Prayers for Marriage

The Wedding at Cana

God our Father, we come before You to Praise You and to thank You
for the great gift of the family.

As the grace of Jesus flowed forth at Cana at the request of the Blessed Mother,
we pray to You for all families
consecrated by the Sacrament of Matrimony.

May they rediscover each day
the grace they have received
through the Holy Spirit,
and as small domestic churches,
may they know how to witness
to your Presence and
to the love with which
Christ loves the Church. Amen 

Prayer adapted from the official prayer for the 10th World Meetings of Families for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland Silver & Gold Mass, June 2022.

The Wedding at Cana painted by Father Marko Rupnik for the 10th World Meeting of Families June 2022. Image used with permission. A meditation on the painting may be downloaded here.

Prayer for a Married Couple

O God, who in creating the human race
willed that man and wife should be one,
keep, we pray, in a bond of inseparable love, those who are united
in the covenant of marriage,
so that, as you make their love fruitful,
they may become, by your grace, witnesses to charity itself.
Through Christ our Lord
Amen.

Prayer for Married Couples

Almighty and eternal God,
You blessed the union of married couples
so that they might reflect the union of Christ with his Church:
Look with kindness on them.
Renew their marriage covenant,
increase your love in them,
and strengthen their bond of peace
so that, with their children,
they may always rejoice in the gift of
your blessing.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Official prayer for the X World Meeting of Families June 22-26, 2022

Heavenly Father,
We come before You to praise You
and to thank You for the great gift of the family.
We pray to You for all families
consecrated by the Sacrament of Matrimony.
May they rediscover each day the grace they have received,
and as small domestic Churches,
may they know how to witness to your Presence
and to the love with which Christ loves the Church.
We pray to You for all families faced with difficulty and suffering
caused by illness or circumstances of which only You know.
Sustain them and make them aware
of the path to holiness upon which You call them,
so that they might experience your infinite Mercy
and find new ways to grow in love.
We pray to You for children and young people:
may they encounter You and respond joyfully
to the vocation You have in mind for them;
We pray for parents and grandparents: may they be aware
that they are signs of the fatherhood and motherhood of God
in caring for the children who, in body and spirit, You entrust to them;
for the experience of fraternity that the family can give to the world.
Lord, grant that each family
might live their specific vocation to holiness in the Church
as a call to become missionary disciples, in the service of life and peace,
in communion with our priests,
religious, and all vocations in the Church.
Bless the World Meeting of Families.
Amen.

Prayer in Defense of Marriage

God our Father,
we give you thanks for the gift of marriage:
the bond of life and love,
and the font of the family.

The love of husband and wife
enriches your Church with children,
fills the world with a multitude
of spiritual fruitfulness and service,
and is the sign of the love of your Son,
Jesus Christ, for his Church.

The grace of Jesus flowed forth at Cana
at the request of the Blessed Mother.
May your Son,
through the intercession of Mary,
pour out upon us
a new measure of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit
as we join with all people of good will
to promote and protect
the unique beauty of marriage.

May your Holy Spirit enlighten our society
to treasure the heroic love of husband and wife,
and guide our leaders to sustain and protect
the singular place of mothers and fathers
in the lives of their children.

Father, we ask that our prayers be joined
to those of the Virgin Mary,
that your Word may transform our service
so as to safeguard the incomparable splendor of marriage.
We ask all these things through Christ our Lord,
Amen.

Saints Joachim and Anne, pray for us.