Saint Paul says: “Husbands, love your wives, because Christ also loved the Church. . . This is a great mystery, and I am speaking in relation to Christ and to the Church “(Eph 5:25, 32).
The marriage covenant, through which a man and a woman constitute an intimate community of life and love, was created by the will of the Creator, who endowed them with his own rights. By nature, it is geared to the welfare of the spouses, as well as to the birth and upbringing of children. The marriage of the baptized was elevated by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament.
The sacrament of marriage is a sign of the union between Christ and the Church. He gives spouses the grace to love one another with the love with which Christ loved the 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.
Marriage is based on the consent of both parties, that is, on the will of mutual and permanent dedication to each other in order to live a covenant of faithful and fruitful love.