Dear Ann-
The challenge is for the husband to hold his wife, look into her eyes, and recite St. John Chrysostom’s words (what husbands should say to their wives) and for her to NOT tear up in the process, and for him to be able to get through it all without issue.
My wife and I both failed this challenge.
Thank you, Ann, for sharing the wisdom of Chrysostom with us. I found it emotional, too, and lost my place for a couple of seconds and had to gather my thoughts and recall the words again before I could finish. I had it perfectly memorized, but something about maintaining eye contact and seeing the emotional reaction to your words makes solid recitation much, much more difficult.
“I have taken you in my arms, and I love you, and I prefer you to my life itself. For the present life is nothing, and my most ardent dream is to spend it with you in such a way that we may be assured of the life that is reserved for us. I place your love above all things, and nothing would be more bitter or painful to me than to be of a different mind than you.”
—St. John Chrysostom, Father and Doctor of the Church
