Bridal Theology Mystical Wedding
The set of Christian beliefs that use wedding imagery are known as bridal theology. The New Testament often portrays communion with Jesus as a marriage, and God's reign as a wedding banquet.[3] This tradition in turn traces back to the Hebrew Bible, especially allegorical interpretations of the Song of Songs (or Song of Solomon).[4]
Bernard of Clairvaux, in his sermons on the Song of Songs, interprets the bride of Christ as the soul and the union thereof as the mystical union of the soul with Christ.
A similar concept existed in Valentinian Gnosticism with the notion of the Bridal Chamber, which involved a marriage to one's heavenly counterpart. Some mystics take this "marriage" as a symbol of the union of the human soul with God.
He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: thus my joy therefore is fulfilled. — John 3:29
In the Gospels, when Jesus is asked why his disciples do not fast, but the followers of John the Baptist and the Pharisees do, Jesus answers:
And Jesus said unto them, Can the friends of the bridegroom fast, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast. — Mark 2:19
In Matthew 9:15,[11] Mark 2:19[12] and Luke 5:34,[13] the Apostles are referred to as the friends, guests, or children – depending on the translation – of the bridegroom commonly accepted to be Jesus Christ.
The bridegroom is also mentioned in the Parable of the Ten Virgins:
Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. — Matthew 25:1–13
The Book of Revelation repeatedly mentions the appearance of the Bride:
And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. [...] And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the lamb's wife. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God
— Revelation 21:2, 9–10, King James Version[15]
In this passage, John, the author of the Revelation, speaks of seeing the bride revealed and refers to her as the New Jerusalem, first mentioned in Revelation 3:12.[16] The bride is mentioned again in Revelation 22:17:
And the Spirit and the bride say, "Come." And let him that heareth say, "Come." And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.
— Revelation 22:17
The Bridal Chamber
The chief sacrament of the Valentinians seems to have been that of the bridal chamber (nymphon).[33] The Gospel of Philip, a probable Valentinian text, reads:
There were three buildings specifically for sacrifice in Jerusalem. The one facing the west was called "The Holy". Another, facing south, was called "The Holy of the Holy". The third, facing east, was called "The Holy of the Holies", the place where only the high priest enters. Baptism is "the Holy" building. Redemption is the "Holy of the Holy". "The Holy of the Holies" is the bridal chamber. Baptism includes the resurrection and the redemption; the redemption (takes place) in the bridal chamber.
As Sophia was united with the Saviour, her bridegroom, so the faithful would experience a union with their angel in the Pleroma (cf. the "Higher Self" or "Holy Guardian Angel").
The ritual of this sacrament is briefly indicated: "A few of them prepare a bridal chamber and in it go through a form of consecration, employing certain fixed formulae, which are repeated over the person to be initiated, and stating that a spiritual marriage is to be performed after the pattern of the higher Syzygia."[36]
Through a fortunate chance, a liturgical formula which was used at this sacrament appears to be preserved, though in a garbled form and in an entirely different connection, the author seeming to have been uncertain as to its original meaning. It runs:
I will confer my favor upon thee, for the father of all sees thine angel ever before his face ... we must now become as one; receive now this grace from me and through me; deck thyself as a bride who awaits her bridegroom, that thou mayest become as I am, and I as thou art. Let the seed of light descend into thy bridal chamber; receive the bridegroom and give place to him, and open thine arms to embrace him. Behold, grace has descended upon thee.
After Jesus meets his followers "in the air", the marriage of the Lamb takes place: "Let us be glad and rejoice and give him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his wife has made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints" [Rev 19:7–8]. Christ is represented throughout Revelation as "the Lamb", symbolizing the giving of his life as an atoning sacrifice for the people of the world, just as lambs were sacrificed on the altar for the sins of Israel. His "wife" appears to represent the people of God, for she is dressed in the "righteous acts of the saints". As the marriage takes place, there is a great celebration in heaven which involves a "great multitude" [Rev 19:6].