239-481-7171

Weddings

SACRAMENT OF MARRIAGE

 Marriage

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, strengthens their indissoluble unit, and sanctifies them on the way to eternal life (cf. Council of Trent: DS 1799)  CCC 1661.   

If you are a registered parishioner of Resurrection and plan to marry in our parish, please call to schedule an appointment 8 - 12 months in advance of your wedding date.  (All ceremony dates are tentative until the marriage preparation process is complete.)  1.) Contact the Parish Office to make your first appointment with Fr. Toner.  2.) Meet with the Priest and complete Premarital Inventory Questionnaire, and go over the necessary paperwork.  3.) Meet with the Witness to Love Parish Marriage Prep Coordinator. 4.) Meet with the Priest to follow up on your Inventory.  

Witness to Love (WTL) is a virtues-based model of marriage renewal and preparation that integrates modern principles of psychology and the virtues to help couples facilitate and talk about their relationship.  All built on the the rock of True Love, "God".  Marriage preparation is an important key to a lasting healthy relationship. Click on the WTL link below to learn more. 

                                                                                      Witness to Love

 Contact the Parish Office at 481-7172 or [email protected] for questions and to schedule your appointment with the priest.

   Marriage is based on the consent of the contracting parties, that is, on their will to give themselves, each to the other, mutually and definitively, in order to live a covenant of faithful and fruitful love.  CCC 1662

 

 

 

About the "Unity Candle"

Sooner of later, as they plan their wedding liturgy, a couple will receive some advice about a “unity candle.” They need one, they are told (at great expense); it is a tradition; it is what Catholics have always done. Not so. In the last thirty years or so, the custom has enjoyed wide popularity in the United States. It has never been officially part of our liturgy, and it exists in tension with some of our core symbols. Usually there are two smaller candles and one larger one to be lit from the smaller. Large candles in our tradition always mean Christ, and smaller ones are always tokens of our baptismal candle. If the candles are meant for a kind of renewal of baptismal vows, then the meaning is clearer, yet this is seldom the understanding. Why, then, are those smaller candles extinguished?It’s hard to tell where these pesky candles came from. Some suggest that the Presbyterian Church, which has a very lean wedding liturgy, introduced them as an option for extending a short service. Generally, it’s been experienced as a “photo opportunity” rather than a genuine liturgical ritual. The “unity candle,” a recent invention rather than an authentic tradition, has not been approved as an adaptation to our rite, and it is to be hoped that it will gradually disappearfrom view. —Rev. James Field, Copyright © J. S. Paluch Co.