The Sacrament of Matrimony

Matrimony is a sacrament at the service of communion, a sacrament intended for the salvation of others for the purpose of serving and multiplying the people of God. In the sacrament of matrimony, a man and a woman make a covenant to establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life which, by its nature, is “ordered toward the good of (each other) and the procreation and education of offspring” (CCC 1601), a commitment to the service of love and life.

Matrimony is an indissolubile community of persons. Spouses are called to total mutual self-giving, so much so that “they are no longer two, but one flesh.” (Mark 10:8). “This human communion is confirmed, purified, and completed by communion in Jesus Christ” (CCC 1644). In matrimony, divine grace is imparted by Jesus to strengthen a couple’s unity and perfect their love for each other. Through this grace, couples find the strength to take up their crosses and follow in the ways of Jesus, to rise again after they have fallen, to forgive one another, to bear one another’s burdens, to be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ and “to love one another with supernatural, tender, and fruitful love” (CCC 1642).