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 TOPIC 23.7
MARRIAGE AS A SACRAMENT

Reference: Catechism of the Catholic Church, nos. 1612-1658

 MARRIAGE AS A SACRAMENT

The sacramental Graces conferred The Celebration

Marriage Bond by Sacramental Marriage of Matrimony

Requirements when Special

Previous Reception
one spouse is non-Catholic Pastoral Cases
of Sacraments

Sacramental Marriage Apostolic Celibacy: The Special Witness

and Apostolic Celibacy Christ’s own path to serve the Church of Apostolic Celibacy
 The sacramental
Marriage Bond
The marriage bond between the baptized
has been raised by Christ to the dignity
of a sacrament.
Cf. Code of Canon Law, can. 1055

◦ Principal Scriptural witness: St. Paul

◦ “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ

also loved the Church and delivered himself up
for her, that me might sanctify her…”
Eph 5:25

◦ The Christian marriage bond is an effective source

of a special grace for the spouses to live out
their marriage as a symbol of Christ’s love for his bride the Church.”

◦ Marriage is a Christian vocation and a path to sanctity

 Graces conferred
by Sacramental Marriage
it increases sanctifying grace
and confers a specific sacramental grace

Spouses are enabled to love each other and their children in Christ
• married love is enriched by Christian charity,
so that it brings them closer not only to one another but to God

• parental love is likewise enriched by Christian charity, so that they carry

their role as parents with a view to the Christian upbringing of their children

it enables them to live their Baptismal Call

• to holiness and apostolate

• through the loving fulfillment of the duties of conjugal and family life
The celebration of
matrimony
“The Church normally requires that the faithful contract marriage
according to ecclesiastical form.”
CCC 1631

For the validity of the marriage, Catholics are required

to marry in the presence of the bishop or parish priest
of the place, or of a priest or deacon delegated
by either of them, and before two witnesses.
cf. Code of Canon Law, 1108

◦ appropriate because sacramental marriage is a liturgical act:

the whole Church is involved (the priest receives the I do’s
of the spouses in the name of the Church
and gives them the blessing of the Church)
◦ because marriage is a state of life in the Church, with rights
and duties in between the spouses and towards the children
◦ certainty about its existence is necessary
(hence, the need for two witnesses, aside from the priest)
 Previous Reception of Sacraments
The reception of Confirmation, Confession, and the Holy Eucharist is strongly recommended.

Confirmation Confession Holy Eucharist

because the grace it confers will
help the couple sanctify themselves
in married life
because marriage is a “sacrament
of the living”
one must be in the state
of grace to receive
the graces marriage confers.
because marriages are usually
solemnized within the Mass
to emphasize that Christian
marriage is a participation
in the covenant of love between
Christ and the Church, which was
sealed by Christ’s Sacrifice on the
Cross.
 Requirements
when one spouse
is non-Catholic
Mixed marriage
between a Catholic and a baptized non-Catholic
◦ permission of ecclesiastical authority is needed for moral liceity

Marriage involving disparity of worship

between a Catholic and a non-baptized person
◦ dispensation is required for validity.

In both cases, it is essential that spouses do not exclude

the acceptance of the essential ends and properties
of marriage
◦ and that the Catholic party accept the obligation, of which the non-Catholic party has been
advised, to persevere in the faith and to assure the baptism
and Catholic education of their children.
 Special Pastoral Cases
When living together becomes practically impossible
for serious reasons
• even though there may be hope for reconciliation,
the Church permits the physical separation of spouses

• as long as one’s spouse lives, one is not free to contract a new union,
unless the marriage be declared null by ecclesiastical authority

In cases of Catholics who are civilly divorced and remarried

• the Church encourages them to a life of faith, prayer, works of charity,
and the Christian education of their children

• However, they cannot receive sacramental absolution, take Holy Communion, unless they
separate, or if they cannot do so for serious reasons
(e.g., the upbringing of the children), they take on themselves the duty to live
in complete continence, abstaining from acts proper only to married couples.
 Sacramental Marriage
and Apostolic Celibacy
The sacramentality of marriage enhances
the value of apostolic celibacy
and makes its goodness shine out more clearly

◦ The goodness of sacramental marriage stems from its being

a real participation in the love-covenant between Christ
and his Bride the Church: it is a path to holiness and apostolate.

◦ The value of apostolic celibacy lies in the singular love for Christ
and for the salvation of souls that motivates it.
◦ it liberates the human heart in a unique way for the service of Christ and souls.
Cf 1 Cor 7:30-35.

“What appears good only in comparison with evil

would not be particularly good. It is something better
than what is admitted to be good that is the most excellent good.”
St. John Chrysostom
Apostolic Celibacy: Christ’s
own path
to serve the Church
Apostolic celibacy represents Christ’s covenant of love
with the Church in (an objectively) superior way compared
with marriage since Christ himself chose this path
in giving himself completely to the Church.

Christ gave his love for the Church a direct and immediate witness
by laying his life down for the Church to sanctify Her
cf. Eph 5:25

Christ sanctified the Church by directly and immediately

dedicating his life to win the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Her.

“It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away,

the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.”
Jn 16:7
The Special Witness of
Apostolic Celibacy
Moreover, the sacrifice of renouncing marriage
for God’s love has special value as a form of witness

the celibate renders valuable witness to eternal union

with God as the absolute good all temporal goods
must be subordinated to
cf 1 Cor 7:30

it is “by reason of the wholly singular link which

(apostolic celibacy) has with the Kingdom of God
that the Church, throughout her history, as always defended
the (objective) superiority of this charism
to that of marriage.”
St. John Paul II, Familiaris Consortio, 16

“Christian couples have the right to expect

from celibate persons a good example and a witness
of fidelity to their vocation until death. Just as fidelity at times becomes difficult
for married people, the same can happen
to celibate persons, and their fidelity should strengthen
the fidelity of married couples.”
John Paul II, FC 16
 TOPIC 23.7
MARRIAGE AS A SACRAMENT

Reference: Catechism of the Catholic Church, nos. 1612-1658