

For Catholics, divorce has historically been unacceptable for any reason except for death.Įven today, the Catholic Church does not recognize divorce. Instead, it was quite literally a decree that a husband and wife could not be separated for any reason other than death. Originally, the phrase didn’t start as a way to emphasize the importance of making a marriage work out. The phrase underwent slight variations further down through the years as language evolved and eventually became “till death we do part” in the 1662 version of “The Book of Common Prayer.” Later on, the “do” and “us” were switched and the phrase has remained the same to this day. The origin of the phrase “until death do us part” is uniquely Christian and dates back to 1549 where it is found in “The Book of Common Prayer.” The original phrase was slightly different and read “till death us depart.” » MORE: Easy as 1-2-3, make an online will in minutes. This phrase is also an important part of the ceremony due to the emphasis that parting in marriage should only be for serious matters, not trivial ones. Though this common phrase doesn’t mean that the couple can’t separate if they want to later on, it’s used to emphasize the importance of trying to make a marriage work to the best of your ability. At times, a euphemism for death might be substituted instead, like “until the Lord takes us home.” The phrase “until death do us part” means death should be the only thing that will separate the married couple for their whole lives.

Read on to learn more about “until death do us part” meaning. The universal hope when starting out in married life is that the union will end only by death.

Did you know that weddings are one of the oldest recorded traditions? Ancient documents for marriage agreements have been found in every culture and continent and go back to when contracts were etched into stone! However, it wasn’t until relatively recently that the phrase “until death do us part” was used.
