Are you a Catholic? Are you still single who’s trying to find someone in the same faith to be your future spouse? Or, maybe you’re already married and want to know more about how to strengthen your Catholic marriage. Regardless of your current marital status, it’s crucial to know the keys to a successful Catholic marriage.

For single Catholics, they can use faith-focused dating sites to find and meet their “the one” or “destiny” that God has planned for them, according to CatholicMatch. In this way, single Catholics who meet and date can easily relate with each other and would find sacramental marriage as the next step for their serious relationship.

On the other hand, married Catholics should keep their love burning by checking out the keys to a thriving Catholic marriage below.

1. Grow Your Catholic Faith

One of the greatest teachings of the Catholic Church for married couples is to put God above anything else. If you want your marriage to last, make sure to take the extra effort to grow your faith together and put God at the center of your relationship. You’ll be more inspired to nurture your relationship if you practice your faith and Christ’s teachings in your everyday life.

Here are some concrete examples of how to grow your Catholic faith for a happy and meaningful marriage:

• Pray together: Take time to pray together with your spouse and children such as when you get up in the morning, before and after meals, or any time you find appropriate to say a little prayer.
• Attend mass together: Praise God together for all the blessings your family receives daily by attending the mass together. Listen intently to the preaching and internalize them. Apply the teachings of the Catholic Church in your family and marriage to grow your relationship even more.
• Read the Bible: The Bible is the best book for married couples to read every day as it can provide concrete ways on how a man should love his wife and his family and how a woman should submit herself to her husband and show her love for her family in a gracious way.

2. Open Communication

Proper communication is vital to any marital relationship. In a Catholic marriage, open communication means being free to express yourself with your spouse without pretensions or hesitations.

Be honest with your thoughts and feelings, and discuss things with gentleness and love. Avoid heated arguments as much as possible and show your willingness to listen and give way for the best decision you both can make together as a couple.

Here are some ways to express the things you have in mind to your spouse:

• Write a letter: You can still practice open communication through written form. Writing a letter allows you to tell everything you want to your husband or wife using creative words of love and endearment. If you want to say ‘sorry’ or ‘thank you,’ writing a letter is a sweet and unforgettable way to express anything you like to tell your spouse.
• Send a video message: With the advancement of digital technology nowadays, people can easily record and send inspiring video messages. If you’re deployed abroad or you simply want to try another mode of communication, you can create a video message for your spouse and apply your excellent editing skills to add some captions to make it more beautiful.
• Heart-to-heart talk: There’s always a good place where you can have a heart-to-heart talk with your husband or wife to talk about sensitive things or major life decisions. For instance, you can talk privately in your bedroom or in a special place you were previously dating, like a restaurant or hotel.

3. Show Your Love In Words And Actions

While there are people who prefer to show their love in actions more than words and vice versa, the Catholic Church teaches married couples to be open with each other and express their love in both words and actions. This powerful combination can help strengthen the relationship because of the assurance it provides.

You can show your simple gestures and words of love through the following:

• Write a poem: Writing a poem is a romantic way to show your love in words to your spouse. You can buy a beautiful postcard and craft your love poem. Surely, this gesture will be appreciated.
• Give flowers: Ladies love flowers, and if your wife has a specific preference, you can give them as a gift on special occasions, such as your anniversary or Valentine’s Day. You can also surprise your wife by giving her a bouquet of fresh flowers even on an ordinary day.
• Dedicate a song: You can dedicate a song to your spouse in your favorite radio station you both listen to together. This sweet gesture can help nurture your love for each other, especially if you dedicate your theme song played on your wedding day.

4. Faithfulness And Forgiveness

Even if the divorce rates dropped during the pandemic, many people seem not to prioritize some aspects during a crisis and other tragedies in life. However, not facing the current marital issues can disrupt a marriage.

There could be instances in a Catholic marriage that someone lost direction. Some people become unfaithful, which stains the marriage, losing trust and love. So, it’s crucial to remain faithful and learn how to forgive.

Are you having some marital issues? There could be several factors that led your marriage into a cliff. But it’s not too late to save your relationship. You can seek a marriage counselor or your local priest to mediate and give you pieces of advice on how you can protect your marriage.

Conclusion

The keys to a thriving Catholic marriage include keeping the faith intact by putting God in the center of the relationship. Open communication is also essential to ensure married couples understand each other. Of course, both the husband and wife need to show their faithfulness, love, and good qualities to each other and their children to have a happy and long-lasting relationship.