Understanding the Sacrament of Matrimony

Thank you for considering Our Lady of Peace Church and Shrine for your marriage preparation.

Marriage is a beautiful institution from the hand of God. In fact, the Church often refers to herself as the Bride of Jesus Christ. (Eph 5). In light of the Church's teaching and that of Sacred Scripture, the following are quotes setting forth some of the key principles of marriage. These principles help us remain grounded in a balanced approach to marriage so that the love of marriage may have all the beauty that God designed it to have.

The Sacrament of Matrimony

God himself is the author of marriage (GS 48).  The vocation to marriage is written in the very nature of man and woman as they came from the hand of the Creator.  Marriage is not a purely human institution (CCC1603).

The matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves partnership of the whole of life, is by its nature ordered toward the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring; this covenant between baptized persons has been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament (CCC1601).

Conjugal love involves a totality, in which all the elements of the person enter. . .it demands indissolubility and faithfulness in definitive mutual giving; and it is open to fertility (CCC1643).

By its very nature the institution of marriage and married love is ordered to the procreation and education of the offspring and it is in them that it finds its crowning glory (CCC1652).

The Effects of the Sacrament of Marriage

The Marriage Bond

From a valid marriage arise a bond between the spouses which by its very nature is perpetual and exclusive.  The consent by which the spouses mutually give and receive one another is sealed by God himself.  Thus the marriage bond has been established by God himself.

. . .a marriage. . .between baptized persons can never be dissolved (CCC 1638 – 1640).

The Grace of the Sacrament of Matrimony

By this grace they “help one another to attain holiness in their married life and in welcoming and educating their children.”(LG 11, CC1641).  Christ dwells with them, gives them the strength to take up their crosses and so follow him, to rise again after they have fallen, to forgive one another, to bear another’s burdens, to “be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ (Eph. 5:21, CCC1642).

The Goods and Requirements of Conjugal Love

Conjugal love involves a totality, in which all the elements of the person enter. . .it demands indissolubility and faithfulness in definitive mutual giving; and it is open to fertility (CCC1643).

Marriage Preparation* Resources For Our Lady of Peace Church

Rectory: 408-988-4585
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Wedding Coordinator:  408-988-8908
Music Director: 408-988-4585 x2124

Printed quotations are from:

The Bible
Vatican II Documents
Gaudium and Spes (GS)
Lumen Gentium (LG)
Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC)