It is a wonderful gift for a parish community to celebrate the love of a man and a woman in the Sacrament of Matrimony. In ministering to the engaged couple and in celebrating their marriage, the Church not only expresses its love and support for the couple, but also praises the value of their married life as a help to each other to attain holiness. It emphasizes that marriage is a blessing for society and the Church. As Catholics who celebrate Marriage as a sacrament, we believe that this encounter with the risen Christ is an on-going element of a sacramental union. Spiritual preparation for marriage is an important element of the preparation time. We encourage those preparing for marriage to be attentive to the practice of their faith life in all its aspects: participating in the Eucharist at Mass, and other sacramental celebrations: prayer, and living the Gospel message of Jesus in their daily lives.
INITIAL STEPS BY THE COUPLE
One of the parties must be an active Catholic and registered as a parishioner of St. Therese of Lisieux for at least three months. To celebrate sacraments at St. Therese of Lisieux, the policy is that participants and/or their families be registered in the parish and be actively participating. “Actively participating” primarily means coming to church for Sunday Mass as a minimum. You can express your love of your Faith by giving a weekly mass offering of any amount in thanksgiving for gifts you have received from God. Your offering of any amount will help support the many services and programs to assist you and other parishioners. Using the Offertory Envelope will also record your attendance at the weekend mass service and show your participation. You are also encouraged to share your time and talents by helping with the programs offered here at St. Therese of Lisieux.
Catholic adults who wish to be married in the Church at a specific parish often believe that they are registered through their parents. Anyone over the age of 21, who is not in school, and not dependent upon their parents, should be independently registered.
WEDDING APPLICATION
Couples are to initiate contact with the parish at least six months prior to their proposed wedding date. A parish staff member can provide a wedding application to be filled out by the couple and returned to the pastor for approval. A wedding date is not set until a meeting with the priest or pastoral staff member occurs. A wedding booklet is also provided which includes additional information. Click here to download the parish wedding application.
MARRIAGE PREPARATION
Marriage preparation is a requirement of all engaged couples that wish to get married in the Catholic Church. This will involve meetings with the priest or deacon, and a pre-marriage assessment instrument will also be used as part of the preparation process.
Attendance at a Marriage Preparation Program approved by the Archdiocese is also required.
For additional information or questions, please contact the Parish Office at 254-4433.
WHAT IS THE SACRAMENT OF MARRIAGE?
The sacrament of marriage is a visible sign of God’s love for the Church. When a man and a woman are married in the Church, they receive the grace needed for a lifelong bond of unity.
MARRIAGE IS A COVENANT
The Sacrament of Marriage is a covenantal union in the image of the covenants between God and his people with Abraham and later with Moses at Mt. Sinai. This divine covenant can never be broken. In this way, marriage is a union that bonds spouses together during their entire lifetime.
The sacrament of Matrimony signifies the union of Christ and the Church. It gives spouses the grace to love each other with the love with which Christ has loved his Church; the grace of the sacrament thus perfects the human love of the spouses, strengthens their indissoluble unity, and sanctifies them on the way to eternal life.
CCC 1661
The love in a married relationship is exemplified in the total gift of one’s self to another. It’s this self-giving and self-sacrificing love that we see in our other model of marriage, the relationship between Christ and the Church.
Marriage is based on the consent of the contracting parties, that is, on their will to give themselves, each to the other, mutually and definitively, in order to live a covenant of faithful and fruitful love.
CCC 1662
The Church takes the lifelong nature of the Sacrament of Marriage seriously. The Church teaches that a break in this covenant teaches goes against the natural law of God:
The remarriage of persons divorced from a living, lawful spouse contravenes the plan and law of God as taught by Christ. They are not separated from the Church, but they cannot receive Eucharistic communion. They will lead Christian lives especially by educating their children in the faith.
CCC 1665