C ONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR

        PROSPECTIVE MARRIAGE!

Preparing for your wedding day is no small task; it takes much planning, coordination, and effort to make the day a special one.  However, you shouldn’t put all that time and energy into the wedding day and neglect preparing for the days after.  Preparing for your marriage is vitally important.

A wedding is a day in the life of a couple. A marriage is a lifetime. By the time this long awaited day comes, you will probably hear or read these words many times. This is because marriage is a life long covenant freely given and freely received by a man and a woman.

On your wedding day you will say to each other, before God and before your families and friends,  “I ….take you…….all the days of my life.” There are no conditions in these words. Unlike a contract, there are no ifs built into your wedding vows.

Marriage is a sacrament as well as a covenant. Sacraments make visible the hidden realities of God. They point to what awaits us when we enter into His kingdom. Through these outward signs, Christ gives us grace to live life as Christian men and women so that we may in fact enter into His kingdom.

In the sacrament of marriage, Christ gives us grace to live out the demands and responsibilities of married life. All sacraments have what is called “form,” or words that express what the sacrament is. In marriage, the form is your wedding vows, “I…..take you…..all the days of my life.” These words initiate the covenant. ¾A wedding is a day.

 All sacraments involve a human action or physical elements.  This is an outward sign, which signifies, ratifies, and celebrates the sacrament through which Christ gives grace to live out the sacrament.

 In marriage, this action will be your sexual intercourse as husband and wife. Sexual intercourse makes real what you will say on the altar. Each time you engage in sexual intercourse with your spouse, you will say with your body, “I…...again take you….all the days of my life.” In other words, “I would marry you again, in a heartbeat.” Through this act, Christ will again give you the grace to live out the covenant. This act also seals the covenant. ¾A marriage is a lifetime.

To ensure that each couple married in the Catholic Church receives proper preparation for their future life together, all parishes in the state of New Jersey follow the PASTORAL POLICIES AND GUIDELINES FOR MARRIAGE PREPARATION FOR THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN NEW JERSEY.