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marriage is open to receiving life as the divine gift of God. All the symbols
used in the Solemn Reception signify purity, sanctity, prosperity and
posterity. Sending off the Pregnant Wife is a meaningful family custom that
proclaims the Catholic teaching of the need for protecting and caring for life
from the moment of conception. This ceremony reminds everyone in the
family of their duty, as in the words of Pope John Paul II, of “creating a
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climate of welcoming life”.
4.1.4.1 Cooperating in the Creative Work of God

Pope John Paul II reminded the spouses of their vocation to share the
creative work of God the Father: “With the creation of man and woman in
His own image and likeness, God crowns and brings to perfection the work
of His hands: He calls them to a special sharing in His love and in His
power as Creator and Father, through their free and responsible cooperation
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in transmitting the gift of human life”. Through marriage the couple
become partners with the Creator in bringing forth new life and thus
manifesting God’s love to humanity. The gift of life which God the Creator
and Father has entrusted to man calls him to appreciate the inestimable
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value of what he has been given and to take responsibility for it. The Most
Solemn Blessing by the Mother of the Bride and the Hymn of Blessing are
treated with extreme importance by the families. This prayer (Hymn of
Blessing) expresses and proclaims the basic identity of the family as the
sacred place (Sanctuary) where, by the grace of the Almighty, the spouses
co-operate in the creative work of God the Father. Through this hymn the
families categorically proclaim that He (God) is the cause of the life we
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enjoy.

24
JOHN PAUL II, “Ai Leaders dei Movimenti Internazionali Pro-Vita”, 15, November,
1991, in Insegnamenti di Giovanni Paolo II, Vol. XIV, 2, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1991,
p. 1158.
25 Familiaris Consortio, no. 28.

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Cf. CONGREGATIO PRO DOCTRINA FIDEI, Instructio De Observantia Erga Vitam
Humanam Nascentem Deque Procreationis Dignitate Tuenda - Donum Vitae, no. 5, 22
February, 1987, in AAS 80, 1988, pp. 70-102. English Translation, Libreria Editrice
Vaticana.
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VELLIAN, J., Knānite Community History and Culture, Syrian Church Series Vol. XVII,
Jyothi Book House, Kottayam, 2001, pp. 71-72. For full Song of Blessing in Malayalam,
see P. U. LUKAS, Malayālatte Suriyāni Kristyānikalute Purātanappāttukal (Ancient songs
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of the Syrian Christians of Malayalam, 1910), 7 Edition, Jyothi Book House, Kottayam,
1992, pp. 12-13.

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