This February 7-14, 2021, we will celebrate National Marriage Week! This annual observance is a great prompt for everyone to reflect on the gift marriage is to our Church and our country, as well as an opportunity for couples to build up their own marriages.
This year our theme is: To Have, To Hold, To Honor. Here’s how you can join us:
- Read the Press Release for National Marriage Week 2021 from the USCCB.
- Spend a little dedicated time in prayer and reflection by participating in our seven-day at-home retreat (available in pdf in English and Spanish) focused on marriage. This year the retreat theme is “To Have, To Hold, To Honor.”
- Share our National Marriage Week Flyer, available in English and Spanish.
- Change your Facebook Cover Photo or share one of the images from our Social Media Kit in English and Spanish.
- Encourage your parish to celebrate World Marriage Sunday (February 14, 2021), with a Preaching Resource (also available in Spanish) for clergy or by sharing our flyer.
- Invite your diocesan or parish community to pray for marriage with these Prayers of the Faithful for National Marriage Week (also available in Spanish).
- Pray a rosary for married couples and families with us! The rosary will be led by Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, the head of the Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life, and Youth, and live-streamed on Wednesday, February 10, at 2:00 pm ET on the For Your Marriage Facebook Page.
- Conversation on Fatherhood and Spousal Love – Tune in again on Facebook on Friday, February 12, at 2:00 pm ET for a live-streamed discussion between the associate director for Clergy, Consecrated Life, and Vocations, Fr. Daniel Hanley, and the director of Laity, Marriage, Family Life, and Youth, Mr. Dominic Lombardi as they discuss their reflections on fatherhood and spousal love looking to Saint Joseph as their example.
And here’s some resources to build up your marriage all year long:
- Listen to Marriage Unique for a Reason’s Made for Love Podcast, which tells the stories of real people living out the call to love. Here are some of our favorites episodes on marriage:
- Episode 6: Real Marriage vs. the Ideal
- Episode 10: Men & Women: Not Two Halves, but Two Wholes
- Episode 51: Engagement: Planning a Wedding or a Marriage?
- Take a look at our Daily Marriage Tips. Maybe you’ll find a new idea to strengthen your relationship.
- Worldwide Marriage Encounter, provides numerous resources for celebrating World Marriage Day.
- National Marriage Week offers helpful ideas for building up your own marriage, recommended reading, supporting marriage in the community, and much more. There’s also a listing of marriage-building events throughout the country.