Parish Preparation Guidelines for Celebrating a Marriage

What is Christian Marriage?

The Catholic Church believes that Christian marriage is the union of a baptized man and woman who freely enter into a covenant of love with each other in Christ and for the purpose of giving and receiving love and for the procreation and education of children.

Married couples live their sacrament by the way they care for, love and are enthusiastic for each other as husband and wife, for their children, and for the whole family of God. In their day to day love for each other, their children, and the larger community, they become a living sign (a sacrament) for us of how much Jesus loves us and wishes to embrace us as brothers and sisters. As they work their way through marital and family crises and struggles, they witness to the power of the Holy Spirit at work in all our lives.

In order to live out this ideal Christian marriage, couples must have the ability to give and receive love and to sustain and intimate relationship. They must also have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and his Body, the Church.

Church Teaching Today: A New Emphasis on the Sacrament

Marriage is a covenant relationship (I will love you unconditionally), and not just a contractual relationship (I will love you if you love me).

The principal goal of marriage is not just the procreation of children, it is also the mutual love of husband and wife.

The sacrament of marriage has an important community dimension, namely, couples by their love for each other become living signs of how God loves us and how much God wants to embrace us as family.

Marriage assures a couple's ability to sustain close intimate relationship.

Marriage assumes a relationship to Christ and his Church.