The celebration of Marriage is much more than just a religious ceremony or a validation of a relationship. In the Catholic Church, Marriage between two Christians is seen as a sacrament: an effective sign of God’s grace, given to us by Christ, and entrusted to the Church for the purpose of sharing in the divine life. The celebration of the Church’s seven sacraments is an action of Christ, which is the work of our redemption. The faithful participate in this action of Christ as the Church, the Body of Christ. It is not something they can do on their own, but only on the initiative of Christ. Therefore, the sacraments of the Church cannot belong to only one person or one particular couple, even in those times when it seems to be focused primarily on one person (as in an ordination or Anointing of the Sick) or a couple (as in Marriage).They are acts that reflect the communion between God and his Church, and also the communion between the members of his Church.

The sacraments have been entrusted to the Church. Not only do the sacraments “manifest and communicate…the mystery of communion with the God who is love, One in three persons,” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1118), they help to pass on the living Tradition of the Church. Because of the importance of the sacraments in the life of the Church, they are each celebrated using a certain structure and form, words and actions, to ensure a faithful passing of the Tradition, of what the Church believes and holds dear. How the Church prays affects how the Church believes and lives.

This can be seen in the celebration of the Sacrament of Marriage. In a particular way, the bride and the groom, in committing to a covenant relationship (symbolized in the exchange of consent, or vows), pledge their selfless love for each other before God and the Church. This selfless love models and makes present the love of Christ, who gave himself in love for his people. All present at a wedding can look at the bride and groom and see Jesus. More importantly, the bride and the groom look at each other and see Jesus’ love and a commitment to a life lived in service to that love.