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St. Patrick Church
615 Congress Ave, Havre de Grace, MD 21078
Marriage
Sacrament of Matrimony
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Congratulations on your decision to enter into Holy Matrimony.
We welcome and rejoice with you!
The celebration you are planning and the lifelong commitment you are choosing to make are signs of God’s great love.
As you prepare for your marriage please call the parish office to arrange and reserve the date for your wedding. You will also be required to do marriage preparation program that the parish will offer in addition to meeting with the priest for as part of the preparation.
May God bless you always.
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Marriage Preparation
Congratulations on your engagement!
To help you prepare for the celebration of the Sacrament of Matrimony, St. Patrick Church, in collaboration with the Archdiocese of Baltimore, is inviting you to participation the Pre-Cana marriage preparation classes. Pre-Cana workshop-style group program is open to any couple; you do not have to be parishioners of St. Patrick Church or local residents.
As part of the program, you will complete a pre-marriage discussion inventory to facilitate communication and understanding. By learning about the origin and the goal of marriage, as well as practical tools for coming together as one, we we hope to provide you with resources for lifelong and joy-filled marriage.
To register for the upcoming Pre-Cana classes at St. Patrick, please click here.
For more information on the preparation for the sacrament of matrimony, please click here.
If you have any additional questions, please contact our Parish Office.
Convalidation
Catholic Church law ordinarily requires baptized Catholics to marry in the witness of a Priest or Deacon. Unless they request and receive a “dispensation from canonical form”, Catholics who exchange marriage vows in the presence of only ministers from other religious traditions or authorized civic officials, are not considered validly married in the eyes of the Church. That is, they have not received the grace of the Sacrament of Matrimony.
As Catholics, we believe that the seven sacraments Jesus instituted are integrated and build upon each other. Thus, if a couple is married but has not conferred the Sacrament of Matrimony upon each other at a Nuptial Mass or ceremony, they are not free to receive the Eucharist.
We want to help you change that.
In technical Church terms, this is known as convalidation of a marriage. Convalidation, commonly referred to as “having a marriage blessed,” is actually much more than a blessing. At a convalidation ceremony, the husband and wife exchange their vows before a priest or deacon, thereby conferring the Sacrament of Matrimony upon each other. If you are married, but not in the Catholic Church, we encourage you to take the step of having your marriage convalidated here at St. Patrick Church.
The Lord wants you to receive His love and support through the healing sacraments of the Eucharist and Reconciliation.
For more information about convalidations, please contact our Office.
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