We love because he first loved us.

1 John 4:19

Marriage Ministry

Congratulations! You’re getting married.
The sacrament of Marriage is a grace received by two individuals who are freely able to wed one another. It is a time when “the spouses receive the Holy Spirit as the communion of love of Christ and the Church.” A husband and wife become one body, forever. Through this beautiful sacrament, the spouses commit themselves to each other, to God, to the Church and to the salvation of His people. Marriage is a lifetime of faith, a lifetime of hope, and a lifetime of love.

“Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, no human being must separate.”
Matthew 19:4-6

Getting Started

The first step in marriage preparation is to contact the Church. St. Irenaeus recommends contacting the Parish Office at least six months prior to the desired time of marriage. Once you have made contact with the Parish Office you will be invited to attend an Engaged Information Evening. After you attend this informative session, an appointment will be made to meet with one of the Parish Priests who will accompany you along a path of discernment, which is meant to be an affirming experience as you become more aware of your readiness to enter Christian married life.

Our St. Irenaeus Parish staff will help guide you through this joyful journey, replete with excitement - and a little bit of paperwork.

During your months of preparation, you are not simply planning for an hour-long wedding, but for a lifetime together filled with joy, happiness, challenges, surprises and love.

To get started or for questions, please call Kathy Loch at 714-826-0760 or send an email to parish@sticypress.org.

How To Help

Volunteers are needed to help ensure that every couple experiences a memorable, faith-filled day. Marriage Ministry can use your assistance in the following positions:

Wedding Coordinators – Assist with wedding planning, rehearsals and ceremonies.

Engaged Information Facilitators – Become role models for newly engaged couples. Requires only 1 night four times a year. Must be a Catholic husband and wife team.

To volunteer, please call Kathy at 714-826-0760 or send an email to parish@sticypress.org.

[Love] bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
1 Corinthians 13:7

Sacraments

Marriage

Exchange of Consent

Have you come here freely and without reservation to give yourselves to each other in marriage?
Yes.
Will you honor each other as husband and wife for the rest of your lives?
Yes.
Will you accept children lovingly from God, and bring them up according to the law of Christ and his Church?
Yes.

How can I ever express the happiness of a marriage joined by the Church, strengthened by an offering, sealed by a blessing, announced by angels, and ratified by the Father?

… How wonderful the bond between two believers, now one in hope, one in desire, one in discipline, one in the same service!

They are both children of one Father and servants of the same Master, undivided in spirit and flesh, truly two in one flesh. Where the flesh is one, one also is the spirit.
Tertullian, Ad uxorem