The Reception of the Sacrament of Marriage

In order that the sacrament of marriage be validly and licitly received, besides the use of reason and sufficient knowledge of the matrimonial contract (p. 531 sq.), it is required that the one receiving it be in the state of grace and immune from impediments. Therefore "the pastor should not omit prudently to instruct the people concerning the sacrament of marriage and its impediments" (canon 1018).

I. State of grace. 1. That the state of grace is required is clear from the fact that marriage is a sacrament of the living, or is ordered to increasing grace, and therefore supposes grace (n. 43).¹

2. The state of grace perhaps lost can be recovered either through confession or through an act of contrition (n. 43).

II. Immunity from impediments. Therefore it is useful first to note these things beforehand:

1. The validity of marriages is to be judged according to the law in force at the time when they were contracted.

2. Marriages invalid because of an impediment in force before the Code and abrogated by the Code were not convalidated by the promulgation of the Code itself, but according to the circumstances must be convalidated either by simple convalidation or by sanation in the root,² which will be explained later. Nevertheless, as is drawn from the nature of the matter, dispensation is not required if the question concerns an abrogated impediment.³

With these things noted, we shall speak first of impediments in general, then of impedient impediments in particular, then of diriment impediments in particular, and finally of the dispensation of impediments.

¹ In a proxy or interpreter the state of grace is not required, as is clear, because they do not receive the sacrament.

² Pontifical Commission, June 2-3, 1918 (A.A.S. 1918, p. 346).

³ Thus the response of the President of the Pontifical Commission (cf. Periodica IX, p. 154).

Is the state of grace required for the sacrament of marriage? - Spouses contracting marriage must be in the state of grace, because marriage is a sacrament of the living. Those who contract in mortal sin become guilty of sacrilege, and do not receive sacramental graces. Probably, however, those graces are only suspended, and when the obstacle or mortal sin has been removed, they are applied to the soul. - If no fruit is hoped from admonition, it will be better not to admonish the unworthy person concerning the sacrilege, so that at least thus he may sin less; and rather he should be induced at least to approach confession as soon as possible. - L. 894.

Must the parish priest require that a certificate of Confession be exhibited by the spouses? He cannot of himself require this, unless law or a precept of the Bishop establishes it. The reason is that although the state of grace is required for receiving this sacrament, nevertheless Confession is not necessarily required, since contrition can suffice absolutely even for those who are in the state of mortal sin. From another source it is generally not known to the parish priest that the spouses are not in the state of grace. - Where a particular law exists, the parish priest must require testimony of Confession. Nevertheless cases can occur in which this law admits exception, as if marriage has already been contracted civilly, and one party exhibits the required testimony of Confession, etc. And if the bridegroom is not a public sinner, nor is his unworthiness clear, even less grave reasons suffice. Cf. 372 ff.

Must marriage be celebrated in Church, and be blessed by the parish priest at Mass? - It is fitting that marriage be celebrated in Church, and spouses are to be exhorted that they receive the nuptial blessing, which pertains to the solemnity of nuptials, and is altogether distinguished from the rite of celebrating the sacrament of marriage, by which the priest joins the spouses and blesses the ring, and which is contained in the Roman Ritual. The Missal exhibits the nuptial blessing in the Mass for the bridegroom and bride. If they omit it, either they are free from every fault, or certainly from grave fault.

Marriage can be celebrated at any time, even forbidden time, or time of interdict. The nuptial blessing is given only in Mass, and can be given even after marriage has been celebrated, even if the bride approaches pregnant. But it is given by the Bishop alone or by the proper parish priest, only in their own proper territory, and outside forbidden time and interdict. It consists in the Prayers which are had in the Missal: Propitiare, etc., and Deus, qui potestate, etc., to be said before Libera nos; and also Deus Abraham, to be said before the blessing. In Mass; namely, if it can be done, a votive Mass for the bridegroom and bride; this is therefore permitted on any day, except doubles of the first and second class, feast days of precept, and the vigil of Pentecost, and other excepted days. Cf. here 657; but on these days the prescribed commemoration for the bridegroom and bride is to be added to the Mass; and moreover after the Lord's Prayer and Ite Missa est the Prayers are added which are had for this purpose in the Mass for spouses. But once it has been given either to the man or the woman, it cannot be given again in second nuptials. But since that blessing chiefly regards the woman, if the woman has never received it, it can be given, whether she then marries for the first time, or then marries again, where this custom is in force. - C. 1, 3, de Secund. nupt.; Trent, sess. 24, C. 1, de R. M.; Roman Ritual, h. t.; Holy Office, September 1, 1841, Collect. S. C. de P. F., v. 1, n. 938; S. R. C., June 23, 1853; August 14, 1858, Mont. Alb.; May 9, 1893; June 30, 1896; Benedict XIV, Instr. 80, n. 8; L. 984, 988; Collectanea S. C. de P. F., n. 1536, 1537, 1559, 1560, 1561; E. M.

For imparting the nuptial blessing after forbidden time, the presence of both spouses is necessary, and that of the bride alone does not suffice. S. R. C., May 27, 1911, ad 7.

If one party is Catholic and the other has publicly cast off the faith or has enrolled himself in a condemned sect, although he has not also been enrolled in a heretical sect, the matter having been brought to the Bishop, the Bishop can permit the parish priest to assist at the marriage only as an authorized witness, if otherwise grave scandal or damage would arise, with every ecclesiastical rite excluded, and the celebration of Mass altogether excluded, unless the circumstances require otherwise. Holy Office, February 21, 1883; April 23, 1873; E. M.

All priests blessing nuptials, or joining spouses in marriage, without permission of the parish priest of the spouses are suspended until they are absolved by the Ordinary of the aforesaid parish priest. - The blessing after childbirth must be done by the parish priest, if he himself has been requested; it can be done by any Priest, if he likewise has been requested, in any church, after its superior has been informed. It is not to be denied to a woman after childbirth whose offspring died without baptism. A woman who has given birth to an illegitimate child does not have a right to the blessing after childbirth.

Proof of marriage. If legitimate proof of an entered marriage cannot be had, an oath is to be deferred to the parties by which they confirm their own assertion; when this has been furnished, the parties are to be held as joined in legitimate marriage, and their offspring as legitimate. Nevertheless those cases are to be excepted in which the law requires full proof, for example if the question concerns prejudice to another marriage, or receiving orders. But marriage confirmed by oath, as above, is to be inscribed not indeed in the common book of marriages, but in a distinct booklet destined for this purpose. S. C. of Sacraments, March 6, 1911.

767. • I. It is certain that for the validity of matrimony the presence of the Pastor or his delegate is required wherever the Decree of the Council of Trent concerning clandestine marriages has been promulgated. - See what is to be said concerning the impediment of clandestinity, no. 836.

II. Even if this Tridentine Decree was not promulgated somewhere, nevertheless it is certain: first, that the Church always wished a Priest deputed for this to assist at the marriages of the faithful; second, that the Pastor cannot omit his assistance at the nuptials of the faithful and is bound to impart the blessing according to the rite received in the proper place; third, that the faithful who enter matrimony clandestinely sin gravely. This is proved from the Council of Trent, session 24, On the Reformation of Matrimony, chapter 1, etc.

768. • III. Today, whatever some previously said according to an obsolete opinion, it is also certain that the ministers of matrimony are the contracting parties themselves. The reasons upon which this doctrine rests are: first, because Eugene IV, wishing to hand down sound doctrine concerning the Sacraments in the Decree to the Armenians, established thus: The efficient cause of matrimony regularly is mutual consent expressed by words concerning the present. Nor must it be doubted that those words, the efficient cause of matrimony, regard Matrimony as a Sacrament, since the seven Sacraments are explained expressly in that Decree. Second, because the Council of Trent, session 24, On Reformation, chapter 1, declares that clandestine marriages were true and ratified, by which words Theologians and Canonists then expressed Sacraments in the strict sense. Third, because from the recent Declaration of Pius IX, to be reported at nos. 792 and 793, it is established that matrimony can never exist among the faithful without the Sacrament. Hence thus: clandestine marriages, according to the Council of Trent, are valid in places where the Decree by which they are invalidated was not promulgated; but otherwise they cannot be valid without the Sacrament; therefore the Sacrament of Matrimony is given even if it is not conferred by a Priest; therefore the Priest is not the minister of the Sacrament. - See St. Ligorius, no. 897.

769. Questions. - QUESTION 1. Can the Pastor assist at the matrimony of those who are public sinners?

Reply 1. St. Ligorius, book 6, no. 54, with others, denies it. The reason is: first, because by natural law no one without a grave and proportionate cause can cooperate in the sin of another, even materially, although the other has already consummated the sin internally; second, because the publicly unworthy are not to be admitted to the Sacraments.

Others, however, affirm more correctly, although the Pastor ought to endeavor that they contract worthily. The reason is that the Pastor is not the minister of the Sacrament, nor does he confer it, but only assists as a witness or public notary, whose office is not to examine the merits of the contracting parties, but to make faith and testify to the things which he sees. - Lugo, On the Sacraments, disputation 8, no. 216 and following. - Thus commonly, as St. Ligorius himself acknowledges, no. 54.

Reply 2. Even according to the first opinion, he can sometimes assist at such a matrimony, namely, where a very grave reason urges which is in some way proportionate to the evil permitted in the profanation of the Sacrament, etc.; for example, if the Pastor were compelled by fear of death or of an almost equal evil ¹, or if grave evils threatened the community, or if the spouses were already united civilly, as commonly happens in France, when civil matrimony must precede ecclesiastical matrimony. For a greater evil and greater scandal would follow from fornicatory cohabitation. - St. Ligorius, Bouvier, etc. - The difficulty would be less if one of the spouses were innocent or changed to a better life, because the Pastor could then assist at the matrimony in favor of the innocent party. Indeed, no difficulty would remain if the spouses were living in concubinage, for then both the scandal and the occasion of sin would be removed through the matrimony.

¹ The Authors of this opinion appear to require too much. For the obligation which could be conceived of preventing the sin of the contracting parties, since it is an obligation of charity, does not require so grave an inconvenience for someone to be excused from it. Lugo well observes (On the Sacraments, disputation 8, no. 219) that the cooperation is very material and inculpable for a Pastor who cannot deny his assistance, which he owes as a public minister; just as neither a public notary nor a judge can deny the authority of his office to any legitimate contract, although the contracting parties sin in the contract itself from a depraved intention; and just as a wife does not sin by rendering the conjugal debt to a husband seeking it contrary to the vow of chastity which he has, so neither does the Pastor sin by assisting, because he renders that which he owes from his office and which he cannot deny without grave inconvenience.

And these things are most validly confirmed from what the Doctors hand down where they ask: whether the spouse himself, insofar as minister of the Sacrament, sins mortally by contracting matrimony with a sinner. For, as the same Lugo says (ibid., no. 226): No one has yet cast such a scruple upon Catholic persons, that they cannot freely contract matrimony with sinners, nor does any Theologian oblige a woman to repel a suitor and deny matrimonial consent so long as he is in the state of sin; but each is bound to place himself in grace and leaves the other party to that party's own conscience, as is evident from the use of all the faithful. See other proofs in the same de Lugo (ibid., nos. 227-229), who nevertheless observes (ibid., no. 219) that if the Pastor could easily admonish the petitioner and remove him from that unworthy reception of the Sacrament, he ought indeed to do so by the law of charity; but he cannot withdraw the assistance owed from one who persists and wishes to contract matrimony.

The VV. observe (page 947 in the Notes) that St. Alphonsus does not acknowledge the affirmative opinion to be common, as is attributed to him in the text of Gury. For the Holy Doctor said this of those who were unworthy by reason of an occult sin or censure. Reply. This is true; nevertheless, it will not prevent that opinion from being called more common with Croix (book 6, part 1, no. 147), and from being admitted in practice not only because of the authority of the Doctors but also because the reasons brought forward in St. Alphonsus against it plainly do not establish the matter.

770. • QUESTION 2. Can the nuptial blessing be separated from the celebration of Mass?

Reply. It must be denied. For the Sacred Congregation of Rites was asked: Whether it is licit to retain the custom prevailing in several places of celebrating matrimony in the afternoon and at the same time thus giving the nuptial blessing outside Mass, even in a prohibited time with permission of the Ordinary, since there is scarcely any hope of compelling the faithful either to change the time of the celebration of matrimony or to supply the blessing? The reply was: Let the Roman Ritual be observed (September 7, 1850, in Rupellen., reply 6). Moreover, according to the Roman Ritual, the conjugal blessing cannot take place except during the celebration of Mass. This is confirmed by another Decision of the Sacred Congregation of Rites on June 23, 1853, in Limburg. Nevertheless, the Priest is not bound to apply the Mass for the spouses unless he receives an alms from them. Sacred Congregation of the Inquisition, September 1, 1841. But the Mass assigned for nuptials is to be said even if it is not applied for the spouses.

Moreover, the nuptial Mass is to be said on all days except Sundays, feasts of precept, Doubles of the first or second class, and the Vigil of Pentecost, but without the Gloria and Credo. On the days, however, on which the Mass For the Bridegroom and Bride cannot be said, a Commemoration from that Mass is to be added. - Sacred Congregation of Rites, March 3, 1818, and April 20, 1822.

But when nuptials are celebrated in the season of Advent or Lent, no commemoration for the spouses is to be made in the Mass through the Collect, Secret, and Postcommunion; nor is it licit to recite the Prayers placed in the Missal after the Lord's Prayer and Ite, Missa est; nor are the same Prayers to be recited outside Mass after the prohibited time has elapsed. - Sacred Congregation of Rites, August 31, 1839.

Furthermore, if the woman is a widow, not only must the nuptial blessing be omitted but also the proper Mass for the bridegroom and bride. - Sacred Congregation of Rites, March 3, 1761.

Finally, the custom of extending a white veil over the spouses is prohibited and reproved. - Sacred Congregation of Rites, September 7, 1850, in Rupellen.

771. • QUESTION 3. What must the Pastor do if the spouses are already in the Church to contract matrimony and he discovers from their confession that an impediment is present?

Reply 1. If the nuptials cannot be deferred without danger of infamy or other most grave inconveniences, and the penitent is in invincible ignorance of the impediment, the admonition must be omitted and the celebration of the matrimony permitted until a dispensation is obtained. - St. Ligorius, no. 613. Reply 2. If the penitent is in vincible ignorance, or if he openly knows the impediment, and the matrimony cannot be deferred without infamy or scandal, not even for obtaining a dispensation from the Bishop, then the difficulty is very great. According to St. Ligorius, ibid., and others, the Confessor or Pastor could declare that the law of the Church concerning impediments does not bind in such great straits and proceed to the celebration of the matrimony. Nevertheless, as soon as possible, at least as a precaution, he ought to seek a dispensation. According to others, a simulation of the matrimonial contract could be permitted, with the purpose of seeking a dispensation from the impediment as soon as possible. But the impediment cannot, they say, cease naturally; for an invalidating law never ceases because of a particular inconvenience, whatever it may be. Whenever the Bishop can be approached, however, he must be approached, because according to the common opinion he can dispense from ecclesiastical impediments in that case. - St. Ligorius, no. 613.

Every difficulty would cease in practice if the Bishop obtained from the Holy See the faculty of delegating Priests laboring in the care of souls, so that they might be able to dispense in extraordinary and urgent cases of this kind.

772. Principles. - I. The subject of the Sacrament of Matrimony is every baptized person laboring under no impediment, whether natural, divine, or canonical.

I said, first, every baptized person, for unbaptized persons are not capable of the Sacraments of the Church, as is evident. I said, second, laboring under no impediment, for although of himself every baptized person is a subject capable of the Sacrament of Matrimony, nevertheless, per accidens, many are prevented from contracting matrimony validly because of various impediments of natural, divine, or ecclesiastical law, as will be said below in its proper place, no. 794.

Hence, first, the matrimony of infidels, although it can be valid under the nature of a contract, nevertheless is not a Sacrament. Indeed, a faithful person contracting matrimony with an infidel, even with a dispensation of the Pope, according to the common opinion against a few ¹, will not receive the Sacrament. For the sign of the union of Christ with the Church, which confers sacramental grace, consists neither in the union of the man nor in the union of the woman, but in the union of both.

¹ Let the studious reader choose the opinion more pleasing to him, since eminent Theologians and Doctors fight for each. Thus Clericatus (On Matrimony, decision 4, no. 25). For the affirmative opinion, that it becomes a Sacrament for the faithful party, among others are Andrew Vega, a Tridentine theologian, and Ferraris, who (Canonical Library, word Matrimony, article 1, no. 19) diligently defends it and cites others for it. But the reason added by the Author for the negative opinion is of little weight, both because the essence of a Sacrament is that it signify the grace which it confers, and because from the most frequent doctrine of the Fathers the signification of the union of Christ with the Church was found even in matrimony before the evangelical law. But these things contribute little to practice.

Second, heretics and schismatics who, in entering matrimony, accurately and completely observe the laws ² of the Church contract validly and are fortified by the Sacrament, since there is nothing which can obstruct the validity of this Sacrament. The practice of the Church itself confirms this, for she in no way compels them either to renew consent or to receive the nuptial blessing if, returning to their senses, they return to the unity of the Catholic Church. - Thus all.

² Understand the laws which pertain to the substance of the matter, among which is not the nuptial blessing which the Author soon mentions.

773. • II. Spouses contracting matrimony ought to be in the state of grace, because matrimony is a Sacrament of the living. Those who contract while defiled by mortal sin become guilty of sacrilege and do not receive the sacramental graces necessary to spouses. Probably, however, those graces are only suspended and, when the obstacle or mortal sin is removed, are applied to the soul, as we said when treating the Sacraments in general, no. 232. For practice, if no fruit is hoped from an admonition, it will almost be better not to admonish the unworthy person concerning the sacrilege of approaching unworthily, so that at least in this way he may sin less; and he should rather be induced at least to approach confession as soon as possible.

774. Questions. - QUESTION 1. Ought the Pastor to require that confession precede matrimony, or that a certificate of confession be exhibited by the spouses?

Reply 1. He cannot require this absolutely of himself unless a law or precept of the Bishop establishes it. The reason is that although the state of grace is required for receiving this Sacrament, confession is nevertheless not necessarily required, since contrition can absolutely suffice even for those who are in the state of mortal sin. Moreover, it is generally not known to the Pastor that the spouses are not in the state of grace.

Reply 2. Where a particular law exists, as in many places, the Pastor must require confession or at least testimony of it. Nevertheless, cases can sometimes occur in which this law appears to admit an exception, as if the matrimony has already been contracted civilly and one party exhibits the required testimony of confession, etc. Moreover, if the spouse is not a public sinner and his unworthiness is not established, even less grave reasons can suffice. But for circumstances of this kind, it is more advisable that the Pastor learn from the Bishop himself how he ought generally to conduct himself.

775. • QUESTION 2. Is it licit to enter matrimony with a public sinner?

Reply. Yes, if the person cannot withdraw from the matrimony without inconvenience. - Thus more commonly. For although the contracting parties confect the Sacrament, they nevertheless are not ministers deputed to this.

For the same reason, a Catholic woman who has grave reasons, for example, because of the circumstances of families or other motives of great weight, for entering matrimony with a heretic does not sin by contracting it, although she in some way supplies matter of sin to the other; but a dispensation must first be sought, as will be said below.

See many other things concerning the subject of matrimony in the following chapter, where the impediments of matrimony are treated.

877. No one can validly receive the sacrament of Matrimony unless he is baptized,² as was said above. Besides, it is altogether becoming that those about to marry be confirmed,¹ as those who need divine strength for professing their faith in the new state of life which they have chosen; indeed, by usage or particular law, in certain dioceses this is required for the licit reception of Matrimony: there the betrothed must prove that they have not only been baptized, but also confirmed.

² Code, c. 1021, § 1.

¹ Code, c. 1021, § 2.

When these things have been briefly set forth, it remains to speak concerning the dispositions of those about to marry.

They are chiefly four: 1° right intention; 2° prudence in selecting a spouse; 3° the state of grace; 4° competent knowledge; but since it was said above concerning this last disposition (n. 853), we shall note a few things concerning the three former ones.

878. 1° Right intention. (A) The betrothed ought in contracting to set before themselves that intention which God Himself had in instituting marriage.

Now the primary end is the procreation and education of offspring; but the secondary ends are the consolation and help of common life, and also the moderation of concupiscence, as we showed above, n. 679-682: therefore the betrothed can intend these ends, even principally, provided that the primary end is not excluded. Besides, there are other extrinsic ends, such as concord to be conciliated between families, the honor of the family to be preserved, the acquisition of riches, etc.; these it is licit to seek, provided they are honorable in themselves, and the primary end is not excluded: but if the end is not honorable, as disordered pleasure or immoderate desire of riches, there is a sin more or less grave according to the gravity of the disorder.

879. 2° Prudence in selecting a spouse. Since marriage is indissoluble, an error committed in this matter can scarcely be repaired, and often becomes a perpetual cause of quarrels, domestic unhappiness, and prepares the way for adulteries and divorce. Wherefore: -

(A) In order to proceed cautiously, (a) the one about to marry will pray frequently and fervently, that he may obtain from God a most faithful spouse: "House and riches are given by parents; but a prudent wife is properly from the Lord."² (b) He will carefully weigh the character, qualities, and defects of the one whom he intends to marry; for, if the qualities and defects of things to be bought are attentively inspected, how much more must the qualities and defects of a betrothed person be weighed, since temporal happiness and in some way eternal happiness often depend on this choice; for a wife is a perpetual consolation or a perennial torment; by persuasion and example she can lead the man to the practice of virtue and religion, or on the contrary to sin or infidelity: "Blessed is the husband of a good woman; for the number of his years is double. A strong woman delights her husband, and will fill the years of his life in peace¹... Every wound is sadness of heart, and every wickedness is the wickedness of a woman²... It will be more pleasing to dwell with a lion and a dragon, than to dwell with a wicked woman"³... Now to detect vices and virtues is not the work of one day, but requires long and attentive consideration. (c) Besides, since it is difficult for younger persons, especially those taken by love, to form a right judgment concerning the qualities of the other betrothed person, let them seek the counsels of parents and friends, who are not so easily deceived concerning the qualities or defects of the other party.

² Prov., XIX, 14.

¹ Ecclesiasticus, XXVI, 1-2.

² Ecclesiasticus, XXV, 17.

³ Ecclesiasticus, XXV, 23.

880. (B) In selecting a spouse, (a) exterior qualities are not to be regarded exclusively or chiefly: beauty, vain adornment, riches, dignities, or anything of this kind; but rather intellectual, moral, and religious qualities, which can contribute more to the mutual happiness of the betrothed than vain beauty and other fleeting gifts. - Yet health of body is not to be omitted, since for conjugal life a sound mind in a sound body is required; hence those rather are to be kept from marriage who cannot discharge the function and duty of father or mother, at least until they become sufficiently robust.

(b) Attention must also be paid to stock, or progeny and the family of the consort: for offspring not rarely obtain by inheritance the vices or qualities of parents, in the order not only physical, but also moral.

(c) A certain equality, or at least proportion, between the betrothed is desirable: by reason of age;⁴ the man can be older than the woman (by about five or ten years), but not the reverse, since a woman grows old more quickly than a man. But it is not becoming that a young girl marry an old man: for soon she will hold him as hateful, and perhaps will foster adulterous loves. - By reason of education, insofar as a certain parity is necessary for a true companionship of minds. - By reason of condition; for if a noble man takes a common woman, soon both he himself, and especially his family, will despise her as rustic; if a poor man marries a rich woman, he himself shortly will be contemned both by the wife and by her family. - By reason of character, not indeed in the sense that both ought to be endowed with the same virtues or defects, but insofar as one ought to complete and perfect the other; for example, if one is prone to anger, it is expedient that the other be mild, lest perhaps they quarrel perpetually.

⁴ Concerning the age at which it is becoming for young persons to marry, nothing absolute can be said; generally it is expedient to enter marriage between the twentieth and thirtieth year, and it is not fitting to defer longer except for special reasons. Cf. H. Joly, La Crise du Mariage, ap. Le Correspondant, January 10, 1902, p. 108-138; Turgeon, Le Féminisme, t. II, p. 67-80.

(d) Finally both ought to be joined by mutual love, not indeed by a mad and lustful love, but by an honorable and supernatural one, by which each seeks not so much his or her own pleasure as the happiness of the other. Hence marriages entered on account of riches or honors, without mutual love, or with voluptuous love founded only on exterior qualities, for the most part obtain unhappy outcomes.

881. 3° The state of grace. For marriage is a sacrament of the living, so that one approaching it knowingly and willingly in the state of mortal sin becomes guilty of sacrilege. Indeed it is not prescribed by divine law or by general ecclesiastical law that those about to marry confess before marriage; strictly speaking it suffices that, if they are guilty of grave sin, they elicit an act of perfect contrition. But Trent¹ "exhorts spouses that, before they contract, or at least three days before the consummation of marriage, they diligently confess their sins, and piously approach the sacrament of the Most Holy Eucharist." Indeed, since they are about to enter a new state of life, it is becoming that they make a general confession, so that they may receive richer graces, and begin conjugal life more fervently.

¹ Sess. XXIV, de Reformat. Matrim., cap. I.

In certain dioceses confession before the nuptials is prescribed, and therefore the nuptial blessing regularly cannot be granted unless a certificate of confession has been shown. It is said regularly; for strictly it is not to be exacted when grave inconvenience is seriously feared, for example lest the betrothed, who have already contracted civil marriage, live in concubinage. Moreover diocesan Statutes cannot prescribe confession by way of an impediment.².. "Let not the pastor omit, according to the different condition of persons, to teach the betrothed the sanctity of the Sacrament of Matrimony, the mutual obligations of spouses and the obligations of parents toward offspring; and let him vehemently exhort them that before the celebration of marriage they diligently confess their sins, and piously receive the Most Holy Eucharist."³

² Card. Gasparri, De Matrimonio, n. 230.

³ Code, c. 1033.

882. Corollary. From this it is permissible to infer what is to be done with the unworthy and those bound by censure who wish to marry.

(A) A betrothed man or woman entering marriage with a consort whom he or she certainly knows to be in the state of mortal sin, much more probably does not sin, provided the nuptials cannot be abandoned without grave inconvenience, which will scarcely ever be lacking; for he or she is indeed the minister of the sacrament, but not by force of a certain consecration, and his or her cooperation in the sin of the other is only material; besides, a sufficient reason is supposed to be present; therefore the cooperation in the case is licit.

(B) The pastor can, and when asked generally ought, to assist at the marriage of those who are occultly guilty of sin or bound by censure: for here he is not the minister of the sacrament, but only an authorized witness, and therefore his cooperation is not so immediate; besides, the sacraments cannot be denied to occult sinners publicly asking. "If a public sinner or one notoriously bound by censure shall first have refused to approach sacramental confession or to be reconciled with the Church, let the pastor not assist at his marriage, unless a grave cause urges, concerning which, if it can be done, he should consult the Ordinary."¹ But as regards the marriage of a Catholic party with a party who has cast off the faith without having enrolled himself or herself in a false religion, or has enrolled in Societies condemned by the Church, recourse is to be had to the Bishop.²

¹ Code, c. 1066.

² Code, c. 1065.

Section II. - On the Celebration of Matrimony³

³ Rit. Rom., De Sacram. Matrimonii; Missale Rom., Mass for bridegroom and bride; De Herdt, t. III, 271-283; O'Kane, Notes on the Rubrics, ed. 5, 1088-1114; Gasparri, n. 1001-1054.

883. Marriage indeed essentially consists in consent: but this regularly must be expressed in the manner, time, and place prescribed by the Church; hence we shall speak both of the rite and of the time and place of celebration; here, however, there is question only of marriages between Catholics, since below it will be set forth what is to be done in mixed marriages.

I. On the Rite of Celebrating Matrimony

This rite consists of a twofold part: 1° the celebration itself, described in the Ritual; 2° the nuptial blessing, which is found in the Missal.

1° On the Celebration of Matrimony

884. (A) The pastor, or another priest delegated by him, is vested in surplice and white stole, - or, if he is immediately about to celebrate, in alb, stole, and chasuble of the color corresponding to the Mass, but not in maniple, which he receives immediately before the Mass. - Let at least one minister be employed, vested in surplice, who carries the book and the vessel of blessed water with the sprinkler.¹

¹ The use of spreading a white veil over the betrothed, which prevailed in some dioceses, was reproved by the S. Congregation of Rites, September 7, 1840, ap. Gasparri, n. 1010.

(B) Marriage is customarily celebrated before the high altar, or, if this is impeded, before another altar. The bridegroom stands at the right of the bride; the witnesses stand nearby either beside or behind the betrothed, so that they can see and hear; after them, parents and relatives, by whose presence it is becoming that the nuptials be honored.

(C) Constrained neither by force nor by grave fear² (which condition also is required for validity), the priest before the altar asks for and receives the consent of the contracting parties. - Let the betrothed clearly express their consent in such a way that the pastor and witnesses cannot doubt concerning it.

² Code, c. 1095, § 1, n. 3.

885. (D) When the mutual consent of the contracting parties has been given and accepted, let the priest order them to join right hands with one another, saying: "I join you in matrimony. In the name of the Father +, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen." Afterwards let him sprinkle them with blessed water, saying nothing.

Yet the Ritual continues: "Or let him use other words according to the received rite of each province"; from which it follows that legitimate customs prevailing in this matter can be observed.³

³ Thus in the United States of America, the betrothed, while they join right hands, give faith to one another with these words: "I, N., take thee N. for my lawful wife (husband), to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, till death do us part." (Excerpta, ed. 8, p. 207.) A similar formula is employed in Hibernia and England, as O'Kane, n. 1107, attests.

(E) Afterwards the ring will be blessed, even in second nuptials, with the prayers described in the Ritual, and it is sprinkled with blessed water in the manner of a cross. The bridegroom, having received the ring from the hand of the priest, places it on the ring finger of the left hand of the bride, in sign of mutual fidelity and love.⁴ - If the ring is broken or lost, a new one can be blessed by the same formula, at any time. - After the handing over of the ring, the priest reads certain prayers over the betrothed.

⁴ In certain regions two rings are blessed, one for the bridegroom, the other for the bride. Others are blessed together with the ring: coins; which is laudable; others a ring (pièce de monnaie, coin): which is less laudable.

When several are joined in marriage at the same time, after first having received the consent of each one, the priest, having said the formula for each: "I join you..." there is nothing to prevent the blessings of the rings and the remaining blessings from being made in common by words in the plural number.¹

¹ Thus S. Office, September 1, 1841, ap. Acta S. Sedis, XXVI, p. 635.

886. Ceremonies (and indeed customs from c. 1100) oblige in conscience; the omission of all, without cause, would be a grave sin; the omission of one would be only a venial sin. Yet some think with St. Alphonsus (n. 899) that the words "I join..." or similar ones cannot be omitted without mortal sin.

2° On the Nuptial Blessing

887. (A) When the ceremonies described above have been completed, a votive Mass for bridegroom and bride is celebrated as often as this is permitted; and the nuptial blessing is given:² namely, after the Pater noster has been said, the priest, standing at the Epistle corner turned toward the betrothed kneeling before the altar, says over them two prayers which are found in the Missal; then, after Benedicamus Domino or Ite Missa est has been said, before he blesses the people, having turned toward the betrothed, he recites over them the prayer Deus Abraham; finally he admonishes them with a grave sermon that they preserve fidelity to one another, and sprinkles them with blessed water.

² Sometimes the ceremonies of the Ritual are also called the nuptial blessing; but properly this name is reserved for the prayers contained in the Missal.

(B) But this blessing cannot be given outside Mass, notwithstanding contrary custom. For thus the Ritual prescribes and the S. Congregation of Rites decreed³, by mandate of Pius IX, and the Code again sanctioned.⁴ Moreover a votive Mass for the betrothed can be celebrated in closed time when, by permission of the Ordinary, the nuptial blessing is given, with only Sundays and feasts of precept excepted, feasts of the first and second class, privileged Octaves of the first and second order, privileged Ferias, and the Vigils of the Nativity of the Lord.⁵

³ The S. Congregation, on September 1, 1838, had permitted this blessing to be given outside Mass; but, on June 23, 1853, it revoked this decree, and mandated that the blessing be imparted only in Mass. Cf. Decreta authentica S. C. Rit., nn. 3016 (formerly 5190), 3079 (5275), 3380 (5640).

⁴ Code, c. 1101, § 1. The nuptial blessing: a) can be given to spouses even after they have long lived in marriage; b) can be given only by a priest or by the delegate of a priest who can validly and licitly assist at the marriage (Code, c. 1101).

⁵ S. C. Rit., June 14, 1918. Cf. Code, c. 1108.

And when Ordinaries, by license of can. 1108, permit the nuptial blessing on the Nativity of the Lord and the Sunday of the Resurrection, to the Prayer of the Mass of the respective Feast there is added, under a single conclusion, the commemoration for the betrothed, as on the Feasts of Epiphany, Pentecost, the Most Holy Trinity, and Corpus Christi.¹,

¹ S. C. Rit., June 14, 1918.

From the decree of the Holy Office of September 1, 1841, the priest is not held to apply the Mass for the betrothed, unless he receives an alms from them; in the same Mass the priest can bless several betrothed couples;² the celebrating priest, but not another, must sprinkle with blessed water the betrothed kneeling before the altar; it is not licit to bless the betrothed in a Mass of the dead, but rather the blessing is to be transferred to another day.³

² In this case, according to De Herdt, n. 282, the prayers are not to be said in the plural, but as they are placed in the Missal.

³ S. Office, September 1, 1841, ap. Acta S. Sedis, XXVI, p. 635.

888. (C) According to the common opinion, a Mass with the nuptial blessing is of precept, not of mere counsel, unless a reasonable cause excuses. Yet more probably it does not oblige under mortal sin, as St. Alphonsus rightly teaches (n. 988). - The blessing is to be granted as often as the bride has not received it, whether she is a virgin, or a widow, or deflowered, even if the bridegroom is a widower and previously received the blessing; but not if the bride is a widow and has already once received the blessing. The reason is that the blessing, as it lies in the Missal, is properly uttered over the woman, and therefore it must be recited as often as the bride has not been blessed. - When the blessing is not given, the Mass for bridegroom and bride must be omitted.

According to the rubrics of the Missal, the priest, "after he has consumed the Blood, communicates the betrothed"; therefore this communion must be made within the Mass, and, according to the mind of the rubric, by way of sacrifice, insofar namely as two small hosts must be consecrated in this Mass for the bridegroom and bride. This indeed is altogether becoming, but does not strictly oblige; for the solemn blessing can be given even when the betrothed do not communicate; but Pastors ought to exhort those about to marry that they communicate in the nuptial Mass.

(D) The votive Mass for the betrothed, as we have already said, is permitted on any days, except Sundays, and also feasts of the first and second class, privileged Octaves of the first and second order, privileged Ferias, and the Vigils of the Nativity of the Lord, Epiphany, and Pentecost.⁴ - It must be said as a private votive Mass.

⁴ Il Monitore eccles., XXX, 235; Cong. of Rites, June 14, 1918.

On days on which the Mass for bridegroom and bride is prohibited, the Mass of the day must be said with commemoration of the nuptial Mass.

II. On the Time and Place of Celebration¹

¹ Thus S. Rit. Cong., March 21, 1874, ap. Acta S. Sedis, XII, p. 474.

889. 1° On the time. From the Code, marriage can be contracted validly and licitly at any time;² but the solemnities of nuptials are prohibited in the closed, or forbidden, time, that is, from the first Sunday of Advent to the day of the Nativity inclusively; and from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday inclusively; in each case the closed time begins from midnight. - Yet local Ordinaries can, with liturgical laws preserved, permit the nuptial blessing even in the aforesaid times for a just cause, after admonishing the betrothed that they abstain from excessive pomp.³

² Code, c. 1108. Therefore the custom by which, in our region, the matrimonial contract itself is prohibited "in closed time" is contrary to common law.

³ Code, c. 1108, § 2 and 3.

The reason for this prohibition is that the aforesaid times are devoted to prayer and penance or spiritual gladness, from which nuptial solemnities distract minds.

890. 2° On the place. "Marriage between Catholics is to be celebrated in the parochial church; but in another church or oratory, whether public or semi-public, it can be celebrated only by license of the local Ordinary or pastor. The Ordinaries of places can permit marriage to be celebrated in private houses only in some extraordinary case, and with a just and reasonable cause always acceding; but in churches or oratories, whether of a Seminary or of religious women, Ordinaries are not to permit it, unless necessity urges, and opportune cautions have been employed. But marriages between a Catholic party and a non-Catholic party are to be celebrated outside the church; but if the Ordinary prudently judges that this cannot be observed without graver evils arising, it is committed to his prudent judgment to dispense on this matter (the celebration of Mass always excluded)."⁴

⁴ Code, c. 1109.

"When the marriage has been celebrated, the pastor or he who takes his place shall as soon as possible describe in the book of marriages the names of the spouses and witnesses, the place and day of the marriage celebrated, and other things according to the manner prescribed in the ritual books and by the proper Ordinary; and this even if another priest, delegated either by himself or by the Ordinary, assisted at the marriage. Besides, the pastor shall note also in the book of the baptized that the spouse contracted marriage on such a day in his parish. But if the spouse was baptized elsewhere, the pastor of the marriage shall transmit notice of the contract entered to the pastor of baptism, either by himself or through the episcopal Curia, so that the marriage may be entered in the book of the baptized."⁵

⁵ Code, c. 1103.

Chapter III

657. 1. The subject capable of the valid sacrament of matrimony is every baptized person who does not labor under a diriment impediment.

Even heretics, provided that they are validly baptized and are not bound by any diriment impediment, validly receive the sacrament of matrimony. This holds even if the heretics do not know or do not believe that matrimony is a sacrament. For it suffices that they will to enter a true matrimonial contract, without placing any express condition against the essence of matrimony. A condition of this kind would be, for example, the lawfulness of divorce expressly stipulated. Then certainly the matrimony would be illicit and invalid. Above, in n. 649, it was proved that the sacrament of matrimony is not received by those about to marry of whom both or either one is not baptized. But all non-baptized infidels can enter a valid matrimonial contract (legitimate matrimony), provided that they are not bound by diriment impediments of natural law, positive divine law, or civil law.²⁰⁴

²⁰⁴ Cf. above, n. 650.

658. 2. For the worthy and fruitful reception of this great sacrament of matrimony, it is further required that a) those about to marry be free from every impeding impediment, and b) that they be in the state of sanctifying grace.

The reason is that a) even impeding impediments induce a grave obligation in conscience, and because b) the sacrament of matrimony is a sacrament of the living. If anyone receives the sacrament of matrimony in the state of mortal sin, he sins gravely and does not receive the sacramental graces proper to matrimony. More probably, however, these sacramental graces afterward revive when the obstacle of the state of mortal sin has been removed.²⁰⁵

By common law it is not strictly commanded that those about to marry receive the sacraments of penance and the Eucharist before matrimony.²⁰⁶ Nevertheless, the Council of Trent,²⁰⁷ the Roman Ritual,²⁰⁸ and the Code of Canon Law²⁰⁹ vehemently admonish the betrothed that, before they contract, they diligently confess their sins and devoutly approach the Most Holy Eucharist. By diocesan law or universal custom, the prior reception of penance and the Eucharist is not rarely altogether required of the betrothed. Hence the pastor in those places can require testimony that confession has been completed. Since, however, today throughout the whole world mixed marriages are invalid unless they are contracted before the pastor, hence, if perhaps some Catholic refuses confession, the pastor should first (if he can fittingly) consult the bishop concerning what must be done. But if this consultation is impossible, it is almost always better that the pastor assist at the matrimony of this perverse man in order to avoid the greater evil of concubinage. Worthy of note in this matter is the Instruction of the Holy Office given on July 3, 1878, to the Ordinaries of Brazil: "It can in no way be tolerated ... that marriages which are contracted by Freemasons be celebrated with all the solemnity of the Catholic rite. But when the pastor can in no way impede a matrimony of this kind, the matter is to be referred to the Ordinary, who ... will be able to permit the pastor to be passively present at the matrimony, that is, without a blessing or any other ecclesiastical rite, as an authorized witness, provided that the Catholic education of all the offspring is altogether safeguarded."²¹⁰

To the question whether it is lawful to enter matrimony with a public or occult sinner, it appears that the response must be that this is not lawful except for most grave reasons, since from a matrimony of this kind the greatest harms are accustomed to arise both for the Catholic party and the offspring to be born, and for Christian society. How the pastor can assist at such a matrimony will be stated below, n. 789.

²⁰⁵ Cf. above, n. 42.

²⁰⁶ Cf. De Smet, loc. cit., n. 192.

²⁰⁷ Sess. 24, c. 1, De reformatione matrimonii.

²⁰⁸ Tit. 7, c. 1, n. 14.

²⁰⁹ C. 1033.

²¹⁰ Collect. de Prop. Fide, n. 1495; cf. also Holy Office, January 11, 1899. The bishop can indeed permit this passive assistance, but can also refuse it for just causes; cf. Holy Office, January 30, 1867; he must refuse it in illicit mixed marriages.

1555. - I. It is certain that for the value of Matrimony the presence of the Pastor or delegate is required wherever the Decree of the Council of Trent concerning clandestine Marriages has been duly published.

II. Even if somewhere this decree of Trent has not been promulgated, nevertheless it is certain: 1° that the Church has always willed that the priest deputed for this assist at the Marriages of the faithful; 2° that the Pastor cannot omit his assistance at the nuptials of the faithful, and that he is obliged to impart the blessing according to the rite received in the proper place; 3° that the faithful who enter Matrimony clandestinely sin gravely. This is evinced from Trent.¹

III. Today, whatever some previously said according to an obsolete opinion, it is certain also, and, according to the Annotator of Gury,² proximate to Faith, that the contracting parties themselves are the ministers of Matrimony. See the arguments, if you like, in the cited Annotator.³

1556. Questions. - Quaer. 1° Can the Pastor assist at the Matrimony of those who are public sinners?

Resp. See n. 1231. q. 4°. For those things which are there said concerning those who have notoriously fallen into censures are valid concerning public sinners of whatever kind. - But the affirmative exception, if grave damages seem to threaten from this, appended by the Sacred Penitentiary, according to the doctrine of St. Alphonsus, confirms the general rule of denying assistance.⁴

The difficulty would be less if one of the spouses were innocent, or changed into a better life; for then it would be licit for the Pastor to assist at the Matrimony in favor of the innocent party. - Cf. the things said n. 1544.

Quaer. 2° What must be observed concerning the nuptial blessing?

Note beforehand. The nuptial blessing, which is conferred only in Mass, is to be distinguished from the blessing of the ring, and from the other rites which are expressed in the Ritual. With this noted beforehand:

Resp. 1° In contracting Matrimony the rites described in the Ritual always have place. See Excerpta ex Rit. Rom. Baltim. 1872. p. 204-212; Ed. 1874, p. 196-204.

Resp. 2° "Vehemently," say the Fathers of the Second Plenary Council of Baltimore,¹ "we exhort pastors that they introduce everywhere the practice of blessing Marriages within Mass."

Resp. 3° When and to whom the blessing, which is conferred only in Mass, can be given; likewise when, in what manner, and for whom this Mass can be celebrated outside the closed time,² see the same Excerpta, Ed. 1872. p. 212-214; Ed. 1874. p. 204-206.

Add to these: 1) Provided there is question of first nuptials, the nuptial blessing can be given in Mass, although the woman is pregnant, or has begotten children, whether from a legitimate Matrimony contracted without such blessing, or has conceived from fornication itself, or even has begotten children, and at present Matrimony is contracted. This is clear from the resolution of the Sacred Congregation de Propaganda Fide, June 5, 1841. (37) p. 424.

2) The use of a white veil to be spread over the bride is prohibited and reproved. S. R. C. September 7, 1850 in Rupell.

Quaer. 3° What must be done by the Pastor if all things are already prepared for the nuptials and from the Confession of the spouses he detects that an occult impediment is present?

Resp. 1° If there is question of an impediment in which the Holy See is accustomed to dispense, and the nuptials cannot be deferred without danger of infamy or other most grave inconveniences, and the penitent is in invincible ignorance of the impediment, the admonition is to be omitted, and the celebration of Matrimony is to be permitted until dispensation or sanation in the root is obtained.³

Resp. 2° If the penitent is in vincible ignorance, or if he clearly knows the impediment, and the Matrimony cannot be deferred, not even for obtaining dispensation from the Bishop, without infamy or scandal, then the difficulty is very great. - According to the opinion which St. Alphonsus¹ calls not unfounded, the confessor, or Pastor, could declare that the law of the Church concerning impediments does not oblige in such great straits, and proceed to the celebration of Matrimony. Nevertheless as soon as possible, at least for caution, dispensation ought to be sought. - According to others, and, as it seems, also according to St. Alphonsus,² simulation of the contract of Matrimony could be permitted with the intention of seeking dispensation from the impediment as soon as possible. But then no small difficulty will arise by reason of the danger of incontinence, unless perhaps dispensation can be had opportunely on the same day. But as often as the Bishop can be approached, he must be approached, because, according to the common opinion, in that case he can dispense from ecclesiastical impediments.³ - Others have devised besides other ways, which see, if you like, in Feije.⁴

Every difficulty would cease in practice if the Bishop were to delegate to all priests laboring for the care of souls the faculty which he has for a case of this kind, and which, as ordinary or delegated by law (n. 154. 2°), according to the probable and common opinion,⁵ he can communicate generally.

Notes near nn. 1555-1556, minister of Matrimony and nuptial blessing (printed pp. 241-242).

1 Sess. 24. de Ref. Matr. c. 1. | 2 Ed. Rom. 1873. T. II. p. 644 (E). | 3 Ib. and N. Rev. Th. T. 12. p. 307. (2). | 4 Vind. Ed. 2a. T. II. p. 607.

1557. Principles. - I. The subject of the Sacrament of Matrimony is every baptized man or woman laboring under no impediment, whether natural, divine, or canonical.

I said: 1° every BAPTIZED man or woman; for men not baptized are not capable of the Sacraments of the Church, as is clear. I said: 2° laboring under no impediment; for although of itself every baptized man or woman is a capable subject of the Sacrament of Matrimony, yet accidentally many are barred from validly contracting Matrimony on account of diverse impediments, whether of natural law, divine law, or ecclesiastical law, as will be said below in its place.

Hence: 1) The Matrimony of infidels, although it can be valid in the character of a contract, nevertheless is not a Sacrament. Indeed, the faithful person himself contracting Matrimony with an infidel, even by dispensation of the Pope, according to the common opinion against a few, will not receive the Sacrament. For the sign of the union of Christ with the Church, conferring sacramental grace, consists neither in the union of the man, nor in the union of the woman, but in the union of each.

2) Heretics and schismatics, who in entering Matrimony accurately and integrally observe the laws of the Church which pertain to the substance of Matrimony, validly contract and are fortified with the Sacrament, since there is nothing which can obstruct the value of this Sacrament. This very thing is confirmed by the practice of the Church, which in no way forces them to renew consent if, repenting, they return to the unity of the Catholic Church. - Thus all.

II. The spouses contracting Matrimony ought to be in the state of grace, because Matrimony is a Sacrament of the living. Those who contract stained with mortal sin become guilty of sacrilege, nor do they perceive the sacramental graces necessary for spouses. More truly, nevertheless, those graces are only suspended and, the obstacle or mortal sin being removed, are applied to the soul, as we said n. 1242. - For practice, if no fruit is hoped for from admonition, it will almost be better not to admonish the unworthy person concerning the sacrilege of the one approaching unworthily, so that thus at least he may sin less; and he will rather have to be induced that at least as soon as possible he approach to confess.

1558. Questions. - Quaer. 1° Ought the Pastor to require that Confession be premitted to Matrimony, or that a certificate of Confession be exhibited by the spouses?

Resp. See the things said n. 1544.

Quaer. 2° Is it licit to enter Matrimony with a public sinner?

Resp. Affirmatively, if 1) one cannot recede from Matrimony without grave inconvenience, and 2) there is not question of one excommunicated by name. The reason for the first is because it is only material cooperation and from a proportionate cause; the reason for the second, because with such persons it is not licit to communicate in Sacred things.¹ See the exception as regards one excommunicated by name, n. 1243. q. 5°.

21. • I. All baptized persons contracting among themselves and laboring under no impediment are a subject capable of a valid sacrament of matrimony.

Not only Catholics, but also heretics and schismatics or apostates, cannot contract valid matrimony without by that very fact receiving the sacrament of matrimony, provided that they are truly baptized and contract with a baptized person.

This is altogether certain and admitted by all.

"§ 1. Christ the Lord raised the matrimonial contract itself between baptized persons to the dignity of a sacrament.

§ 2. Therefore between baptized persons there cannot be a valid matrimonial contract without its being by that very fact a sacrament" (can. 1012).

22. • II. The worthy and fruitful reception of the sacrament of matrimony besides requires that the spouses be free from every prohibiting impediment and endowed with the state of grace.

For the sacrament of matrimony is a sacrament of the living, which therefore is received sacrilegiously if the soul is not living by the supernatural life of grace. Nevertheless sacramental grace in matrimony more probably revives afterward, when the obstacle of sin is removed by sincere conversion.

23. • III. Valid matrimony between a baptized person and an unbelieving party is not a sacrament, not even on the part of the faithful one.

Although many contradict it, this opinion seems certain. "For matrimony," says the Angelic Doctor, "cannot limp."¹ If the matrimonial contract is invalid on one side, it must necessarily be invalid also on the other side. Similarly, if the sacrament is lacking on one side, neither is it present on the other side. But no one doubts that an unbelieving party is incapable of the sacrament. Therefore neither does the baptized party receive the sacrament.

¹ Supplementum, q. 47, a. 1.

"But the opinion of the adversaries seems to have arisen from this, that in the sacrament they see nothing other than the exterior rite by which grace is immediately conferred; for certainly, as to receiving sacramental grace, each of the spouses is entirely independent of the other party, and the condition of one cannot impede the gratification of the other. But if you keep before your eyes that grace is not conferred except through the mediation of the sacramental bond, and that the sacramental bond itself is the sole immediate exterior effect of the sacrament, then there will not be even a doubtful matter for you. For the bond is a certain relation between two, and indeed a relation of equiparance of the same account in each; therefore, if one is absolutely incapable of the sacramental bond because of the defect of baptism, the other, although baptized, seems likewise incapable of a sacramental nexus, not absolutely indeed, but with respect to the non-baptized person. Therefore there is no sacrament there, where no sacramental effect can either exist or be conceived."²

² Billot, S.J., De Ecclesiae Sacramentis. De matrimonio, thesis 38, apud Prummer, op. cit., p. 444.

24. • IV. If of two non-baptized spouses only one is baptized, that matrimony does not become a sacrament, even for the baptized party.

The same reason is valid here as for establishing the preceding opinion.

But it is astonishing here that almost no one contradicts it. Truly, they do not dare, because such a matrimony, even if after the baptism of one party it has been consummated, remains liable to dissolution by the Pauline privilege or even by pontifical dispensation, as was said above nn. 13, 7° and 14, 2°; and it is entirely unheard of that a matrimony which is a sacrament should be dissolved after consummation. But is there not here a new and valid argument in favor of the preceding thesis? For why does the matrimony previously legitimate not become, for the converted party, a sacramental bond, as it does when both spouses are baptized, unless because "matrimony cannot limp?"

25. • V. If both spouses are converted and baptized, their matrimony by that very fact becomes a sacrament.

It is the more common opinion, which few contradict.