Prayers of thanksgiving that can be used during Marriage Week.
A simple prayer of thanksgiving for the vocation to marriage:
God our Father,
We pray in thanksgiving for the vocation to marriage
And for each couple that you join together in order to make a family.
We ask that every marriage brings each couple closer to you and closer to holiness.
We pray for those who are struggling in their marriage at present,
That they can make it through this tough time
And support each other in their differences.
We make this prayer through Christ, your Son, our Lord.
Amen.
+++
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops offers two prayers – one for a couple, and one for more than one couple.
For one couple:
O God, who in creating the human race
willed that man and wife should be one,
keep, we pray, in a bond of inseparable love
those who are united in the covenant of Marriage,
so that, as you make their love fruitful,
they may become, by your grace, witnesses to charity itself.
Through Christ our Lord
Amen.
For more than one couple:
Almighty and eternal God,
You blessed the union of married couples
so that they might reflect the union of Christ
with his Church:
look with kindness on them.
Renew their marriage covenant,
increase your love in them,
and strengthen their bond of peace
so that, with their children,
they may always rejoice in the gift of
your blessing.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
You can download our eight-page PDF resource here:
Lead Bishop for Marriage and Family Life on the value of marriage to society.
Part of the role of a married person is to help their spouse get to heaven.
Jane Deegan offers this reflection on marriage as a sacrament.
