OK, the sky didn’t fall on Monday but the world did change.

Headlines and photos in media outlets around the world and in every state documented the momentous day that gays and lesbians were first allowed to marry in America. And on the 50th anniversary of the legendary Supreme Court ruling Brown v. Board of Education, America – a country that is behind the times on many social issues – became only the fourth country in the world to open up the institution of marriage to gays and lesbians (with the Netherlands, Belgium and three provinces in Canada). More than a thousand couples flocked to courthouses throughout Massachusetts to register, some of them admitted just after midnight Monday morning. Extensive media coverage worldwide reported that most everyone, from passersby to courthouse clerks, took a calm pleasure in participating in this momentous occasion – a testimony to the idea that perhaps gays and lesbians in love can transform a culture, one person at a time.

In fact, one of the best aspects of this past week has been the general mundanity surrounding Marriage Day. A collection of Boston Globe reporters stationed throughout the state (San Diego contributor Rex Wockner was among them – see his story on page 28) observed that, once the couples were in the courthouse door and filling out the paperwork, conversations were no longer on cultural debates, marriage bills or legal implications. Instead, applicants were faced with baffling questions like, “Will you use a single name?”

One woman, Globe correspondents reported, wondered if her marriage license would still be valid for a celebration in August. “It’s good for how long?” she asked clerk Laurence Pizer. “Until you die,” he answered.

Another report by Globe writer Ellen Goodman gave a sense of the possible shape of things to come: A newspaper man handing out a paper with the headline “Free to Marry” sang to passersby, “Engagement ring, wedding ring, suffering.”

The song we prefer this week is Frank Sinatra’s: “Love and marriage, love and marriage. Go together like a horse and carriage.”

That’s not to say it’s all classic songs and pink champagne. This new worldwide media outbreak of love comes even as the horrifying abuse incidents at Abu Ghraib unfold. And while this victory adds vigor to the continued efforts to win marriage and so many other crucial rights for gays and lesbians in every state and every country, the challenges remain. Thirty-nine states have passed laws banning marriage between gays and lesbians; at least six more will vote this fall on whether or not to add such prohibitions to their constitutions; and in April the Virginia Legislature passed a law banning gays and lesbians from entering into contracts with each other. On Monday, President Bush denounced “activist judges” who have ruled in favor of marriage equality, even while celebrating those who made similar advances in Brown 50 years ago to the day.

The ways to get involved and to help make sure the victories continue are outlined in Assistant Editor Rachel Ralston’s feature story, which starts on page 45.

In the meantime, marriage is here for gays and lesbians. And far from the occasion being a “death certificate” for marriage, as Focus on the Family’s James Dobson was reported as saying, it’s actually been a tremendous strength to an institution that is only to this day still in practice because of its ability to transform and adapt through the centuries. This week, the institution of marriage was strengthened. For everyone.

Linda Ochenduszko, who works in a clerk’s office in Dedham, Mass., said to a Boston reporter: “In this day and age, I just think that there’s too much sadness and frightening things going on. It’s nice to see a happy thing once in a while.”

We couldn’t agree more.