal husband, to cherish, honour and comfort her in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others, to be faithful only to her for all the days of your life?

I do.

Do you, Caroline, take Fil Rossi to be your husband?

Do you promise to be to him a loving and loyal wife, to cherish, honour and comfort him in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others, to be faithful only to him for all the days of your life?

I do.

The Marriage Vows

Fil and Caroline, please Join your right hands

Fil, please repeat these words after me exactly I say them:

I call on those present to witness that I, Filippo Vincenzo Rossi, take Caroline Leslie Lennox to be my lawful wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, in whatever circumstance or experience life may hold for us.

Caroline, please repeat these words after me exactly as I say them:

I call on those present to witness that I, Caroline Leslie Lennox, take Filippo Vincenzo Rossi to be my lawful wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, in whatever circumstance or experience life may hold for us.

The Rings

The wedding rings that you are about to exchange are outward and visible signs of the inward and spiritual bonds, which unite you in your marriage.

You have chosen to exchange rings as part of your ceremony. Rings have been used as symbols in marriage and engagement ceremonies for thousands of years. Rings, being perfect circles made of precious metals, were thought of as a symbol of wholeness, of perfection and of peace. They are symbols of unity, of the emotional and spiritual bonds that unite you in your marriage.

Fil, please place your ring on the third finger of Caroline’s left hand and repeat after me:

I give you this ring, with all my love.

It is a symbol of the vow that I have made to you today.

With it, I join my life to yours.

Caroline, please repeat after me:

I accept this ring, as a symbol of our love for each other.

I will wear it as a confirmation of my commitment to our marriage.

Caroline, please place your ring on the third finger of Fil‘s left hand and repeat after me:

I give you this ring, with all my love.

It is a symbol of the vow that I have made to you today.

With it, I join my life to yours.

.

Fil, please repeat after me:

I accept this ring, as a symbol of our love for each other.

I will wear it as a confirmation of my commitment to our marriage.

By giving and receiving rings, you have exchanged symbols of all that this marriage means to you and by wearing these rings; you are joining those meanings with a public statement that you have found your soul mate.

Your rings are perfect circles. They have no beginning and no end. May your rings forever symbolize the perfect unity of your love as you honour the pledge for which they stand.

Silent Blessing

Each of us here today knows the values of love and devotion, companionship and trust, honour and caring which comes in any intimate relationship. Let us take a silent moment to think on these things and give thought to our hopes for and Fil and Caroline.

The Declaration

And now, as you, Fil Rossi, and you, Caroline Lennox, have freely consented to be legally married,  have made your solemn promises to each other in front of these witnesses and in my presence and have exchanged rings as a pledge of your vows to each other.

Now, with the authority given to me by the Province of British Columbia,

I am pleased to pronounce you “husband” and “wife”.

Fil, you may now kiss the bride.

Benediction

Now and forever may both of you be united in love and harmony;
May both of you share your hopes and dreams with loving care;
May both of you keep trust in each other, constant and deep;
May you find joy in life and warm contentment as husband and wife.