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The Sacrament of Matrimony # 1661 CCC "The matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life, is by its nature ordered toward the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring; this covenant between baptized persons has been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament." "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, strengths their indissoluble unity, and sanctifies them on the way to eternal life (cf. Council of Trent: DS 1799). "Marriage is based on the consent of the contracting parties, that is, on their will to give themselves, each to the other, muturally and definitively, in order to live a covenant of faithful and fruitful love." |
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