The sacrament of marriage 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.

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.

Marriage Preparation

Marriage is a covenant by which a man and woman establish a partnership as a couple with God for their whole lives. By its very nature it is ordered to the well being of the spouses. To be valid, Catholic marriage must take place in the church before a priest or deacon and two witnesses. To appreciate this special vocation, those who are planning to marry at Holy Family parish must be part of our marriage preparation program. Once you have decided to be married in the Catholic Church, contact Betsy Staal  at least six months prior to the intended date of marriage to confirm availability and complete preparation. Please contact Betsy Staal or call 425-822-0295 for more information.

Annulments – Tribunal Advocacy for Decree of Invalidity

This process is offered to those adults who have experienced an unsuccessful marriage and are seeking to petition the Tribunal of the Archdiocese for a possible invalidity. The parish has professionally trained and appointed advocates to assist any inquiring individual. The process brings reconciliation and healing to those experiencing the pain of a failed marriage and wishing to be free to marry in the Catholic Church. Please contact Betsy Staal or call 425-822-0295 or Norm Bross  for more information about the process.

Natural Family Planning Classes (NFP)

Natural Family Planning (NFP) is a way of life that incorporates fertility awareness, responsible parenthood and self-mastery into married love. Please contact Marie Carson at marie.k.carson@gmail.com for more information about FertilityCare™ and the Creighton Model.

God created man and woman out of love and commanded them to imitate his love in their relations with each other. Man and woman were created for each other…Woman and man are equal in human dignity, and in marriage both are united in an unbreakable bond. (United States Catholic Catechism for Adults, Ch. 21, p. 279)