The sacrament of Matrimony 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. It 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.
Any registered parishioner or non-parishioner who wishes to be married at Our Lady of Lourdes is to contact
Father David at dsanchez@ourlourdes.org before setting a wedding date.
In keeping with Archdiocese of Louisville Policy, a minimum of six months’ preparation is required.
Marriage Preparation Programs within the Archdiocese of Louisville
The Archdiocese of Louisville Family Ministries Office offers marriage preparation programs in our Archdiocese for couples who are marrying for the first time later in life, or who are seeking marriage after being widowed or receiving a decree of nullity.
Marriage Preparation Programs
Below is a listing of the approved Marriage preparation programs for use in the Archdiocese of Louisville. For special situations such as couples separated by distance or having unique time restrictions, please have your preparing priest or deacon contact the Family Ministries office at family@archlou.org for specialized options.
Foundations for Marriage
This one-day, 8-hour, archdiocesan program is designed for those entering a first marriage. Speakers address Church teachings regarding the sacramentality of marriage as well as additional topics designed to help the engaged couple better understand the fullness of the vocation of marriage and its joys, complexities, and challenges.
The program begins at 9:00 AM on a given Saturday morning and ends late afternoon, about 5:00 PM. A certificate of attendance is provided at the end of the day. Pre-registration for this program is required.
For additional information, click here.
Catholic Engaged Encounter
Catholic Engaged Encounter (CEE) is recognized, both nationally and internationally, as a quality, highly effective marriage preparation program designed to meet the needs of today’s engaged couples seeking marriage for the first time.
CEE is an in-depth, private, personal marriage preparation experience within the context of Catholic faith and values. It is a weekend retreat offered at various local parishes in the Louisville area with other engaged couples with plenty of time alone together to dialogue honestly and intensively about their prospective lives together– their strengths and weaknesses, desires, ambitions, goals, their attitudes about money, sex, children, family, their role in the church and society–in a face to face way.
To sign up for any of their upcoming weekends, visit https://louisville.engagedencounter.com/reservations/ and select your desired date.
October 18/19
St. Bernadette, 6500 Saint Bernadette Ave, Prospect
________________________________________________________________________________________
For the Marriage Preparation Programs Schedule (Please select one program), click here.
Family Renewal Project
FAMILY RENEWAL PROJECT
To restore the family and renew the culture by educating and forming men and women to understand, embrace, and live authentic love and responsibility.
FamilyRenewalProject.com
(502) 303-1996
info@familyrenewalproject.com
@familyrenewalproject