Duties in Reference to Marriage

Duties in Connection with Marriage.—The duties in reference to marriage as a permanent state of life were treated already in 2613 sqq., and we shall consider here only the duties that have to do with marriage as a contract and a Sacrament. These duties can be arranged under three heads: (a) before marriage, there are obligations in reference to the preparation for marriage, which consists remotely in engagement or espousals, and proximately in compliance with duties owed to divine, ecclesiastical, and civil law (e.g., license from the State, establishment of freedom to marry, proclamation of banns, dispensations, confession); (b) during marriage, in addition to the common obligations of intention and a state of grace, there are special duties in reference to the external form or rite of marriage; (c) after marriage, there is a duty of making canonical records and of validating defective marriages.