Matrimony

(Plain Text Version)

Marriage was instituted by God at the beginning of human history.  The family, the foundation of human society, is the union of the husband and the wife.   Christ raised marriage to the dignity of a sacrament, called Matrimony.  This sacrament provides powerful graces to overcome difficulties and to have a happy family life.

Natural Marriage

In the beginning, God created the first man, and then made the first woman from the flesh of the man.  The creation of two people from “one flesh” is the model for all marriage: “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh (Genesis: 2:24).”

Marriage is a life-long partnership which exists for the well-being of the spouses and the procreation and upbringing of children. 

Sacramental Marriage

A baptized man and a baptized woman are united in the sacrament of Matrimony when they freely consent to a life-long union with openness to children.  When this marriage is consummated by intercourse without contraception, it becomes permanent.

The graces from the sacrament of Matrimony are given continuously throughout the life of the spouses.  These graces help the couple to have a harmonious life-long marriage.

In unusual circumstances, the Church permits a baptized person to marry a non-baptized person.  This is not a sacramental marriage.

Unity of Marriage

By unity, we mean monogamy: one man married to one woman.  The opposites of unity are polygamy (one man with more than one wife) and polyandry (one woman with more than one husband). 

In the Old Testament, we read of holy men who had more than one wife.  When we read carefully, we find that God only tolerated polygamy.  God always willed that a marriage would be one husband married to one wife.

Indissolubility of Marriage

A consummated, sacramental marriage is a bond created by God, which cannot be dissolved for any reason.  A decree of divorce has no validity (Matthew 19:3-12, Mark 10:2-12, Luke 16:18).

If necessary, the partners of a sacramental marriage can separate, but they are still married, and are not free to marry anyone else. 

Sometimes, what seems to be a sacramental marriage has a serious irregularity.  Many irregularities result from poor instruction or from failure to consider the gravity of the commitment.  For example, if one of the parties married under a threat, there would be no free consent.  In these circumstances, the Church can rule that a valid marriage never existed.  This is called a “decree of nullity”, or an “annulment.” 

Graces for Happy Family Life

Through the sacrament of Matrimony, God provides a lifetime of graces:

The husband and the wife receive graces to grow in generous love for each other.

They receive graces for the spiritual and bodily needs of their children.   

Many thanks to:

Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J., Pocket Catholic Catechism, 1989, Doubleday

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