1. Sacrament of Christ’s Love
Matrimony
Sacrament of Christ’s Love

2. Nature of the Sacrament
Sacrament of human love that Christ raised as an efficacious (effective) symbol of his love for the Church.

3. Biblical Foundation
“God created man in his image… male and female He created them… He blessed them saying ‘Be fertile and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it.’” (Gen 1:27f). “It is not good for man to be alone. I will make a suitable partner for him… that is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body” (Gen 2:18, 24)

4. Genesis Teaching on Marriage
The two basic purposes of marriage:
Unitive
Procreative
The fall from conjugal unity and equality
Genesis 3 sketches the origin of sin and its basic consequences in human marriage: infidelity, adultery, divorce, broken families, etc.
God promising a savior
It is through Jesus Christ that the “covenant of human love” was raised to become the sacrament of God’s new and eternal Covenant with His people, the Church.
(CFC 1997)

5. Image of the New Covenant
The marriage covenant between husband and wife images the covenant between Christ and his Church.
Therefore husbands and wives should love each other as Christ loves the Church, “deferring to one another out of reverence for Christ” (Eph 5:21).

6. Goods / Values of Marriage
Sacrament of Christ’s love for his people
Mutual love and fidelity of spouses
Offspring

7. Marriage as A Sacrament
Both the celebration of the Marriage Rite and the couple’s married life of love are a “sacrament” of Christ’s love for his people.
“The love of man and woman is made holy in the Sacrament of Marriage, and becomes the mirror of your everlasting love.”
3rd Preface of the Wedding Mass

8. Marriage Fidelity/ Indissolubility
Authentic married love should be marked by total permanent fidelity “till death do us part,” following Christ’s own prophetic proclamation: “let no man separate what God has joined” (Mt 19:6).
While recognizing the great obstacles to the Christian ideal, the Church is convinced of the transforming sacramental grace of Christ and the Spirit which makes possible permanent conjugal love.
(CFC 2007)

9. Offspring
“By their very nature, the institution of marriage and conjugal love are ordained for the procreation and education of children, and find in them their ultimate crown” (GS 48).

10. Responsible Parenthood
The Church teaches the grave need for responsible parenthood which involves bringing into the world only those children whom they can well support and educate.
The Church advocates only Natural Family Planning, rejecting all artificial means of contraception.
CFC 2009

11. Why Get Married in the Church?
Catholic spouses get married in the church:
To have their binding commitment of love to each other before God and the Christian community,
Blessed through, with and in Christ their Lord and Savior, as he blessed the wedding at Cana, where he performed the first of his “signs” revealing his glory to his disciples.
CFC 2001

12. Essential Elements MINISTERS MATTER FORM Bride and Groom
A priest or a deacon presides at the celebration in an official capacity for the Church (as witness).
MATTER
The mutual consent of the couple
FORM
The exchange of “I do’s.”