Catholic Marriage

A liturgically-based pastoral and practical resource for couples preparing for marriage. It will help them discuss important issues related to communication, finances, reconciliation, sex, spirituality and prayer, and discipleship. It will help ground a couples formation through the lens of the Marriage rite and provide tools for discussion.

“The Catholic Church saved my marriage and, quite possibly, my life.” So begins David Anders in this remarkably forthright book. In it, David reports that by the early 2000s, his marriage was so painful he actually longed for death. It wasn’t simple incompatibility; he and his wife had just one thing in common: contempt for each other. Today, David and his wife are happy together – not because of marriage therapy, but because they came to know and fully embraced the Catholic Church’s teachings on marriage. Many people who encounter such teachings are shocked by their rigor. Yet the Church offers much more than rules about sexual restraint; she offers a way to make marriage into something supernatural, even mystical. Here Dr. Anders shares his personal discovery of the Church’s teaching on marriage and offers a robust defense of the Church’s most controversial teachings, including divorce, remarriage, gay marriage, and contraception. With the Church’s teachings and the writings of the saints as his guide, he also offers practical, time-tested ways to improve your marriage, such as how to live in peace despite an unhappy marriage, the value of suffering, and ways to overcome your reluctance to forgive grave offenses. In a culture that breaks apart marriages and undermines human dignity, Dr. David Anders offers a hope-filled alternative for those who live moral and spiritual lives in union with Christ and His Church.

Catholic Marriage: A Pastoral and Liturgical Commentary is a collection of essays by scholars and practitioners on the rites, spirituality, history, theology, and pastoral practice surrounding the Sacrament of Matrimony in the Roman Catholic Church. Those who minister to engaged couples and teach the sacrament will appreciate the accessible approach to the meaning of Christian marriage and how that is and has been expressed in the rites of the Church and cultural customs.

Get your marriage off to a great start--or renew the marriage you've shared for years--with this six-week devotional for couples, which takes inspiration from Pope John Paul II's Theology of the Body. Experts Jackie François Angel and Bobby Angel will teach you how to pray together as a couple, opening you up to the wonders that God bestows on your marriage.

One of the greatest and best-loved spokesmen for the Faith here sets out the Church's beautiful understanding of marriage in his trademark clear and entertaining style. Frankly and charitably, Sheen presents the causes of and solutions to common marital crises, and tells touching real-life stories of people whose lives were transformed through marriage. He emphasizes that our Blessed Lord is at the center of every successful and loving marriage. This is a perfect gift for engaged couples, or for married people as a fruitful occasion for self-examination.

Marriage can be challenging under even the best of circumstances. When your spouse is from another Christian denomination, another faith or no faith at all, a whole new set of unique challenges come into play. The increasing frequency of such marriages demands intelligent planning and compassionate advice. Starting from the premise that God blesses all marriages, Father Hater offers a pastoral approach to dealing with the difficulties Catholics face in marrying someone from another faith background. How can both spouses' beliefs be respected? How can comments and even interference from friends and relatives be answered? Tips for both the married (or marrying) couple and parish professionals range from how to manage the wedding ceremony to creating a faith-centered home environment. Drawing on his own extensive pastoral experience, Father Hater provides stories of those who have successfully overcome these difficulties and who have been enriched by embracing the challenges, rather than avoiding them.