Marriage

The Sacrament of Marriage

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 at our Parish

For information regarding marriage and planning a wedding at our parish, contact the Parish Office at 719-633-8711.

Preparing to live married lives of faith, hope, and love is a process of Formation, because we need more than just new knowledge and skills to become one in God’s love. The focus of our Marriage Formation is to help you encounter God’s love more deeply through Jesus Christ.

You are strongly encouraged to contact the Parish at least one full year before your proposed wedding date.

Each of the following Formation elements must be completed in order to celebrate your wedding:

Participation in the Life of the Parish to build the community that will sustain your marriage, we ask you to attend Sunday Mass and to join a parish group or ministry.
FOCCUS Conversations: After you complete a FOCCUS Inventory, you will be paired with a married couple who will guide you in some conversations about your relationship and your communication skills.
Marriage Preparation Classes: Our Joined by Grace classes help you both encounter God’s love and God’s vision for you to live out and share that love in marriage. (There is also an online option available.)
Retreat: Our Built on a Rock Retreat introduces you to other engaged and married couples to help you build a solid relationship on God’s love.
Natural Family Planning (NFP) Classes: Offered both locally and online, these classes will give you some tools for growing in sexual intimacy and for planning the size of your family according to God’s design.

For more detailed information on the marriage preparation process, please consult Sacred Heart Parish's Marriage Preparation policy.

For couples who have been previously married, you may need to obtain an annulment of your previous marriage.

Each of the following Documentation items must be completed in order to celebrate your wedding:

Wedding Contract and Liability Waiver: As part of reserving your wedding date, you will need to complete a contract, which includes a liability waiver.
Marriage Information Form: You will each be interviewed by a priest to ensure you understand the responsibilities of marriage and are freely entering into it.
Freedom-to-Marry Witnesses: Each of you will need someone, usually a family member, to testify that you are free to be married in the Church.
Baptismal Certificates: Catholics need to provide a recent copy of their baptismal certificate (issued within six months of your wedding). For Christians baptized in another church, a certificate or letter confirming your baptism is required.
Other Sacramental Certificates: Catholics should also provide copies of the certificates for other Sacraments of Initiation (Confirmation and First Communion), if these are not already noted on your baptismal certificates.
Civil Marriage License: All engaged couples must obtain a valid marriage license from the office of the Clerk and Recorder. Couples already civilly married will need to provide a photocopy of their marriage license.

Special Circumstances:

Our parish seeks to walk with each new couple, whatever their particular background. We invite you to speak directly with one of our parish priests regarding any special circumstances — if one of you comes from a different religious tradition, for example, or if either of you have been married previously. For information about annulments, click here.

Dates, Fees & Wedding Liturgies:

Weddings at any of the three churches of Sacred Heart Parish are always celebrated on Saturdays at 1:00 pm.

Possible dates and times can be reviewed with the parish office but are not finalized until we receive your completed Wedding Contract and Liability Waiver and the required fees.

Our parish charges a fee to help cover the expenses of your wedding. The fee includes use of the facility, materials and resources used in your preparation, music planning and performance, and a person who serves as Wedding Coordinator (overseeing the rehearsal, setting up, and cleaning up after the ceremony). The total fee amount is $1000, which includes a refundable deposit. If you have financial concerns, please speak to the priest when you begin your preparation so that we can address your concerns.

$300 fee for the use of the church;
$150 fee for the Wedding Coordinator;
$200 fee for the Wedding Music Director;
$150 fee for the Cantor;
$200 deposit, which will be refunded to you after the wedding, provided the wedding begins and ends on time, is not cancelled for any reason, and that there are no additional cleaning costs or other problems incurred by the parish.
Fees for any extra musicians are not included above. All extra musicians must be approved by our Wedding Music Director, and you must pay them directly.
$150 fee for assisting in the preparation for any weddings that will take place at another church. (The above fees will not be necessary in these cases.)
Tribunal fees: For individuals who have already been married before, statements of nullity will be required before your wedding may take place. Much time is needed to process the paperwork involved, and there are typically fees involved, which must be paid directly to the Tribunal Office of the Diocese of Colorado Springs.

Sacred Heart Parish celebrates marriages in full harmony with the teachings of the Catholic Church, and according to the liturgical guidelines of the Roman Rite. For more detailed information on the marriage preparation process, please consult Sacred Heart Parish's Marriage Preparation policy.

*Photos courtesy of Katie Keighin Photography*

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