Article

Engaged couples need prayer, support

02/08/2021 | Comments

COLORADO SPRINGS. One of the biggest reasons to hold a Holy Hour for Marriage is to support engaged couples who want a sacramental marriage but who may be receiving conflicting messages from friends, relatives or society at large, said Christian Meert, director of the Office of Marriage and Family Life of the Diocese of Colorado Springs and founder of CatholicMarriagePrep.com.

“We, the faithful need to support engaged couples who do want to get married in the Catholic Church,” Meert said. “We need to welcome them in our parishes, invite them into our homes and mainly pray with them and for them.”

The number of people getting married in the United States continues to trend downward. In 2019, there were 16.3 new marriages for every 1,000 women age 15 and over in the United States, down from 17.6 in 2009, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

While this trend is due to multiple factors, the number of people who choose cohabitation over marriage has increased, Meert said. Therefore, it’s more important than ever for Catholics to remember that marriage is a life of communion and service that reflects the love of Christ for his Church, as stated by Pope Francis in his encyclical “Amoris Laetitia’’ (The Joy of Love), No. 72.

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