Category

Spirituality

Nov 19
0

5 Steps to a Couple’s Spiritual Resolution by Lindsay Schlegel

By | Communication, Family Life, Marriage Enrichment, New Year's Resolutions, Romance, Spirituality | No Comments

“What’s your New Year’s resolution?” Perhaps this question will circulate around your dinner table this Christmas, or at least while you wait for the ball to drop and draw the calendar year to a close. It could be that you already have a healthy habit in mind or that there’s some vice you’re hoping to weed out in 2019. On the other hand, maybe this question only brings to mind fancy gym memberships that will languish by mid-February. The “you” in the question is typically in the singular and it could be that’s why so many resolutions fail so quickly. Lasting change depends on solid motivations and reliable accountability. Without these it can be hard to forge on when obstacles come our way. Rethinking this question in the plural presents unique opportunities for both this life and also the one hereafter. This year, try approaching resolutions this way: How can…

Read More
Nov 19
3

Rethinking the Holidays: Finding Authentic Joy in the Holiday Season by Paul George

By | Communication, Finding Joy, Holidays, Marriage Enrichment, Spirituality | No Comments

The Christmas season is a wonderful time of year. It’s a time to gather with family and celebrate with friends. It’s a time to laugh, eat, sing, give, receive and love. The holidays are often filled with many memorable and joy-filled moments. But if I’m honest, the holidays can also be stressful. Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve experienced anxiety and worry during a season when all should be merry. The stress of shopping and the worry of syncing calendars with family; anxiety over money, traveling, and taking time off of work; finding time to spend with everyone and dealing with expectation in more ways than one–the tension during the holidays is real and it can easily steal our joy. We all stress over different situations and face different challenges during this time of year. We typically deal with these situations in a few ways. We might pretend like we…

Read More
Apr 02
2
Francis Address to Engaged Couples

Afraid Your Marriage Won’t Last? Here’s a Simple Way to Make Sure It Does (HINT: It’s Endorsed by the Pope)

By | Marriage Enrichment, Marriage Preparation, Spirituality | No Comments

The name of the Together for Life book is no coincidence. When couples join together in holy matrimony they vow to be true to each other in sickness and health as long as they both shall live. They vow to be together for life. Today, however, many people are afraid of making such a long-term commitment. In a recent address by Pope Francis to engaged couples (actually it was more like a Q and A with the pope), he expressed this unfortunate tenancy in our culture that leads us to fear forever. Pope Francis spoke about this fear, saying, “[This is] a general fear that comes from our culture. To make life decisions seems impossible. Today everything changes so quickly, nothing lasts long.” The Holy Father went on to point out a common practice of many couples who decide that when the sentiment is gone, the marriage should end as…

Read More
Nov 05
1
101 Tips for a Happier Marriage

Spiritual Marriage Advice: Tips to Grow Closer to God and Each Other

By | Communication, Marriage Enrichment, Spirituality | One Comment

The following tips about God and marriage are taken from 101 Tips for a Happier Marriage: Simple Ways for Couples to Grow Closer to God and to Each Other, now available from Ave Maria Press. Each of them offers some brief spiritual marriage advice for couples to consider on their journey’s through life together. Read each tip and share it with your fiance or spouse. Talk about how you can live out each tip in your everyday married life or how you may want to try something different to develop a happier marriage. Marriage Tip #2. Help your spouse grow by being the first to step outside the comfort zone. It is easy to be tempted to hold ourselves back from emotional and spiritual growth because we are afraid that our new selves will not be accepted by our spouse. Fear is never a good excuse to refrain from growing closer to God or each…

Read More
Oct 23
0
Year of Faith Married Couples

10 Ways Married Couples Can Celebrate the Year of Faith

By | Marriage Enrichment, Spirituality | 3 Comments

As many of you know, we are now celebrating a Year of Faith in honor of the fiftieth anniversary of the Second Vatican Council and the twentieth anniversary of the publication of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. There have been a lot of suggestions for what to do to celebrate the Year of Faith as a parish, but what can married couples do? Here are ten ways you can celebrate the Year of Faith with your spouse in 2012-2013: 1. Read the Catechism of the Catholic Church The Catechism of the Catholic Church contains a synthesis of the Catholic faith. The Catechism is broken up into four parts: the profession of faith, the sacraments, morality, and prayer. People tend to be a little intimidated when first picking it up, but the Catechism contains excellent descriptions of our faith. All too often we let the media and hearsay influence what…

Read More
Sep 10
23
Patron Saint of Marriage

Who Is the Patron Saint of Marriage?

By | Spirituality | 2 Comments
Who is the patron saint of marriage and married people? Actually there is more than one patron saint of marriage and many patron saints of various aspects of marriage and family life in the Catholic Church. These holy people lived exemplary lives of service to God. Many of these saints selflessly prayed for their spouses or protected the sanctity of marriage despite the challenges of married life. The patron saints of marriage include: Saint Adelaide of Burgundy (Patron Saint of Second Marriages) Saint Gengulphus of Burgundy (Patron Saint of Difficult Marriages) Saint Joseph (Patron Saint of Married People) Saint Monica (Patron Saint of Married Women) Saint Priscilla (Patron Saint of Good Marriages) Saint Rita of Cascia (Patron Saint of Difficult Marriages) Saint Thomas More (Patron Saint of Difficult Marriages) Saint Valentine (Patron Saint of Happy Marriages) Below you can find a brief biography of each patron saint of marriage along...
Read More
Jul 18
0
Pope Benedict XVI & Engaged Couples

Pope Benedict XVI’s Top Tips for Engaged Couples

By | Marriage Preparation, Spirituality | No Comments

Not long ago Pope Benedict XVI addressed a group of engaged couples with tips and well wishes on their new journeys of love. His message imparts wisdom to couples preparing for the lifelong commitment of marriage and reminds married couples of the significance of their vocation to love one another. Benedict XVI crafted his message around the key wedding story in the Gospels: the wedding feast at Cana. In particular, he reminds us of Jesus’ significant act within the story, turning of water into wine. The celebration was missing the wine and Jesus provided it! Today, wine is lacking from our own celebration of marriage. If so, what are we drinking instead? And, what is the real pleasure of the celebration that we long for? 3 Tips from the Papal Address to Engaged Couples 1. Remember, Marriage Isn’t Going to Be Easy “Ours is not an easy time, above all…

Read More
Apr 26
0
The Modern Long Distance Relationship

Surviving a Long-Distance Relationship in Marriage

By | Communication, Marriage Enrichment, Romance, Spirituality | No Comments

Nearly every night these days, I get ready for bed, crawl under the covers, and then wait patiently for my wife to put on her pajamas, brush her teeth, and get into bed as well so that I can read to her. We don’t always read the same book at the same time, but when we do, we take turns reading aloud to one another. It’s my turn to read, and we’re currently reading The Lord of the Rings (first time for her, at least the seventh time for me). In the past we have together read Watership Down, Franny and Zooey, The Velveteen Rabbit (I guess we have a thing for rabbits!) and The Brothers Karamazov, to name a few. Annie will usually stay awake until the end of a given chapter, but sometimes she nods off. When she does this, I quietly close the book we are reading….

Read More
Jan 12
1
Praying with Your Spouse

Praying with Your Spouse Doesn’t Have to Be Hard

By | Marriage Enrichment, Spirituality | No Comments

When my wife and I were preparing for marriage we had a lot of questions about living a spiritual life together. We were already spiritual people, but we found praying together to be kind of hard. We wanted to be sure we started things off right in our marriage in the hope that it would last a lifetime. So we started asking questions about praying together: How do you pray with your spouse? When do you find time to pray with your significant other? What prayers do you pray together? We didn’t get many answers at the time, but we’ve learned to develop certain habits of prayer together that we can feel comfortable practicing. Finding the Best Time to Pray Together The key to setting up these habitual times of prayer with your spouse is to look closely at your schedules and routines and attach prayer on top of what…

Read More