Catholic Diocese of Biloxi  

What is Convalidation?
 

Colloquially known as "Blessing our Marriage;" “Convalidation” comes from two Latin words and means that a couple is getting married “with validity.” A convalidation celebrated by two baptized Christians is a celebration of the sacrament of marriage, one of the Church’s seven sacraments, all of which are gifts given to us by Jesus Christ so that we can share in God’s life and grow closer to Him.

Anyone with questions about or interest in convalidation should speak with his or her parish priest, deacon or lay minister. This should be a good and grace-filled experience for couples, and a time to grow closer to the God Who loves us more than we can imagine. Parish pastoral teams are happy to serve couples by preparing them to become one with God and with each other in the holy covenant of marriage.

The Catholic Church cares about marriage. The Second Vatican Council said, “The well-being of the individual person and of human and Christian society is intimately linked with the healthy condition of that community produced by marriage and family” (Gaudium et Spes, no. 48). Marriage is a gift to society.

Local, LMFTs (Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists) with Christian backgrounds and values are available by clicking the banner below.

 Marriage Counseling Near Us 

The Catholic Church supports the methods of Natural Family Planning (NFP) because they respect God's design for married love. In fact, NFP represents the only authentic approach to family planning available to husbands and wives because these methods can be used to both attempt or avoid pregnancy. When learning about NFP, it is important to know that: 

Natural Family Planning is an umbrella term for certain methods used to achieve and avoid conception. These methods are based on the observation of the naturally occurring signs and symptoms of the fertile and infertile phases of a woman's menstrual cycle. Some natural methods include use of fertility monitors to better understand the time of the wife's fertility. Married couples using NFP to postpone conception abstain from intercourse and genital contact during the fertile phase of the wife's cycle. No drugs, devices, or surgical procedures are used to avoid pregnancy. Married couples who use NFP to attempt a pregnancy, make use of the fertile window--the optimum time when conception is likely.

Learn more about the methods available to you in our diocese

• Retrouvaille is a marriage program that helps couples restore their marriage and rebuild a loving relationship.
• A Christian marriage program, Catholic in origin, where couples of all faiths or no faith background are encouraged to attend.
• Primarily a practical program to improve communication, build stronger marriages, and help couples reconnect.
• Presenters are not trained marriage counselors, but rather couples sharing their personal stories of marital struggles and the tools they used to rediscover their love.

ForYourMarriage.org is an initiative of the Catholic Church to help couples at all stages of life to understand and live God's plan for happy, holy marriages. The website was launched in 2007 as part of the National Pastoral Initiative for Marriage, an initiative of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to communicate the meaning and value of married life for the Church and for society.

What Are the 5 Love Languages®?

The premise of The 5 Love Languages™ book is quite simple: different people with different personalities give and receive love in different ways. By learning to recognize these preferences in yourself and in your loved ones, you can learn to identify the root of your conflicts, connect more profoundly, and truly begin to grow closer.
 

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