My Beloved brothers and sisters: this man and this woman present themselves today before human witnesses and before the Church to bind themselves in a solemn contract that will end only after death “does them part”. This man will pledge a husband’s fidelity to his wife. This woman will in her turn, pledge a wife’s fidelity to her spouse. By an exchange of promises, they will take each other as man and wife. They begin their married life in faith and they understand that the perfection of life is love.
The marriage of man and woman is, in part, like any human contract. One pledges; the other accepts. Both pledge; both accept. In human marriage, the exchange is of the body and of the heart with full giving and accepting without reserve.
The marriage of those who are baptized,
however, is more than an ordinary contract, much more than an exchange of promises. The Baptized find their vows blessed by God, and, in the Sacrament of their union, they discover the grace to support their marriage pledge and the special spiritual help they will need for holiness in their state of life.
In Christian marriage, husband and wife give more than themselves to each other. They exchange the gifts of God. They share the Grace of God. Living with God as their witness in true Christian Modesty, they lift each other up to spiritual ways that surpass any human counting.
The woman in the married union is meant to be the helpmate of her husband. The man is meant to be the comfort and strength of his wife. If God will give this couple children as the fruit of their union, they will count themselves honored by their Creator and they will watch their present love come alive anew in the children committed to their care. Should their hopes of children be without realization, they will cling to each other all the more and know that, together, with ever deepening resolution, they must find their joy and their happiness in mutual help and consolation.
Blessed is the married couple
whose home is a shrine even more than a house. Blessed is the married who understands that their union is their way to heaven. Blessed are the husbands and wives who are given children in the flesh so that they may lead them to be children of God. Doubly blessed are the men and women when their marriage is sealed and sanctified by the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony.
There is a sacred unity in every marriage.
Keep it well and be one together always in thought, in action, and in prayer. There is an unbreakable union in marriage. See to it that in little things there are no fractures of charity and in big things no division of hearts. There is a high dignity to marriage. Walk always proud of this man and this woman, as you are proud today to be joined in wedlock.
There is a special sacredness in marriage
Since God has willed it so. Kneel often before God in thanksgiving for your union. Speak often to God for the helps you will need. Pray often to God in gratitude for His gifts, not the least for today’s gift of this husband or this wife. Let Christ be the head of your household, one who shares those days that will be worse as well as better. May today’s joyful exchanges extend until you will have grown old together in each other’s comforting companionship, growing holy together by each other’s help and example. May God bless you both and bless the family you will found.
