Your guide on marriage in Catholic Church

Many people want to marry someone having the same religious views and cannot accept anyone whose opinion and faith would be different. Catholic marriages are popular all over the world and no matter where you live, you can meet Catholics. This faith is widespread on earth.

Catholic marriage is a special union, and its description might require specific attention. Marriage in the Catholic Church is very beautiful and sacred. More and more younger people nowadays strive for having exactly such a wedding.

If you want to know more about the pros and cons of a Catholic marriage, check the post below and see what kind of values do Catholic people appreciate and try to inherit from their parents and grandparents.

The values of Catholic marriages

Any religion has its values and things that it would never accept but judge a lot. Catholics aren’t an exception, and when it comes to marriage, they have a range of rules that must be strictly followed by all couples.

Catholic marriage prep is also very specific so that you cannot just come to church and get married. Both a bride and a groom must prepare for their ceremony and moreover, for family life. If you want to know what qualities are obligatory for Catholic couples, keep reading till the very end.

A man and a woman must be baptized

When it comes to preparation for a Catholic wedding, you should know that Catholics cannot approve of your marriage if you are not baptized and want to marry someone of a different religion. Of course, if you aren’t very religious and want to have just an official wedding and a marriage concluded in the registration office, your faith and baptism don’t really matter.

However, when you want to have a beautiful ceremony in the church, the first thing your priest will ask you when interviewing you, will be whether you are both baptized. What will happen if one of you (or maybe both) isn’t? Then you will be offered to be baptized in a Catholic church first. Without it, the ceremony won’t be possible.

Of course, you can lie and simply tell your priest that you are baptized because they don’t ask for any documentary proofs. You are going to marry in church and want the priest to bless you for a happy life. Is your lie worthy of it? Do you really want to start your sacred family life with a lie?

If not, then answer all the questions of your priest honestly and don’t hide anything. Your future family life depends on this. If you aren’t baptized but are going to marry in a church, you will have to accept Christ first and only then, you will be allowed to marry.

Patience is one of the main values in Catholicism

Of course, marriage isn’t an exception. Without patience, none of you will be able to build a strong and happy family. Christ teaches us to be patient in everything, including family life. Without it, building a  happy family wouldn’t be possible at all.

Family life is full of ups and downs like any other aspect of our being. If you have no patience, you won’t be able to overcome those challenges. God sends many challenges to people, especially to a husband and a wife. He cannot send more than you can handle. Therefore, if you are patiently coping with all the difficulties, you will create a really strong union.

It is very easy to love your partner when everything is good. However, bad times and different issues are testing your will and feelings. People tend to give up once they face difficulties, but you don’t have to do it. You both must be patient not only about each other but also about all situations in your life.

Before your marriage in Catholic Church, you will have your first patience test. Preparing for your church wedding isn’t easy or fast. It is a long process and you will have to stick to fast, refrain from sex, etc. If you aren’t ready for doing this, you are not ready for family life.

Love and respect are a must

A husband and a wife must love each other, this isn’t even discussable. However, love cannot exist without respect. When both respect each other, love will only grow stronger. When they don’t, love can easily disappear with time.

Respect towards one another is expressed in many things. For example, in helping each other in the household, supporting your partner in everything, asking for his or her opinion, not causing dramas but communicating like two adults. All these things are an expression of respect for your partner.

Sure, love cannot exist without loyalty. Needless to say that like any other religion, the Catholic faith doesn’t welcome sex before marriage. You will hardly meet a modern Catholic couple who would stick to that rule. Usually, girls and guys have enough sexual experience before marriage.

The church doesn’t judge this and is understanding in that aspect. Your priest will still bless your marriage. The only condition would be to confess this when having an honest talk with your bishop. He will forgive your sins from God’s name and bless you for being a husband and a wife.

Loyalty is everything

What kind of marriage is possible without full commitment to your partner? Of course, marriage in the Catholic faith cannot be possible without it either. Once you decide to get married, you and your spouse leave your parents and families and become one entity in the eyes of God.

You cannot fall apart after God unites your couple. Naturally, you cannot cheat and must be loyal to your partner once giving a promise to be each other’s spouse.

Respect to each other’s parents

A Catholic marriage is based on deep respect not only to your partner but also to one another’s parents. If you cannot respect your wife’s family, you cannot be a good spouse. Taking care of your old parents is a must.

Her parents become yours and vice versa. Although a young couple should live separately from their families, helping your parents and taking care of them is a must. You wouldn’t like it if your spouse wouldn’t care for your family, so please do the same and take care of her family.

Catholic marriage symbols

Any church has its symbols when it comes to such a sacred ceremony as a wedding. The Catholic church also has its symbols and encounters. Even the colors during the ceremony matter. Therefore, there are several core symbols in Catholic marriages:

• Rings. The rings are the sign that two people become one entity and no one can break them apart because they were united by God. Even the priest doesn’t have the power to divide a husband and a wife. Two rings are the symbols of eternity.
• White color. As you know, the white color is present everywhere during the wedding ceremony, from the bride’s dress to flowers. White is a symbol of purity. Your love is pure and nothing can become an obstacle to it.
• Candles. Candles play a special role in Catholic weddings. They symbolize the fire of your life. A wife is the one who will keep that fire in her family nest and a husband is the one to protect his wife and do everything for her comfortable life.

A divorce in the Catholic Church

As it was mentioned above, if your union was concluded in heaven, a human cannot break it and divorce you. Of course, these traditions have been valid many years ago and nowadays, the church is being adjusted to the situations of modern life and society.

There is no secret in a high divorce rate all over the world and that a lion’s share of those divorced couples are Catholics. The Church doesn’t bless a divorce because a family is breaking. There are cases when a divorce is possible though.

For example, the betrayal of one of the spouses, abortion without the agreement of another spouse, a deathly sin of one of the spouses, abuse, heavy alcohol or drug addiction, mental illnesses of one of the spouses, imprisonments, etc. Even God will not judge you if you decide to divorce in one of the enlisted cases.

To get a blessing for your divorce, you should come to the priest and explain the situation. Some bishops require documentary evidence of the reasons for a divorce. For example, if one of the spouses is alcohol or drug addicted, you can bring a medical conclusion that confirms it. If your spouse committed a heavy crime, you should also bring the documents from police or court decisions that prove that fact, etc.

In most cases, the bishops do not require any proof though, and leave this decision up to you. If you lied to your priest about the reasons for your divorce, you will live with that anyways. Remember that divorce is the last method in Catholic marriages that can be applied to solve your problems. Before you do that, you should try all possible and impossible ways of saving your family.