Marriage

God created man and woman out of love and commanded them to imitate his love in their relations with each other. Man and woman were created for each other…Woman and man are equal in human dignity, and in marriage both are united in an unbreakable bond. (United States Catholic Catechism for Adults, Ch. 21, p. 279)

The sacrament of marriage is a visible sign of God’s love for the Church. When a man and a woman are married in the Church, they receive the grace needed for a lifelong bond of unity.

Marriage is a Covenant

The Sacrament of Marriage is a covenantal union in the image of the covenants between God and his people with Abraham and later with Moses at Mt. Sinai. This divine covenant can never be broken. In this way, marriage is a union that bonds spouses together during their entire lifetime.
The sacrament of Matrimony signifies the union of Christ and the Church. It gives spouses the grace to love each other with the love with which Christ has loved his Church; the grace of the sacrament thus perfects the human love of the spouses, strengthens their indissoluble unity, and sanctifies them on the way to eternal life. (CCC 1661)
The love in a married relationship is exemplified in the total gift of one’s self to another. It’s this self-giving and self-sacrificing love that we see in our other model of marriage, the relationship between Christ and the Church.
Marriage is based on the consent of the contracting parties, that is, on their will to give themselves, each to the other, mutually and definitively, in order to live a covenant of faithful and fruitful love. (CCC 1662)
The Church takes the lifelong nature of the Sacrament of Marriage seriously. The Church teaches that a break in this covenant teaches goes against the natural law of God:
The remarriage of persons divorced from a living, lawful spouse contravenes the plan and law of God as taught by Christ. They are not separated from the Church, but they cannot receive Eucharistic communion. They will lead Christian lives especially by educating their children in the faith. (CCC 1665)

Marriage Reflects the Holy Trinity

We believe that God exists in eternal communion. Together, Father, Son and Holy Spirit are united in one being with no beginning and no end. Human beings, likewise, were created by God in God’s image for the purpose of communion with another human being.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states, “The Christian family is a communion of persons, a sign and image of the communion of the Father and the Son in the Holy Spirit” (CCC 2205). The Sacrament of Marriage is “unitive, indissoluble and calls us to be completely open to fertility.” Christian marriage at its finest is a reflection of God’s self-giving love expressed between the love of two people.

Planning Your Wedding at St. Anthony of Padua

Requirements updated January 2026

Begin at least eight months before your intended wedding date. This is a firm minimum. The diocesan marriage preparation program fills up, and space must be reserved eight months in advance.


What You Will Need

A newly issued certificate of baptism for each Catholic getting married (ex. If both the bride and groom are Catholic, both need a new baptism certificate issued. If only the bride or the groom is Catholic, only they need to present one). Call the parish where you were baptized, tell the secretary that the certificate is for marriage purposes, and ask that it be issued within eight months of your wedding date. A freshly issued certificate carries the notations of the other sacraments you have received, which is why a recent one is required — the certificate you were given on the day of your baptism will not serve this purpose, however carefully you have kept it. The certificate must be an original issued by the parish. Photocopies and photographs are not accepted.


A copy of your birth certificate. This is used to confirm that your name is recorded exactly as it appears on your birth certificate.


A non-refundable deposit of $300. This reserves your wedding date. [The deposit is applied toward the wedding offering described below.]


The Steps

1. Initial meeting with your priest

A time to talk and to learn what is expected of you. Your wedding date is ordinarily reserved at this meeting. You will fill out the FOCCUS inventory and discuss which marriage preparation program is the best fit for the two of you.


2. Complete the FOCCUS inventory

FOCCUS — Facilitating Open Couple Communication, Understanding and Study — is completed before you attend a marriage preparation session. It is not a test. It is a discovery questionnaire that personalizes your preparation and gives each of you insight into yourself and into the person you are marrying.


3. Register for marriage preparation

If you are using the diocesan program, register immediately after reserving your wedding date. Your space must be reserved at least eight months before the wedding.


Sign up for the "At the Table" in-person sessions 1 and 2 here: https://www.fallriverfaithformation.org/marriage-preparation

The diocesan fee is $150 per couple, paid to the diocese. It is separate from the parish wedding offering.


4. FOCCUS evaluation

A second meeting at the parish, roughly a month after you complete the questionnaire. What you learn here will help you make constructive use of both your strengths and your weaknesses, and will prepare you for a more meaningful marriage preparation program.


5. Planning the wedding liturgy

The couple are the ordinary ministers of the Sacrament of Matrimony, and the liturgy is yours to plan. Read carefully the booklet Together For Life, which the parish will give you. Consult the priest responsible for your wedding before making final selections.


6. Third parish visit

An opportunity to discuss your reactions to the marriage preparation sessions and to make specific plans with the priest for your wedding liturgy. You may also find helpful material at For Your Marriage and Catholic Wedding Help.


7. Rehearsal and wedding

The rehearsal is the final step before approaching the altar to bestow on each other the Sacrament of Matrimony.


Practical Details

Wedding Time

Weddings are scheduled at 1:30 p.m. due to the celebration of Baptism and Confession earlier in the day.


Music

The Director of Sacred Music serves as organist and choral director for all weddings celebrated at St. Anthony of Padua, and the music for the wedding liturgy is arranged with him. Guest musicians — violinists, trumpeters, singers, and the like — are welcome with his approval, and he is glad to work alongside them.

Couples who would prefer an organist from another parish may arrange this with the Director of Sacred Music, who will accommodate the request where he can. In that case the wedding offering is unchanged. It already includes the Director's stipend, which is due whether or not he plays, since the weddings of the parish fall within the scope of his responsibility for its liturgical music. Any fee owed to the visiting organist is arranged separately between that musician and the couple.


All music for the wedding liturgy must be approved by the Director of Sacred Music, including when a guest organist is playing. In keeping with the Church's liturgical tradition, secular music is not permitted at the wedding liturgy, however sincerely it may express the love of the spouses for one another (see Sing to the Lord: Music in Divine Worship, no. 220). The sacred repertoire suited to a wedding is large and beautiful, and the Director will gladly help you find music you love within it.


Please contact the Director early. He will reach out to you about music, but couples are strongly encouraged to contact him first and to settle the music well in advance — particularly if you would like additional musicians present, since they must be engaged and rehearsed. If he has contacted you and has received no reply by seventy-two hours before the wedding, he reserves the right to select music at his discretion.


Contact Information: Mr. Daniel Marshall, Director of Sacred Music and Organist, music@saintanthonynb.org · (401) 288-7172


Celebrant

The celebrant for your wedding will be the pastor of St. Anthony's or one of the parochial vicars. If you would like a different priest to celebrate your wedding or a deacon to witness the wedding rite, you must speak with and receive approval from the pastor. A celebrant from outside the Diocese of Fall River must present the pastor of St. Anthony of Padua with a letter of good standing from his diocesan bishop or religious superior, after which the pastor will issue the proper marriage delegation.


The Wedding Offering

The wedding offering is $1,025.00. This is the full amount owed to the parish, and it covers:

  • the priest's offering
  • the music director and cantors
  • decorative lights
  • preparation of the marriage papers

Payment is made payable to St. Anthony Church and is expected before the day of the wedding. The diocesan marriage preparation fee of $150 is separate and is paid to the diocese.


Questions?

Call the parish office at 508-993-1691.