Vocations Office - Married Life

"The family, which is founded and given life by love, is a community of persons: of husband and wife, of parents and children, of relatives. Its first task is to live with fidelity the reality of communion in a constant effort to develop an authentic community of persons."
Pope John Paul II (1981) Apostolic Exhortation on the Family, #18.

The call to holiness very often is fulfilled in the vocation of spouse. The Sacrament of Marriage is the exchange of consent between spouses who mutually give and receive one another through the sacrament in service to God, each other, and their children. Every couple must strive to recognize this holy bond in which they are called to live a sacred and saintly life.

Engaged couples are encouraged to ask themselves whether God is calling them to marriage - to a faithful, permanent and life-giving relationship that is, in essence, the foundation of the Christian family, or domestic church. A premarital assessment and formal marriage preparation assist couples on their journey to answer the call to the vocation of spouse.

Reference: http://www.diocese-sacramento.org/vocations/married_life.html