Marriage | St. Charles Borromeo

Sacrament of Marriage

Congratulations on your engagement! God’s plan for marriage is a sign of Christ’s faithful and fruitful love for his Bride, the Church. We at St. Charles are excited for you to grow in understanding of this Sacrament as you prepare for married life.

St. Charles is a beautiful place to host a Catholic wedding. Arrangements with the parish should be made six months in advance of the wedding to reserve a date and complete the sacramental preparation program. Please contact the church before setting a date with a reception venue, photographer, etc.

Marriage is the intimate union and equal partnership of a man and a woman. It comes to us from the hand of God, who created male and female in his image, so that they might become one body and might be fertile and multiply (See Genesis chapters 1 and 2). Though man and woman are equal as God’s children, they are created with important differences that allow them to give themselves and to receive the other as a gift.

Marriage is both a natural institution and a sacred union because it is rooted in the divine plan of creation. In addition, the Catholic Church teaches that the valid marriage between two baptized Christians is also a Sacrament – a saving reality and a symbol of Christ’s love for his church (See Ephesians 5:25-33). In every marriage the spouses make a contract with each other. In a sacramental marriage the couple also enters into a covenant in which their love is sealed and strengthened by God’s love.

Saint Charles utilizes a new marriage prep program for its parishioners called Witness to Love. This program is a marriage prep renewal movement that prepares engaged couples for a marriage that will last. The key component of Witness to Love is for the engaged couple to choose a mentor couple to journey with them in preparing for marriage and to remain a source of support after the wedding day.

We know that successful marriages do not just happen. Witness to Love seeks to offer engaged couples a way to witness healthy marital family love and family life from a mentor couple whom they choose, while integrating them into their parish through a formation plan for both the engaged couple and their mentor.

If you’re interested in getting married at Saint Charles, please contact the Faith Formation office at (941) 585-0668 or faithformation@stcbc.org at least 6 months before the anticipated wedding date.

Convalidation of Marriages and Marital Counseling

Were you married outside of the Catholic Church? Don't hesitate to contact the Faith Formation Office at (941) 585-0668 or faithformation@stcbc.org to make arrangements to have your marriage blessed by one of our priests.

Are you in a difficult marital situation? Please reach out to one of our priests if you need marriage counseling. We would be happy to meet with you, and if necessary to recommend Catholic counseling services.

Don't allow a separation or a legal divorce to keep you from the life of the Church.

Please contact the Parish Office at (941) 625-4754 if you need to speak to a priest about your own marital situation.

For more information regarding the Sacrament of Matrimony, or to volunteer as a mentor couple in the Witness to Love program, please contact the Faith Formation Office at 941-585-0668 or via email at faithformation@stcbc.org.

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