Morals of the Church
Library › Wouters, Manual of Moral Theology › Volume II › Book III. On the Aids of the Christian Life, or on the Sacraments › Treatise VIII. On Matrimony › Dissertation II. On Matrimony Itself › Part I. On Matrimony in General › Section I. On the Nature of Matrimony

Chapter — Wouters, Manual of Moral Theology

Chapter I. Summary Exposition

700.

Matrimony can be considered in becoming and in completed fact.

I. Matrimony in becoming is an onerous contract, by which a capable man and woman hand over and accept the right over the body, exclusive and perpetual, in order to acts of themselves apt for generation (cf. canon 1081). It is said:

  1. An onerous contract; by these words the constitutive act of matrimony is indicated, according to these words of canon 1081, § 1: "Matrimony is made by the consent of the parties, legitimately manifested between persons capable by law; and this consent cannot be supplied by any human power."

  2. A capable man and woman; by these words the subject of matrimony is assigned, namely a man and a woman who actually enjoy the use of reason and are not bound by a diriment impediment (cf. canon 1081, § 1).

  3. Hand over and accept the right over the body, exclusive and perpetual, in order to acts of themselves apt for generation; these things will be more fully developed in their own place. Behold the essential object of the matrimonial contract, into which therefore the will must necessarily be borne. But once consent has been given to this object, matrimony is constituted by that very fact, without intercourse being added, as many formerly judged. Thus Nicholas I in the Responses to the Consultations of the Bulgarians,1 Innocent III in c. 22 De Sponsalibus,2 Eugene IV in the Decree for the Armenians,3 etc. Thus also canon 1081, § 1, just cited. And it is confirmed from the fact that certainly a true matrimony was contracted between the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joseph, without intercourse nevertheless having been added (St. Alphonsus VI, 879).

Corollary. The reciprocal right over the body of the consort, and that exclusive and perpetual, is the true and sole essential object of the matrimonial contract. Hence marriages which are called for a time, or by way of experiment, or friendly marriages, are not true marriages.4

The communion of table, bed, and dwelling belongs only to integrity; union of minds and goods not even to integrity, but only to a good outcome or to the better being.

1 Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 334.

2 Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 404.

3 Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 703.

4 Encyclical Casti connubii (A.A.S. 1930, p. 558).

Matrimony

701.

II. Matrimony in completed fact is the very conjunction itself, or the permanent bond, which arises from the contract.

This definition of matrimony is customarily handed down, almost taken from Roman law: the marital conjunction of a capable man and woman, retaining or carrying with it an undivided society of life. In this definition the word conjunction, taken actively, denotes matrimony in becoming; taken passively, matrimony in completed fact. By undivided society of life, however, the unity and indissolubility of matrimony are designated.

Corollary. Matrimony, even when abstraction has been made from the character of sacrament, belongs not only to the order of justice and temperance, but also to the order of religion. Thus Leo XIII teaches in the Encyclical Arcanum,3 where matrimony is said to be "by its nature, by its force, of its own accord sacred." Thus also Pius XI teaches.4 The same is drawn from the fact that the end of matrimony is not only the procreation and education of children as such, but as servants of God. Indeed, from the beginning God, by a primitive supernatural ordination, put into every matrimony the character of an adumbration of the supernatural union both of the Divine Word with human nature and of Christ with the Church; which Innocent III,5 Honorius III,6 Leo XIII,7 and Pius XI8 teach.

1 Cf. De Smet, op. cit., n. 193; Nederlandsche Katholieke Stemmen, 1905, p. 12 sq.; Revue du clerge francais, t. 1, p. 745 sq.

2 Matrimony is derived, according to some, from the words mother and office, because it is especially the office of the mother to generate and educate offspring; according to others, from the word mother alone, "for monium is a mere extension of the word, as from father comes patrimony, from holy comes sanctimony" (Forcellini, Totius latinitatis lexicon, under Matrimony). It is denominated from the mother rather than the father because the burdens of matrimony, namely conception and birth of offspring, belong to the mother, likewise especially, at least, education. Matrimony is also called coniugium from joining together, consortium from with and lot, nuptials and connubium from veiling, because girls formerly covered or veiled the head before they were handed over to a man.

3 February 10, 1880.

4 Encyclical Casti connubii (A.A.S. 1930, p. 570).

5 Chapter Gaudemus, De divortiis (Decretals, book 4, title 19, c. 8).

6 Chapter Ex parte tua, De transactionibus (Decretals, book 1, title 36, c. 11).

7 Encyclical Arcanum.

8 Encyclical Casti connubii (A.A.S. 1930, p. 552).

Matrimony