Marriage

God created man and woman out of love and commanded them to imitate his love in their relations with each other. Man and woman were created for each other…Woman and man are equal in human dignity, and in marriage both are united in an unbreakable bond. (United States Catholic Catechism for Adults, Ch. 21, p. 279)

The Sacrament of Marriage

The sacrament of marriage is a visible sign of God’s love for the Church. When a man and a woman are married in the Church, they receive the grace needed for a lifelong bond of unity.

Marriage is a Covenant

The Sacrament of Marriage is a covenantal union in the image of the covenants between God and his people with Abraham and later with Moses at Mt. Sinai. This divine covenant can never be broken. In this way, marriage is a union that bonds spouses together during their entire lifetime.
The sacrament of Matrimony signifies the union of Christ and the Church. It gives spouses the grace to love each other with the love with which Christ has loved his Church; the grace of the sacrament thus perfects the human love of the spouses, strengthens their indissoluble unity, and sanctifies them on the way to eternal life. (CCC 1661)
The love in a married relationship is exemplified in the total gift of one’s self to another. It’s this self-giving and self-sacrificing love that we see in our other model of marriage, the relationship between Christ and the Church.
Marriage is based on the consent of the contracting parties, that is, on their will to give themselves, each to the other, mutually and definitively, in order to live a covenant of faithful and fruitful love. (CCC 1662)
The Church takes the lifelong nature of the Sacrament of Marriage seriously. The Church teaches that a break in this covenant teaches goes against the natural law of God:
The remarriage of persons divorced from a living, lawful spouse contravenes the plan and law of God as taught by Christ. They are not separated from the Church, but they cannot receive Eucharistic communion. They will lead Christian lives especially by educating their children in the faith. (CCC 1665)

Marriage Reflects the Holy Trinity

We believe that God exists in eternal communion. Together, Father, Son and Holy Spirit are united in one being with no beginning and no end. Human beings, likewise, were created by God in God’s image for the purpose of communion with another human being.


The Catechism of the Catholic Church states, “The Christian family is a communion of persons, a sign and image of the communion of the Father and the Son in the Holy Spirit” (CCC 2205). The Sacrament of Marriage is “unitive, indissoluble and calls us to be completely open to fertility.” Christian marriage at its finest is a reflection of God’s self-giving love expressed between the love of two people.

Marriage at St. Albert's

 

  • All weddings must be scheduled six months in advance. A marriage preparatory class (four sessions) is required. 

 

  • Please complete the Marriage Request Form at the top of this page. The parish office will contact you on your next steps.

 


The Sanctity of Marriage


"The consent by which the spouses mutually give and receive one another is sealed by God himself. From their covenant arises 'an institution, confirmed by the divine law, . . . even in the eyes of society.' The covenant between the spouses is integrated into God's covenant with man: 'Authentic married love is caught up into divine love.'" (Catechism 1639)

"Thus the marriage bond has been established by God himself in such a way that a marriage concluded and consummated between baptized persons can never be dissolved. This bond, which results from the free human act of the spouses and their consummation of the marriage, is a reality, henceforth irrevocable, and gives rise to a covenant guaranteed by God's fidelity. The Church does not have the power to contravene this disposition of divine wisdom." (Catechism 1640) Baptized Catholics are obligated by virtue of their baptism to marry in the Catholic Church. It is permissible for a Catholic to marry a non-Catholic, but because of the Catholic party's obligation to marry before the Catholic Church, special dispensation must be obtained to marry outside the Catholic Church. This is a relatively simple process which the parish priest will assist you with.


Because the marriage bond is sealed by God himself, thus making it irrevocable, it should not be entered into lightly. It is for this reason that the Church states that divorce does not and cannot dissolve the bonds of marriage (i.e., the sacramental nature of marriage). There is nothing sinful in divorce. In fact, divorced Catholics are able to participate fully in the sacramental life of the Church and receive the sacraments, with the exception of marriage. For a divorced Catholic to marry in the Catholic Church a declaration of nullity must be obtained. 


Complete the Marriage Request Form





Divorce Recovery


Shurley Russell 

775-747-0722


Email:

shirleysrussell@live.com

Share by: