Marriage
But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one. So they are no longer two but one. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder. (Mark 10:6-9)
Preparing for the Sacrament of Matrimony
Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Community celebrates your being called to the sacrament
of Marriage as you live out your Baptism. As a community, we want to give you all the tools to
live your marriage vows now and forever.
The Diocese of Phoenix currently requires a minimum of nine months of preparation for the
Sacrament of Matrimony. Couples must notify their parish at least nine months prior to their
desired wedding date.
Preparation for marriage includes the following:
- being a registered active parishioner of OLPH.
- attending Mass regularly and considering opportunities and activities to enrich your faith life as a couple.
- attending one of our monthly Marriage Preparation Dinner Meetings with Fr. Schlarb.
- obtaining new copies of your baptismal records.
- completing a prenuptial inquiry.
- affidavits of free status.
- completing a premarital inventory (FOCCUS) to help you recognize your strengths and address your challenges as a couple.
- meeting with priest to review the premarital inventory.
- participating in a Married Life Skills Training class.
- attending Gods Plan for a Joy-Filled Marriage class.
- attending Natural Family Planning classes.
- planning your wedding liturgy.
Please contact Yamina Rojas before you set a wedding date to begin the process at 480-874-3753 or yrojas@olphaz.org
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)
Marriage Reflects the Holy Trinity
We believe that God exists in eternal communion. Together, Father, Son and Holy Spirit are united in one being with no beginning and no end. Human beings, likewise, were created by God in God’s image for the purpose of communion with another human being.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states, “The Christian family is a communion of persons, a sign and image of the communion of the Father and the Son in the Holy Spirit” (CCC 2205). The Sacrament of Marriage is “unitive, indissoluble and calls us to be completely open to fertility.” Christian marriage at its finest is a reflection of God’s self-giving love expressed between the love of two people.
