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:
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.
Only one of you is required to be a baptized Catholic as long as you both agree to raise
your children in the Catholic faith. The marriage preparation coordinator will assist you
in the necessary paperwork. As part of your preparation you will be encouraged to
discuss the challenges that differing faith practices and traditions can bring to your
couple spirituality and family life.
If either of you have been previously married, whether in the Catholic Church, in a civil
ceremony or in a non-Catholic religious ceremony and your former spouse is still living,
you will need an annulment before you are free to marry in the Catholic Church- even if
you are not Catholic. Please contact Yamina Rojas for more information on the
annulment process.
Yes, you may validate ("bless") your civil marriage. Preparation for convalidation is very similar to the recommended marriage preparation process. Please contact Yamina Rojas for more information.
Yamina Rojas (480) 874-3753 will assist you with questions regarding the Sacrament of Marriage and Marriage Preparation.