What a gift, to give yourself completely—heart, mind, soul, and strength—to another person! In Marriage, a man and woman share themselves completely with each other, and in the Sacrament of Marriage, that union involves God in the very center of the union! To grow in love with God and another person is the essence of Marriage, and through that union of love comes life—human life, social life, spiritual life. The life-long commitment to love this other person is beautiful…and difficult. Not only does it involve getting to know another person intimately, but also learning how to sacrifice one’s self for the good of the other. The Office of Marriage and Family Life honors your commitment and offers resources to sustain and grow the love to which you are committed. May God bless your Marriage!
“The success of a family is measured above all by the exercise of total love, which is the fount of unity.” –Marriage: A Path to Sanctity
For more information pertaining to married couples, please contact Paul Duker at [email protected] or 314.792.7178.
What is Marriage?
The Natural Law
Natural Law shows that marriage is a union of man and woman that is open to life.
Union and Procreation
The union of man and woman in marriage is a way of imitating in the flesh the Creator’s generosity and fecundity: ‘Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh.’ All human generations proceed from this union. ‐Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2335
The Old Testament
The Old Testament shows that marriage is a union of man and woman that is open to life.
God created man and woman for union with each other:
“That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one flesh.” (Gen 2:24)
God calls man and woman, through their union, to have children:
God blessed them, saying to them “Be fruitful and multiply.” (Gen 1:28)
The relationship between God and Israel is described in terms of the relationship between husband and wife. (See Isaiah 54 & 62; Ezekiel 23; Hosea 2)
New Testament
Jesus affirms the Old Testament understanding of marriage:
“What God has joined together no human being must separate.” (See Matthew 19:1‐9 & Mark 10:2‐9)
At the Last Supper and on the Cross, Jesus made a complete gift of himself to us so that we might have life. Marriage is called to imitate that kind of union: husbands and wives making a complete gift of themselves to each other that is open to life.
We are made in the image and likeness of God. God is the Trinity. The Trinity is a communion of Persons whose union is life‐giving. Marriage is an icon of the Trinity: a communion of persons whose union is open to life.