{"id":234319,"date":"2025-11-12T21:36:48","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T20:36:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/caffarel.hyppoweb.fr\/his-thought\/the-sacrament-of-marriage\/"},"modified":"2026-08-10T14:15:25","modified_gmt":"2026-08-10T12:15:25","slug":"the-sacrament-of-marriage","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.henri-caffarel.org\/en\/his-thinking\/the-sacrament-of-marriage\/","title":{"rendered":"The sacrament of marriage"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Marriage<\/h1>\n

[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.5″ _module_preset=”e227d95c-fbbf-4866-a7d7-e7b549511623″ text_font=”||||||||” header_text_color=”#2789C3″ header_line_height=”1.1em” header_2_font=”Roboto|300|||||||” header_2_font_size=”50px” header_2_line_height=”1.2em” max_width=”700px” max_width_tablet=”” max_width_phone=”” max_width_last_edited=”on|desktop” module_alignment=”center” header_2_font_size_tablet=”40px” header_2_font_size_phone=”32px” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n

\u201c Christian marriage is not only the mutual gift of man and woman; it is also the gift of the couple to Christ. Henceforth, in this couple who, by giving themselves, have opened themselves to him, Christ is present. <\/em> \u201d<\/p>\n

Henri Caffarel, Monthly Letter of the Teams of Our Lady, April 1968<\/cite><\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.27.5″ _module_preset=”default” background_image=”https:\/\/www.henri-caffarel.org\/mediadoc\/2025\/12\/fond-inverse-bas.png” custom_padding=”50px|50px||50px” custom_padding_tablet=”50px|50px||50px” custom_padding_phone=”20px|20px||20px||true” custom_padding_last_edited=”on|phone” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.henri-caffarel.org\/mediadoc\/2025\/12\/alliance.jpg” title_text=”covenant” align_tablet=”center” align_phone=”center” align_last_edited=”on|desktop” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” animation_style=”zoom” animation_intensity_zoom=”10%” box_shadow_style=”preset1″ box_shadow_vertical=”32px” box_shadow_blur=”100px” box_shadow_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.15)” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.27.5″ _module_preset=”default” background_color=”#2F5EAA” custom_margin=”50px||||false|false” custom_padding=”35px||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.5″ _module_preset=”default” header_2_text_color=”#FFFFFF” animation_style=”slide” animation_direction=”left” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n

The sacrament of marriage<\/h2>\n

[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider color=”RGBA(255,255,255,0)” divider_weight=”3px” _builder_version=”4.27.5″ _module_preset=”default” use_background_color_gradient=”on” background_color_gradient_direction=”90deg” background_color_gradient_stops=”#fea060 0%|#fb6f62 100%” max_width=”100px” module_alignment=”left” max_height=”3px” custom_margin=”-20px||37px||false|false” custom_padding=”0px||0px||false|false” saved_tabs=”all” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_blurb image=”https:\/\/www.henri-caffarel.org\/mediadoc\/2025\/10\/insurance-12-a-uby-16.png” icon_placement=”left” image_icon_width=”52px” content_max_width=”100%” _builder_version=”4.27.6″ _module_preset=”e2dd6446-e46f-4d15-88b8-80796d3f71ab” body_font=”–et_global_body_font||||||||” body_text_align=”left” body_text_color=”#FFFFFF” body_font_size=”17px” body_line_height=”1.6em” image_icon_custom_margin=”0px|15px|0px|0px|false|false” image_icon_custom_padding=”0px||0px||false|false” custom_margin=”0px||30px||false|false” custom_margin_tablet=”0px||40px||false|false” custom_margin_phone=”0px||30px||false|false” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|tablet” custom_padding=”0px||0px||false|false” animation=”off” custom_css_blurb_content=”margin:0px;” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n

\u00ab When Christ unites a man and a woman through his sacrament, it is in order to create a sanctuary, that is the Christian couple, where he, Christ, can celebrate with the couple, through the couple, the great filial cult of praise, adoration and intercession that he came to establish on earth.<\/em>\u00bb<\/p>\n

Henri Caffarel, Monthly Letter of the Teams of Our Lady, March 1962<\/cite><\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_blurb][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” min_height=”1909.5px” custom_padding=”30px|||||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_blurb title=”The sacrament of marriage” use_icon=”on” font_icon=”$||divi||400″ image_icon_background_color=”RGBA(255,255,255,0)” _builder_version=”4.27.5″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_blurb][et_pb_testimonial author=” Henri Caffarel, L\u2019Anneau d\u2019Or, n\u00b0 27-28″ portrait_url=”https:\/\/www.henri-caffarel.org\/mediadoc\/2025\/06\/logo.png” quote_icon_color=”#F28963″ _builder_version=”4.27.6″ _module_preset=”default” body_text_align=”justify” width=”80%” max_width=”80%” module_alignment=”center” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n

\u201c The marriage-sacrament therefore is not simply a living image of the mystery of Christ and the Church, along the lines of a \u201cportrait in a mirror.\u201d Not only can it reveal this mystery, but it can also contain it. The union of Christ and the Church encompasses the dimensions of space and time and yet is contained in the union of two hearts who love each other. Because where there is love, there is the secret of the world and there too is the mystery of God. <\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_testimonial][et_pb_blurb title=”Marriage, a grace of Christ” use_icon=”on” font_icon=”$||divi||400″ image_icon_background_color=”RGBA(255,255,255,0)” _builder_version=”4.27.5″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_blurb][et_pb_testimonial author=”Henri Caffarel, L\u2019Anneau d\u2019Or, n\u00b0 27-28″ portrait_url=”https:\/\/www.henri-caffarel.org\/mediadoc\/2025\/06\/logo.png” quote_icon_color=”#F28963″ _builder_version=”4.27.6″ _module_preset=”default” body_text_align=”justify” width=”80%” max_width=”80%” module_alignment=”center” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n

\u201c Two human beings approach one another. They place their two hands in each other, their two souls, their two lives in each other. What are they? Eddies of aspirations and instincts, tumults of vague desires and failings. What do they give each other? Their humanity as it is, their life as it will be: halfway between good and evil. Those who assist them and who have “experience” smile at “their illusions” or take pity on them: they know that life takes it upon itself to dissipate the most generous chimeras.
And they would be right, if a Third did not enter the game. For Christ himself comes to seal the union of these two creatures. Every marriage, like every sacrament, is conferred by Christ. It matters little whether the priest-witness is “Bishop So-and-So,” “Reverend Father What’s-his-name,” or an unknown curate: it is Christ who marries the young spouses, and they themselves serve as his ministers. From then on, everything changes. This human union, this love of clay, the Lord himself takes charge of it. <\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_testimonial][et_pb_blurb title=”Marriage, a path to holiness” use_icon=”on” font_icon=”$||divi||400″ image_icon_background_color=”RGBA(255,255,255,0)” _builder_version=”4.27.5″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_blurb][et_pb_testimonial author=”Henri Caffarel, L\u2019Anneau d\u2019Or, no. 111\u2013112 ” portrait_url=”https:\/\/www.henri-caffarel.org\/mediadoc\/2025\/06\/logo.png” quote_icon_color=”#F28963″ _builder_version=”4.27.6″ _module_preset=”default” body_font=”||on||||||” body_text_align=”justify” width=”80%” max_width=”80%” module_alignment=”center” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n

\u201cHave I succeeded in showing that marriage, through its demands and its riches, through its victories and its defeats, and above all through all the sacramental graces it entails, is indeed a path toward holiness? As we have seen, it matures the human heart through all that it requires in terms of gifts and renunciations; it fosters the growth of charity in the home and in each of the spouses, to the point of bringing them to the threshold of a personal encounter with Christ, a true departure in the direction of holiness. If it happens that the comfort of a conjugal love that is still too human is then disrupted, it is only to allow the spouses to access an entirely new love \u2018in the Lord.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_testimonial][et_pb_blurb title=”Model: the home of Mary and Joseph” use_icon=”on” font_icon=”$||divi||400″ image_icon_background_color=”RGBA(255,255,255,0)” _builder_version=”4.27.6″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_blurb][et_pb_testimonial author=”Henri Caffarel, L\u2019Anneau d\u2019Or, no. 111\u2013112 ” portrait_url=”https:\/\/www.henri-caffarel.org\/mediadoc\/2025\/06\/logo.png” quote_icon_color=”#F28963″ _builder_version=”4.27.6″ _module_preset=”default” body_font=”||on||||||” body_text_align=”justify” width=”80%” max_width=”80%” module_alignment=”center” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of this conference, I would like to leave you in the presence of the home of Joseph and Mary. Not to imply that Christian life in marriage would require total continence, but to invite you to contemplate the most perfect conjugal love. This marriage is unique in that it is the union of two beings previously consecrated to God and whom God gives to one another: they begin where others only arrive\u2014and even then very imperfectly\u2014after a laborious journey. But they only love each other all the more for it. What conjugal love could claim to rival theirs? They love each other with the very love of God: \u2018The force by which I love you is no different from that by which you exist\u2019; does this phrase from a heroine of Claudel not suit to translate their experience? Had Christ given them the great instruction he left to his apostles: \u2018Be one as my Father and I are one\u2019? I do not know, but it is quite certain that they realized this ideal better than anyone. And that is why there is no higher model, for spouses who aspire to holiness, than the marriage of Joseph and Mary.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_testimonial][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.27.5″ _module_preset=”default” background_color=”#2F5EAA” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_2_text_align=”center” header_2_text_color=”#FFFFFF” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n

To go further<\/h2>\n

[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_blog fullwidth=”off” include_categories=”37″ show_thumbnail=”off” show_more=”on” show_author=”off” show_date=”off” show_categories=”off” _builder_version=”4.27.5″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_blog][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n

A few works on marriage<\/h2>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=”4.27.6″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.henri-caffarel.org\/mediadoc\/2025\/11\/caffarel-lemariage-parole-silence.jpg” alt=”Book – Marriage: An Adventure in Holiness” title_text=”Book – Marriage: An Adventure in Holiness” _builder_version=”4.27.6″ _module_preset=”default” width=”30%” module_alignment=”center” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.7″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n

Henri Caffarel, Le mariage, aventure de saintet\u00e9. Grands textes sur le mariage<\/em>, Paris, Parole et Silence, 2013<\/h4>\n

[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.6″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]This work provides access to all the major texts of Father Henri Caffarel on the sacrament of marriage and conjugal spirituality, published in L\u2019Anneau d\u2019Or<\/em> and in the Monthly Letter of the Teams of Our Lady<\/em>. It gathers them thematically and contains a postface by Father Alain Mattheeuws.[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.henri-caffarel.org\/mediadoc\/2026\/08\/conjugal-love-a-path-to-god.jpg” alt=”conjugal love, a path to god” title_text=”conjugal-love-a-path-to-god” _builder_version=”4.27.7″ _module_preset=”default” width=”30%” module_alignment=”center” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.7″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n

Henri Caffarel, Conjugal Love, a path to God<\/em>, \u2018\u2019Lightning Source\u2019\u2019, September 2020<\/h4>\n

[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.6″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]How can we understand the Church’s message on the sacrament of marriage, on sexuality and fruitfulness, on the pastoral action of the couple, on morality as a requirement of love? And what are, on these subjects, the fundamental contributions of Father Henri Caffarel? Starting from the reality of marriage as it is lived today, an international team within the Teams of Our Lady carried out a work of observation, research, and reflection.
\nIt is their conclusions that are presented here, showing how much Father Henri Caffarel renewed the Church’s thinking on the couple and marriage.[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Marriage\u201c Christian marriage is not only the mutual gift of man and woman; it is also the gift of the couple to Christ. Henceforth, in this couple who, by giving themselves, have opened themselves to him, Christ is present. \u201d Henri Caffarel, Monthly Letter of the Teams of Our Lady, April 1968The sacrament of marriage\u00ab […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":234193,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-234319","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.henri-caffarel.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/234319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.henri-caffarel.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.henri-caffarel.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.henri-caffarel.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.henri-caffarel.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=234319"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/www.henri-caffarel.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/234319\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":235776,"href":"https:\/\/www.henri-caffarel.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/234319\/revisions\/235776"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.henri-caffarel.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/234193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.henri-caffarel.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=234319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}