After long search,
her gentle voice was heard in the most retired part of the building,
imploring the blessing of God to abide with her in that new
relation. Only those who had seen the rioting and folly common on
such occasions could appreciate the change.
The marriage of Mar Yohanan, in 1859, was a step in the work of
lifting up woman to her true position. Formerly, marriage had been
deemed something too unholy for a bishop; and the consequence was
the general degradation of the sex. The entrance of the gospel
corrected public sentiment on this point; and that act of the bishop
only gave expression to the popular conviction that marriage is
honorable in all, even the highest and holiest, nurturing some of
the loveliest graces of the Christian character. The event for a
time caused some stir among the enemies of the truth; but it soon
died away, and the old ascetic views of piety are passing away with
the social degradation in which they had their origin.
About the same time Yohanan, whom we have seen laboring in the
mountains with his estimable wife, was ordained to the work of the
ministry without any of the mummeries that had been added to the
simple usage of the New Testament; the venerable Mar Elias uniting
with the missionaries in the laying on of the hands of the
presbytery.
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