Every year The Church celebrates World Marriage Day, on the Sunday closest to Valentine's Day. So, today we celebrate World Marriage Day. Friday, February 14th also marks the end of National Marriage Week, an international movement striving "to strengthen marriage in communities and convey what the social sciences clearly tell us: marriage leads to greater wealth, health, longevity and happiness."
Worldwide Marriage Encounter sponsors World Marriage Day to honor "husband and wife as head of the family, the basic unit of society" and to salute "the beauty of their faithfulness, sacrifice and joy in daily married life." The U S Conference of Catholic Bishop’s theme for this year’s celebration of National Marriage Week is “Marriage: Source of Hope, Spring of Renewal, Pursue a Lasting Love!”
Pope Francis wrote extensively about the different dimensions of love in his 2016 Encyclical Letter, Amoris Laetitia, The Joy of Love. In regards to marriage, the Holy Father said: “The sacrament of marriage is not a social tradition, an empty ritual or merely the outward sign of a commitment. The sacrament is a gift given for the sanctification and salvation of the spouses, since ‘their mutual belonging is a real representation through the sacramental sign, of the same relationship between Christ and the Church’.” (72) The Holy Father continued saying that: “Christian marriage is a sign of how much Christ loved his Church in the covenant sealed on the cross, yet it also makes that love present in the communion of the spouses.” (73)
St Valentine’s Day is a special day to celebrate love. Marriage is the lifelong commitment of two people to grow in mutual love, spirituality, gratitude, sacrifice and faithfulness. And so, this week we celebrate love and commitment.
The USCCB has provided this beautiful prayer for World Marriage Day:
Almighty and eternal God,
You blessed the union of married couples
so that they might reflect the union of Christ with his Church:
look with kindness on them.
Renew their marriage covenant,
increase your love in them,
and strengthen their bond of peace
so that, with their children,
they may always rejoice in the gift of your blessing.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen
