The Sacrament of Marriage

With great joy we congratulate you on your engagement and your desire to celebrate your marriage as a sacrament in the Catholic Church. 

We truly care about the day on which you say, “I Do” and helping that day become a beautiful celebration and reflection of the love you have for one another. 

We also care about helping you form a sure and strong foundation on which you will spend many a happy day together. 

The preparation involves many people who want you to have a beautiful wedding day and strong marriage that weathers life’s storms. 

​May the Lord bless you, as we prepare for your special day and life together.

Contact Our Parish

Contact Fr. Tim Sheedy through our parish office: 624-2228 or email: sheedyt@diodav.org to learn more about celebrating your marriage as a Sacrament in the Catholic Church.  

Some websites to help you learn more about getting married in the Catholic Church:
www.foryourmarriage.org
www.togetherforlifeonline.com www.catholicweddinghelp.com

Prepare Your Wedding

We want to make sure your day reflects the love you have for one another; yet even more importantly, that it reflects the love God has for each of you and his plan for your life together.
​
Click HERE for a Guide to Marriage Preparation at St. Mary.

Live Your Love

We dedicate years of education to get ready for our jobs, but when it comes to marriage, most focus more on wedding planning than preparing for their lifetime together

31 Catholic books on Marriage - that every couple can learn from.

How to Live a Chaste Marriage

And explore foryourmarriage.org
​“Today, there are those who say that marriage is out of fashion. Is it out of fashion?  
They say that it is not worth making a life-long commitment, making a definitive decision, ‘forever’, because we do not know what tomorrow will bring. I ask you, instead, to be revolutionaries, I ask you to swim against the tide; yes, I am asking you to rebel against this culture that sees everything as temporary and that ultimately believes you are incapable of responsibility, that believes you are incapable of true love. I have confidence in you and I pray for you.” Pope Francis, July 28th, 2013
"When Christ is desired for who he is, his Church's teachings aren't viewed with suspicion or seen as something to live up to. Rather, they're trusted as the standard never to fall below if one is seeking true love, true joy, true fulfillment." 
— Good News About Sex & Marriage (pp. 65-66)
 Before you marry, consider “must have conversations” on these topics:You’ve probably already talked about most of these topics – at least to some degree. Great! That should confirm your decision to marry. But don’t avoid topics that might be sensitive. This is the time to face difficult conversations and make sure you are on the same page. You don’t have to agree on everything – just the important things. Use your time of courtship and engagement to explore the serious and controversial issues that are ahead of you. A marriage preparation program will help you to address these issues more thoroughly.  www.foryourmarriage.org
Frequently Asked Questions About Marriage 
  1. Marriage: What’s a good starting point?
  2. Where does marriage come from?
  3. What is marriage?
  4. Why can’t marriage be “redefined” to include two men or two women?
  5. What is sexual difference?
  6. Isn’t marriage just about love and commitment between two people?
  7. Why does a person’s gender matter for marriage?
  8. How is the love between a husband and a wife irreducibly unique?
  9. What is complementarity?
  10. Why does the Catholic Church care so much about marriage?
  11. Where can I learn more about marriage?

The Gift of Children
  1. What does marriage have to do with children?
  2. Does the Church think that marriage is a mere “instrument” for having children?
  3. What’s the difference between a husband and wife who can’t have children, and two persons of the same sex, who also can’t have children?
  4. Why is a child meant to have both a father and a mother?
  5. What about single parents? These families lack a father or a mother, just like households headed by two men or two women.
  6. Aren’t children adaptable to many different family forms?
  7. Don’t studies show that children do fine with two “moms” or two “dads”?
  8. What about adoption?
  9. New technology like “in vitro fertilization” (IVF) can enable two men or two women to have a child. Why does the Church teach that this is unacceptable?

​The Common Good & Human Dignity
  1. What does “intrinsic dignity of the human person” mean?
  2. What does marriage have to do with human dignity?
  3. Does the Church believe that people who experience same-sex attraction have equal dignity?
  4. What does “the common good” mean?
  5. Isn’t marriage a private relationship? What does it have to do with the common good?
  6. Isn’t marriage just a religious issue that the government should stay out of?
  7. What are basic human rights?
  8. Is marriage a basic human right?
  9. What’s the harm of same-sex “marriage”?
  10. But isn’t it unjust discrimination to not allow two men (or two women) to marry?
  11. What about civil rights?
  12. Isn’t allowing two men or two women to marry just an extension of allowing interracial couples to marry?
  13. What about equality and fairness?
  14. What about “civil unions” or “domestic partnerships” between two persons of the same sex?

Religious Liberty
  1. What is religious liberty?
  2. How are marriage and religious liberty connected?
  3. How could changing the legal definition of marriage have any effect on religious liberty?
  4. But would ministers really be forced to officiate at the “wedding” of two persons of the same-sex?
  5. What’s the real threat to religious liberty posed by same-sex “marriage”?
  6. Have any of these threats come to pass?
  7. Doesn’t a religious exemption protect institutions and individuals if they believe that marriage can only be between a man and a woman?