Day 222: Matrimonial Consent (2026)
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What is Matrimonial Consent and why is it essential for a valid marriage?
Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Catechism in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's plan of sheer goodness for us, revealed in Scripture, and passed down through the tradition of the Catholic faith. The Catechism in a Year is brought to you by Ascension. In 365 days, we'll read through the Catechism of the Catholic Church, discovering our identity in God's family as we journey together toward our heavenly home. This is day 222. We are reading paragraphs 1625 to 1632. As always, I am using the Ascension edition of the Catechism, which includes the Foundations of Faith approach, but you can follow along with any recent version of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
You can also download your own Catechism in your reading plan by visiting ascensionpress.com slash CIY. And lastly, you can click follow or subscribe in your podcast app for daily updates and daily notifications because today is day 222. That is three twos right in a row. We're reading paragraphs 16, 25 to 16, 32. Yesterday, we talked about the celebration of marriage. We talked about the virginity for the sake of the kingdom, that reality. We also, part of that celebration of marriage, we have the matrimonial consent, which is pretty much essential. When I say pretty much essential, it's essential. When it comes to entering into the covenant of marriage, there has to be this consent. And also that consent has to be a certain kind.
It has to be free, being not under constraint and not impeded by any natural or ecclesiastical law. We're going to talk about that as well as just kind of some... some nuts and bolts when it comes to the sacrament of matrimony from paragraph 1625 to 1632. So in order to like launch in, let's launch in to prayer as we pray. Father in heaven, you are good and you are God. You are the Lord of life and you're the Lord of love. We continue. And to praise your name, we continue to thank you for this gift of holy matrimony. We thank you for the gift of faithfulness. We thank you for even the fact that when we're unfaithful, you remain faithful. Lord God, we thank you for mercy that comes to meet us in our weakness.
We thank you for forgiveness that comes to us in our failures. And we thank you for never ceasing to call us to be more and more like you.
How does the Church define a “free” consent and what constraints invalidate it?
and for giving us the grace to be like you. We ask you to please help us to serve you, to love you, to honor you this day. Whatever state in life we find ourselves, we give you our yes. And that yes is in Jesus' name. Amen. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. It is day 222. We're reading paragraphs 1625 to 1632. Matrimonial consent. The parties to a marriage covenant are a baptized man and woman, free to contract marriage, who freely express their consent. To be free means not being under constraint, not impeded by any natural or ecclesiastical law. The church holds the exchange of consent between the spouses to be the indispensable element that makes the marriage. If consent is lacking, there is no marriage.
The consent consists in a human act by which the partners mutually give themselves to each other. I take you to be my wife. I take you to be my husband. This consent that binds the spouses to each other finds its fulfillment in the two becoming one flesh. The consent must be an act of the will of each of the contracting parties, free from coercion or grave external fear. No human power can substitute for this consent. If this freedom is lacking, the marriage is invalid. For this reason, or for other reasons that render the marriage null and void, the Church, after an examination of the situation by the competent ecclesiastical tribunal, can declare the nullity of a marriage, that is, that the marriage never existed.
In this case, the contracting parties are free to marry provided the natural obligations of a previous union are discharged. The priest or deacon who assists at the celebration of a marriage receives the consent of the spouses in the name of the church and gives the blessing of the church.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What is Matrimonial Consent and why is it essential for a valid marriage?
0:05–2:09
2
How does the Church define a “free” consent and what constraints invalidate it?
2:09–6:28
3
What natural and ecclesiastical impediments can prevent a couple from freely consenting?
6:28–9:47
4
Why is the sexual embrace considered the indispensable element of the sacrament of marriage?
9:47–13:41
5
How does the Church’s annulment process determine whether a marriage was never valid?
13:41–17:47
6
What should couples do if they suspect an impediment and want to apply for a declaration of nullity?
17:47–20:27
7
Why does the Church normally require marriage to be celebrated within the liturgy and with witnesses?
20:27–22:40