Marriage

Sacrament of Marriage: Schedule appointment with the pastor 6-10 months  
before the wedding.  Contact Parish Office for complete sacramental information at
503-659-1475

Marriage
But from the beginning of creation, 'God made them male and female. 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. (Mk 10:6-9)

Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the church and handed himself over for her to sanctify her...cleansing her by the bath of water with the word, that he might present to himself the church in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. So (also) husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. For no one hates his own flesh but rather nourishes and cherishes it, even as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. "For this reason a man shall leave (his) father and (his) mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." This is a great mystery, but I speak in reference to Christ and the church.

In any case, each one of you should love his wife as himself, and the wife should respect her husband. (Ephesians 5:25-33)

Matrimony at Christ the King
The celebration of the Sacrament of Matrimony is a great moment of joy in the Parish family. The Church community stands up before God and acknowledges their own commitment to the couple who begin to live their vocation for the good of the Church.

Because it is so important to the life of the Church and because the commitment is such a solemn obligation, couples begin the marriage preparation process at least six months before their intended wedding date.

One of the couple must be a registered and practicing member of the Parish. If the couple's family is registered and practicing members of a Parish, and the couple themselves are away at school, they may be married at Christ the King, with a note from their current Pastor that states that they are practicing their faith and their current Pastor has no objection to their marriage taking place at Christ the King .

Couples should contact the Parish Office (503-659-1475) at least six months before the intended marriage date and Parish staff will direct them to the first step beginning the preparation process.

The Celebration of Marriage
In the Latin Rite the celebration of marriage between two Catholic faithful normally takes place during Holy Mass, because of the connection of all the sacraments with the Paschal mystery of Christ. In the Eucharist the memorial of the New Covenant is realized, the New Covenant in which Christ has united himself for ever to the Church, his beloved bride for whom he gave himself up. It is therefore fitting that the spouses should seal their consent to give themselves to each other through the offering of their own lives by uniting it to the offering of Christ for his Church made present in the Eucharistic sacrifice, and by receiving the Eucharist so that, communicating in the same Body and the same Blood of Christ, they may form but "one body" in Christ.

Matrimonial Consent
The parties to a marriage covenant are a baptized man and woman, free to contract marriage, who freely express their consent; "to be free" means:
- not being under constraint;
- not impeded by any natural or ecclesiastical law.

The Church holds the exchange of consent between the spouses to be the indispensable element that "makes the marriage." If consent is lacking there is no marriage. The consent must be an act of the will of each of the contracting parties, free of coercion or grave external fear. No human power can substitute for this consent. If this freedom is lacking the marriage is invalid.

For this reason (or for other reasons that render the marriage null and void) the Church, after an examination of the situation by the competent ecclesiastical tribunal, can declare the nullity of a marriage, i.e., that the marriage never existed. In this case the contracting parties are free to marry, provided the natural obligations of a previous union are discharged.