"Your mission then is first of all a service of love. Of this love marriage is the reality and the mysterious sign. "God created humankind in his own image and likeness; calling them to existence through love, he called them at the same time for love. God is love and in himself he lives a mystery, of personal loving communion" (
Familiaris consortio, no. 11).
As a sacrament marriage is a mysterious sign. An indissoluble bond unites the spouses, just as in the one love Christ and the Church are united (see Eph 5:32-33).
According to God's design marriage finds its completion in the family of which it is the origin and foundation, and the mutual giving of the spouses blossoms into the gift of life, that is, in the begetting of those who, loving their parents, return their love to them, and express its depth (see
Familiaris consortio, no. 14).
The Council saw marriage as a covenant of love (see GS, no. 48). This covenant is "freely and consciously chosen, whereby man and woman accept the intimate community of life and love willed by God himself" (
Familiaris consortio, no. 11). Speaking here of love, we cannot reduce it to a love involving only the senses, to a passing attraction, to erotic sensation, to sexual impulse, to sentimental love, to the simple joy of living.
Love is essentially a gift. Speaking of the act of love the Council envisages an act of giving, which is one, decisive, irrevocable because it is a total giving which wants to be and to remain mutual and fruitful. " Address of John Paul II To the Tribunal of the Roman Rota 1/28/82
Congratulations on your decision to get married at San Fernando Cathedral,
to check availability please contact:
Ms. Veronica Alvarez
Wedding Coordinator
San Fernando Cathedral
231 W. Commerce
San Antonio, TX 78205
Phone: (210) 227-1297 x131
Fax (210) 271-0149
E-mail:
valvarez@sfcathedral.org