Purpose Of Marriage

Marriage is the intimate union and equal partnership of a man and a woman. It comes to us from the hand of God, who created male and female in his image, so that they might become one body and might be fertile and multiply. Though man and woman are equal as God’s children, they are created with important differences that allow them to give themselves and to receive the other as a gift.

Marriage is both a natural institution and a sacred union because it is rooted in the divine plan of creation.In every marriage the spouses make a contract with each other. In a sacramental marriage the couple also enters into a covenant in which their love is sealed and strengthened by God’s love.

The free consent of the spouses makes a marriage. From this consent and from the sexual consummation of marriage a special bond arises between husband and wife. This bond is lifelong and exclusive. The marriage bond has been established by God and so it cannot be dissolved.

Permanency, exclusivity, and faithfulness are essential to marriage because they foster and protect the two equal purposes of marriage. These two purposes are growth in mutual love between the spouses (unitive) and the generation and education of children (procreative).

The mutual love of a married couple should always be open to new life. This openness is expressed powerfully in the sexual union of husband and wife. The power to create a child with God is at the heart of what spouses share with each other in sexual intercourse. Mutual love includes the mutual gift of fertility. Couples who are not able to conceive or who are beyond their child-bearing years can still express openness to life. They can share their generative love with grandchildren, other children and families, and the wider community.

Source : www.foryourmarriage.org/catholic-marriage/catholic-beliefs/meaning-and-purpose/

Meaning Of Marriage

The dictionary defines marriage as “The legal union of a man and woman as husband and wife.” In the modern world, however, this definition of marriage is simplistic at best, a social union or legal contract between individuals that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found. Such a union may also be called matrimony with the wedding bands as a symbol, while the ceremony that marks its beginning is usually called a wedding.

Marriage is the closest and most intimate of human friendships. It involves the sharing of the whole of a person's life with his/her spouse. "By their very nature, the institution of marriage itself and conjugal love are ordained for the procreation and education of children and find in them their ultimate crown". Marriage calls for a mutual self-surrender so intimate and complete that spouses — without losing their individuality — become "one," not only in body, but in soul.

Nowadays, People marry for different reasons, most often including one or more of the following: legal, social, emotional, economical, spiritual, and religious but marriage goes beyond like, infatuation, attraction, faith, race, culture, friendship, financial stability and even love, it is a total of all these and more.

No one really knows it all when it comes to marriage. It is an institution of learning and learning always comes in stages.

Source : www.namywedding.com/articles/12-marriage-101-introduction-to-marriage