THEO Unit III.

Theo Reviewer

  ““The  ​consent  consists  in  a  "human act by 

which  the  partners  mutually  give 
Marriage is a  
themselves to each other": "I take you to be 
Divine Reality 
my  wife"  -  "I  take  you  to  be  my  husband." 
  This  consent  that  ​binds  the  spouses  to 
● God​ himself is the​ author of  each  other  finds  its  fulfillment  in  the  two 
marriage  "​becoming one flesh​." CCC 1627 
● God created man out of love and   
also calls him to love  ➢ “​Ratified​ and ​Consummated​” 
● Therefore, a man and a woman’s  marriage arising from the nation of 
mutual love, mirrors the love of God  indissolubility of marital bond 
for man  a. “A valid marriage covenant, 
  consummated​ by sexual 
  intercourse is absolutely 
  indissoluble by any earthly 
Marriage as a Sacrament  power” 
b. A marriage ​without 
 
consummation​ is only 
● Marriage between the ​baptized​ has 
ratified 
been raised by Christ the Lord to 
c. While the Church permits 
the dignity of a ​sacrament 
“​physical​ ​separation​: 
 
between couples, they 
● Three (3) stages of making it a 
remain however husband 
sacrament: 
and wife, thus, not free to 
1. It is ​consecrated​ and 
remarry 
sanctified  
 
(Wedding at Cana) 
B. Marriage as a Saving Presence of
2. It was given ​essential 
Christ 
properties  
➢ Jesus Christ at the Wedding at 
(Disputes with the Pharisees) 
Cana - the confirmation of the 
3. It was ​brought to its 
goodness of marriage and the 
original state​ with 
proclamation that it will be an 
necessary graces  
efficacious sign of Christ’s presence 
(after Jesus’ resurrection) 
○ Sacraments of entry 
 
○ For the upbuilding of the 
A. Marriage as a Sign and Symbol 
Church 
➢ The couples ​mutual​ ​gift​ and 
 
acceptance​ of each other is the sgn 
 
element of the sacrament of 
C. Marriage as a Saving Grace 
matrimony 
➢ “​Matrimonial Grace​” 
 
 THEO Unit III. Theo Reviewer

○ Provides ​strength​ and 

Marriage as
endurance​ for couples 
a Celebration
especially in the most 
difficult times 
  ● A ​requirement
“By  reason  for  their  state  in  life  and  of their  ○ A ​public declaration​ of their
order  have  their  own  ​special  ​gifts  in  the  love-commitment before God
People  of  God.”  This  grace  proper  to  the  and before the community
sacrament  of  Matrimony  is  intended  to  ● A​ liturgical act
perfect  the  couple’s  love  and  to  ○ Normally ​celebrated within 
strengthen their indissoluble unity​.  the mass
  ○ Does not end in wedding
By  this  grace  they  “help  one  another  to  ceremony
attain  holiness  in  their  married  life  and  in 
welcoming  and  education  their  children.  1. Role of the Eucharist in their life
(CCC 1627)  (at the table of a scared meal
  2. Martial act
  (Marital act of sexual intercourse)
 
Marriage is a Human Reality 
Marriage is
 
Personal
Officium Naturae or Duty of Nature

● Involves a ​deeply​ personal affair

between two persons in love
Marriage as a State
and as an Event ● The need to feel loved
● The need to be needed
● Situation in life: ​permanent​ and ● The need to be special
stable
● Marriage as an event is a​ lifelong  Marriage is
process​… Social
● “​Natural Human Institution​”

● A “​social institution​” that exists

interdependently with 
community/state
● Heightens the sense of responsibility
● As a social institution… needs the
support of the community and the
civil society
 THEO Unit III. Theo Reviewer
● Education
● Economics
● Property
● Medical attention
● Public decency
● Safety
Marriage as
a Vocation
● Marriage as a Vocation has the
following characteristics:
● “Call by God to a closer union with
Him and the Church”
● It is both a ​gift​ and a ​mission
Marriage as a Contract
The Couple
● THe parties to the marriage
covenant
○ Baptized man and woman
○ Free to contract marriage
○ Freely express their consent
Contract in Marriage
● Establishes a social domestic
relationship
Casti Conubii (Pius XI)
● Matrimony was not ​instituted by
man but by ​God​; not by man were
laws made to strengthen, confirm
and elevate it, but by God…and
hence these laws cannot be subject
to any human decrees or any
contrary pact even of the spouses
themselves.
● The ​nature​ of ​marriage​ is entirely
independent of the free will of 
man​, so that if one has contracted
matrimony, he is thereby subject to
its divinely constituted purpose and
essential characteristics
Matrimonial Consent
● Indispensable element​ that makes
marriage
● A human act by which the partners
mutually give themselves to each 
other
Matured = Valid
Irrevocable & Indissoluble
● Limited only to the question of
whether to marry and whom to marry
● Must be ​free​ and ​mutual
● Valid​ - adequate knowledge and
free decision
Obstacles to Free Consent in Marriage:
a) Those that affect a ​person’s
capacity to decide
b) Those that affect the​ exercise of a 
man’s freedom 
c) Those that ​prevent the external 
expression of consent 
Factors that affect a person’s capacity to
make decisions:
a) Lack of sufficient use of reason
b) Serious lack of judgement 
discretion concerning the right and
duties of marriage, which are to be
mutually offered and accepted
 THEO Unit III. Theo Reviewer
c) Serious psychic anomaly or  obligations​ of husbands and wives
condition​ that makes a person
incapable of fulfilling essential
obligations in marriage
d) Ignorance​, or​ lack of knowledge
that marriage is permanent and
through some sexual cooperation
ordained toward procreation and
education of children
e) Error​, that is,​ wrong judgement
concerning the person; fraud is
perpetrated to get the consent
Those that affect the exercise of man’s
freedom:
a) Force​ or ​coercion​: The use of
physical force to make someone do
something against his or her will
b) Grave​ ​fear​ caused by
someone/something outside the
person,even when inflicted
unintentionally; The person does
what the intimidator wants, not what
he/she wants to remove the threat
from him or her.
Matrimonial Consent is Irrevocable
● So that The “I do” of the spouses
may be a free and responsible act,
and so that the marriage covenant
may have a solid and lasting human
and Christian foundations,
preparation for marriage is of  spouses
prime importance​.​ (CCC 1632)
● In the Christian tradition, the ​bond
of marriage​ has always been
accepted as ​INDISSOLUBLE​.
● The ​bond of marriage​ is always
connected​ to the ​duties​ and
to attain the purpose of marriage.
Marriage as a Covenant
Marriage as a Covenant has the
following characteristics:
A. RELATIONSHIP
a. It is a ​love-covenant
b. A ​sacred relationship 
involving ​three persons​:
i. Husband
ii. Wife
iii. God
c. Love, Sacrifice, Forgiveness,
Faithfulness
d. Mirrors​ the ​covenant
between ​God​ and ​Man
intensified​ and c ​ ulminates
in ​Jesus Christ
B. FIDELITY
a. God​ showed his ​unwavering 
fidelity​ in spite of the
Israelites’ constant 
infidelity
b. Not only a lasting pact but a
relationship that binds
forever
c. Conjugal love​ requires the
inviolable fidelity​ of the
d. This is the consequence of
the gift of themselves which
they make to each other
C. FRIENDSHIP
a. A ​dynamic​ and h ​ oly
alliance
(the couple and God)
 THEO Unit III. Theo Reviewer
b. A relationship based on a
promise of communion of life,
of shared ideals and love
c. An ​open-minded
commitment
Lasting, Faithfulness, and Fruitfulness
● Good of the Spouses
○ Mutual self-giving
○ UNITY AND
INDISSOLUBILITY
● Good of the Children
○ Generation and Education of
Children
○ FIDELITY AND OPENNESS
TO LIFE
The Ends of Marriage
● Good of the Spouses
○ The love that unites the
couple is not only a
prerequisite for marriage but
the soul of marriage
○ Involves totality of all
elements
● Good of the Children
○ Children are fruits of conjugal
love, extension of lasting
pact and witnessing of a
couple’s unwavering fidelity
to each other
○ Gifts from God and crowning
glory of marriage
Essential properties of Marriage
(goods and requirements of conjugal love)
1. UNITY or EXCLUSIVENESS
a. Enriched by spouse
faithfulness
b. Conjugal live requires the
inviolable fidelity​ of the
spouses
c. Fidelity does ​not​ only consist
in ​excluding​ others but also
to ​unite​ in a more
interpersonal intimacy
d. Self-giving​ love is expressed
in fidelity to each other
e. It is difficult but ​not
impossible​ to be ​faithful
f. Fidelity involves the spouses’
concerned awareness​ as
well as​ unreserved giving of 
themselves to each other 
in many ways
g. Self Mastery​ tempered by
Forgiveness
2. INDISSOLUBILITY OR
PERMANENCE
a. Biblical basis: Indissolubility
of Marriage
(Mark. 10:9-12; Matthew
5:32, 19:9; Luke 16:18)
b. In Christian marriage
spouses​ cannot dissolve 
the marriage bond​ ​for it is in
the​ original plan​ and ​vision
of God​ that it is a covenant
and by Christ’s rejection of
divorce and remarriage
c. “The Couples ​should not
dissolve and ​cannot​ dissolve
the Marriage bond.“
d. Understanding Indissolubility
cannot be based on human
grounds;
FAITH​ is needed to
understand the reason for it.
e. Marital bond is ​not merely 
permanence​, the more
THEO Unit III. Theo Reviewer
dynamic term is ​lastingness
– a union that is growing,
improving and enriching
towards the fullness of life
and love together.
f. SACRIFICIAL​ & ​SAVING
LOVE​: Patience, Forgiveness
& Reconciliation
3. OPENNESS TO FERTILITY
a. Fruitfulness​ - Partnership
and being of service of life
b. Sexaul union takes place
observing the laws of
generative and rhythm to
fertility
c. Role of couple as parents
fulfilling their call to
cooperate in God’s creative
work
d. “Parents are the principal
and first educators of their
children”
e. “The demand of fruitfulness
does not end in the
generation of children but
extends to their continuous  Functions of Rituals
upbringing​”
f. Fruit of Marriage​ - ​couples’  b) Symbolic
growth as persons​ through
their mutual sacrifices and
self giving resulting to
collaborative responsibility
Marriage as a Complex Reality
● A sacred, public, social, legal and
religious affair
● Not only related to white gowns,
rings, flowers, sponsors, and
receptions but also mainly to love,
children, a home, fidelity, heroism,
and -- ​faith​.
● A ​valid marriage contract​ cannot
exist between baptized persons
without its being by the fact a
SACRAMENT
● Only in ​FAITH​ can one fully
understand and live the meaning of
Christian marriage as a vocation,
with mutual fidelity, responsible
parenthood and human maturity as
its indispensable ingredients
Life Event
● “Any ​demarcated change​ in
demographic, educational,
employment, health, or other
individual circumstance locatable to
a particular point in time.”
● Rite of Passage
● Strong family influence
● Feast
● Common Values
a) Limit situations
c) Social Purpose