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A Crucifix Above The Marriage Bed?


King's Rook's Pawn

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King's Rook's Pawn

This is a weird question, but I'm genuinely curious about this and can't seem to find a decent answer. I heard that it's a tradition for many married couples to keep a crucifix on the wall above their bed. And what about people who wear crucifixes and scapulars? I'm not married, but I fell like it would be [i]extremely[/i] uncomfortable wearing a scapular or having crucifix or, say, an icon of Mary present while, well, doing what married couples do in bed. On the other hand, the idea of removing them all and hiding them away each time would also feel wrong, like you were doing something wrong and dirty, which you wouldn't be. So either way would seem distasteful to me. Is there any standard answer to this or what?

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We have a print of the Bayeux Tapestry above our bed. The section with Halley's Comet. Married a man who loves meteorites and comets.

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I don't see why it would be wrong or disrespectful. God created sex, and within marriage, it's something sacred and beautiful. There's no shame in that :)

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My wife and I have a crucifix above our bed and I also have an icon of Mary on my nightstand:

[IMG]http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/ss172/Veridicus21/IMAG0058.jpg[/IMG]

The crucifix used to be centered above the bed...but we bought a baby dressor and had to put it in our bedroom which meant the bed had to be moved.

I don't find it at all distasteful. In my way of thinking the marital bed is in its own way a small sacramental foretaste of the Wedding Feast of the Lamb to which we are all called. If there is a Crucifix and images of the saints around the altar at Church I want there to be an equally endowed sacramental character to the spot where I carry out a very special part of my sacramental married life. I mean we made a baby in there so obviously God is around...removing icons won't change that.

Edited by Veridicus
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I am married. We have a kind of family devotional shrine / chapel area in the most prominent place of our home. My children have icons in their room. But we have nothing in my own bedroom. I consider the idea of being watched in the midst of intimacy to be very awkward, despite having a solid understanding of the theology of the body and of marriage. I don't like the idea of being watched while [i](a)[/i] being sexual or [i](b)[/i] while in the bathroom. I try not to think about the fact that I can't avoid it; having pictures of the Lord or His saints staring at me in my bedroom or bathroom does not help this effort! //shrugs//

Edited by Ziggamafu
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King's Rook's Pawn

Veredicus and Ziggamafu have opposite feelings and strategies, so I'm really confused :topsy:. Either way feels awkward to me.

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Happy_Catholic

When my parents were married they had a crucifix over their bed, along with that image of Mary holding the baby Jesus and one of his sandals were falling off because some angel was showing Him the cross. My mum said it wards off fear or some such.

All my relatives who are married have a crucifix over their bed. Mind you, most of my relatives are of that Catholic mindset that you have a crucifix in every room. Including the toilet. In fact, my mum had an image of the "smiling Jesus" in the toilet!

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Happy_Catholic

[quote name='Selah' date='18 January 2010 - 07:06 PM' timestamp='1263859594' post='2039887']
:blink: Wow, [i]in[/i] the toilet?
[/quote]

Mmm, it must be a lost in translation thing as I've had this discussion before with other non-NZLers.

But down here the room the toilet is in, we just call the toilet, the bathroom is where the bath/shower is.

So the image is on the back of the door of the toilet, as opposed to actually in the physical toilet bowl.

This image:
[img]http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_buW_aKzfBn4/SnjlAysZRQI/AAAAAAAAAxw/9c3D75c85s4/s400/jesus+smiling.jpg[/img]

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[quote name='Happy_Catholic' date='18 January 2010 - 07:05 PM' timestamp='1263859522' post='2039886']
All my relatives who are married have a crucifix over their bed. Mind you, most of my relatives are of that Catholic mindset that you have a crucifix in every room. Including the toilet. In fact, my mum had an image of the "smiling Jesus" in the toilet!
[/quote]

Our house has a crucifix in every room except the bathroom. Having a crucifix in there would be rather odd.

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[quote name='Resurrexi' date='18 January 2010 - 06:25 PM' timestamp='1263860758' post='2039902']
Our house has a crucifix in every room except the bathroom. Having a crucifix in there would be rather odd.
[/quote]

Really? Somewhere I read that when you die on a cross you would lose your bowel contents as the outflow muscles relaxed.

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[quote name='Winchester' date='18 January 2010 - 06:41 PM' timestamp='1263861671' post='2039913']
You do that whenever you die.
[/quote]

Yes you do. But when you're hanging on a cross I bet the scene is even more explosive is my point. Gravity and all that.

Edited by Veridicus
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