matrimony

A holy Covenant 

All wishing to receive the Sacrament of Matrimony must make an appointment with the parish priest at least six months prior to the anticipated wedding date. The priest will set the date on the calendar. We ask that one of the engaged be a registered parishioner. 

You may call to schedule an appointment with Father by calling the office at 620-231-7747.
If you were baptized at Sacred Heart Catholic Church and would like a copy of your Sacramental Records sent to another church, please contact the Church Office.

 DO CATHOLICS HAVE TO BE MARRIED IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH? 

Marriage Preparation

"The Church rejoices with you as you approach the sacrament of marriage and wishes to support you in living your married life to the fullest." 
- Bishop Carl A. Kemme

  • After you become engaged, you should contact your parish as soon as possible and set up a meeting with the priest to assist you with your marriage preparation. Ideally nine months before the wedding date.

  • Shortly after the meeting with your priest, most parishes will ask both of you to complete a marriage preparation inventory, which is a series of questions designed to assess individual habits, expectations, and values (the Prepare/Enrich Assessment Tool is the preferred inventory of the diocese). This inventory will provide you with a personalized profile of your relationship strengths and growth areas

  • This step is designed to fine tune “life skills,” both as individuals and as a couple, and to help you grow in areas needed for a joyful and holy married life.

    Attendance at a Catholic Essentials weekend retreat fulfills this step.

    REGISTER

  • Because marriage is a vocation which requires sacrifice and making a “gift of self,” discovering what it means to live a Christian lifestyle is essential for a Christian marriage to thrive, especially in this challenging age.

    Attendance at the Marriage Preparation Seminar fulfills this step. Your priest may fulfill this step by meeting with you personally or by way of another parish-based opportunity.

    REGISTER

  • NFP respects the love giving and life-giving natures of marriage, and enriches the bond between husband and wife. Within marriage, the couple can utilize the knowledge gained through NFP to either achieve or postpone pregnancies.

    REGISTER

  • You will now return to the priest for final interviews to discuss the knowledge and experience you have gained from the entire marriage preparation process. This is a time to ensure that everything is in order concerning the wedding day. You will begin to prepare the liturgy for your wedding day, also have time for prayer and an opportunity to go to the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

  • Speak with your priest to see if your parish has Mentor Couples. This is a great opportunity to learn firsthand from an established couple about marriage.

From the pastoral constitution on the Church in the modern world of the Second Vatican Council (Gaudium et spes, , n. 48)

The sanctity of marriage and the family


Husband and wife, by the covenant of marriage, are no longer two, but one flesh. By their intimate union of persons and of actions they give mutual help and service to each other, experience the meaning of their unity, and gain an ever deeper understanding of it day by day.

This intimate union in the mutual self-giving of two persons, as well as the good of the children, demands full fidelity from both, and an indissoluble unity between them.

Christ the Lord has abundantly blessed this richly complex love, which springs from the divine source of love and is founded on the model of his union with the church.

In earlier times God met his people in a covenant of love and fidelity. So now the Savior of mankind, the Bridegroom of the Church, meets Christian husbands and wives in the sacrament of matrimony. Further, he remains with them in order that, as he loved the Church and gave himself up for her, so husband and wife may, in mutual self-giving, love each other with perpetual fidelity.

True married love is caught up into God’s love; it is guided and enriched by the redeeming power of Christ and the saving action of the Church, in order that the partners may be effectively led to God, and receive help and strength in the sublime responsibility of parenthood.

Christian partners are therefore strengthened, and as it were consecrated, by a special sacrament for the duties and the dignity of their state. By the power of this sacrament they fulfill their obligations to each other and to their family, and are filled with the spirit of Christ. This spirit pervades their whole lives with faith, hope and love. Thus they promote their own perfection and each other’s sanctification, and so contribute together to the greater glory of God.

Hence, with parents leading the way by example and family prayer, their children—indeed, all within the family circle—will find it easier to make progress in natural virtues, in salvation and in holiness. Husband and wife, raised to the dignity and the responsibility of parenthood, will be zealous in fulfilling their task as educators, especially in the sphere of religious education, a task that is primarily their own.

Children, as active members of the family, contribute in their own way to the holiness of their parents. With the love of grateful hearts, with loving respect and trust, they will return the generosity of their parents, and will stand by them as true sons and daughters when their parents meet with hardship and the loneliness of old age.


This is a great mystery, but I am saying it of Christ and of his Church.
– Christ loved the Church, and gave himself up for her.

A man must love his wife as he loves himself,
and a woman must respect her husband.
– Christ loved the Church, and gave himself up for her.

Are you currently struggling in your marriage Relationship? 

The words of consent exchanged on your wedding day provide rich reflection for those married for years & call out to Almighty God to shower you with his grace, love and mercy. When going through a rough period of time, pray these vows each day calling upon the grace of the sacrament to strengthen you and your spouse.

Priest: Since it is your intention to enter the covenant of Holy Matrimony, join your right hands and declare your consent before God and his Church.

Groom: I, (name), take you, (name), to be my wife. I promise to be faithful to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, to love you and to honor you all the days of my life.

Bride: I, (name), take you, (name), to be my husband. I promise to be faithful to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, to love you and to honor you all the days of my life.

Additional Recommendations on FORMED:

Marriage 

Chastity/Family Planning 

Parenting 

Daily Gospel Reflections

  • Encourage all couples and marriage preparation catechists to subscribe to the FORMED Daily Reflections and start their day together with a short and inspiring reflection on the gospel reading. To sign up, go to formed.org/daily and enter your name and email address.