If one of the engaged couple (or their parents) is registered at St. Mary Mystical Rose, arrangements may be made personally by the couple. While six months in advance of the marriage date is an acceptable time frame, eight to ten months is preferred. For additional information, please contact the parish offices.

Catechism of the Catholic Church #1601-1602

"The matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life, is by its nature ordered toward the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring; this covenant between baptized persons has been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament."

Sacred Scripture begins with the creation of man and woman in the image and likeness of God and concludes with a vision of "the wedding-feast of the Lamb." Scripture speaks throughout of marriage and its "mystery," its institution and the meaning God has given it, its origin and its end, its various realizations throughout the history of salvation, the difficulties arising from sin and its renewal "in the Lord" in the New Covenant of Christ and the Church.

Also see the USCCB document on Matrimony/Marriage located in the sidebar.

CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

MATRIMONY / MARRIAGE REFERENCES

Marriage (Matrimony)

bond is perpetual and exclusive, 1638
conjugal fidelity, 1646, 1648-49, 2364
consummation of, 1640
divorce of separated persons about to remarry civilly, 1650
effects of, 1638-42
freedom to contract, 1625, 1628-29
in God's plan, 1601
goods and requirements of conjugal love, 1643
greatness of, 1603
matrimonial chastity, 2349
mixed marriages and disparity of cult, 1633-37
nullity of, 1629
in the order of creation, 1603-05
in the preaching of the apostle Paul, 1616
in the preaching of Jesus, 1612-15
renouncing, 1618
in Sacred Scripture, 1602
as a sign of the covenant of Christ and the Church, 1617
under the pedagogy of the Law, 1609-11
under the regime of sin, 1606-08
sexuality in marriage and its significance, 2360-62 (see also Sexuality)
See also Divorce; Sacrament(s)
fecundity, 2366-72, 2373-779
and adoption of children, 2379
children as the gift of, 2378
as cooperation with the love of God, the Creator, 2367
openness to, 1652-54
periodic continence and the regulation of birth, 2370
and procreation to be regulated, 2368
sterility
as a great suffering, 2374
and medical techniques, 2375-77
and significance of conjugal life, 1654
purposes of marriage
cooperation with the Creator's work, 372
directed toward the salvation of others, 1534
good of the spouses, 1660
as man's vocation, 372, 1604-05
procreation and education of offspring, 1652-53, 2366
transmission of life, 372, 2363
indissolubility of marriage, 1644-45
fidelity of conjugal love, 1646-48
the marriage bond, 1639-40
marriage in the words of Jesus, 1614-15
matrimonial consent, 1625
as an essential element, 1626
as the foundation of the indissolubility of marriage, 1601, 1627, 2367
nullity of marriage, 1629
as a requirement of conjugal love, 1644
significance and nature of matrimonial consent, 1627-28
transmission of faith in the domestic Church, 1656
unity and marriage in the Old Law, 1610-11
as a sacrament, 1601-58
celebration of, 1621-24, 1627
as consecration, 1535
ecclesiastical form of celebrating, 1630-31
grace of the sacrament of, 1641-42
main effects of, 1638-40, 2365
mixed marriage and disparity of cult, 1633-37
preparation for, 1632
raised to the dignity of a sacrament, 1601
offenses against the dignity of, 2380-91
adultery, 2380-81
divorce, 2382-86
free union and concubinage, 2390
incest, 2388
polygamy, 1645, 2387
sexual relations contracted before marriage, 2391

Marriages, trial, 2391

Married couple

fidelity and, 2364
harmony of the married couple and physical complementarity, 2333
human sterility and, 2374, 2377
marriage and, 1603, 1624, 1636, 1642, 2363