“Holy Scripture affirms that man and woman were created for one another: ‘It is not good that the man should be alone.’ The woman, ‘flesh of his flesh,’ his equal, his nearest in all things, is given to him by God as a ‘helpmate’; she thus represents God from whom comes our help. ‘Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh.’ The Lord himself shows that this signifies an unbreakable union of their two lives by recalling what the plan of the Creator had been ‘in the beginning’: ‘So they are no longer two, but one flesh.'” Catechism of the Catholic Church 1605
The Catholic vision of marriage reveals it to be a Sacrament, an encounter with the Lord that he has established in order to convey His grace to you. God instituted marriage as the one flesh union of a man and a woman, as a vocation or calling to help each other grow in love and holiness. St. John Paul II taught that we find ourselves through learning to make a sincere gift of ourselves. May the Lord draw you closer to Himself and to each other in this learning through these days.
Marriage Preparation:
Our marriage preparation process will help you prepare for not only the wedding, but for the life-long journey of marriage together in the Lord.
Engaged couples must contact a priest and complete a 6-month period of formation prior to the wedding. Couples who will celebrate the Sacrament of Matrimony but live outside of the area must also complete the preparation where they live. Please contact a priest, as noted below, to schedule your wedding and preparation.
Engaged couples wishing to receive the Sacrament of Matrimony should review our Sacrament of Marriage: Wedding Policies.