new church life: september / october 2013
to men, by which the men’s lives are softened, warmed and ennobled.
Conversely, however, husbands have a gift to give their wives, and that is
the gift of the church. For the church is first formed in husbands and through
them in their wives. (Ibid. 63, 125) That is because the marriage of husband
and wife – if it is a true marriage – is formed by the union of her affections and
loves with his insights and judgments, or in the words of the doctrine, by a
union of her will with his understanding. For the church is a church according
to its understanding of the Word (Sacred Scri \