The special liturgy held in our parish each June to honor the sacrament of marriage for couples who are celebrating anniversaries of 1 year, multiples of 5 years, or more than 50 years will be rescheduled when circumstances permit.

The Diocese of Trenton is introducing a new marriage preparation process that will update and strengthen the Pre-Cana programs that have been in place for many years. It will impact the approach taken by our priests and deacons during sessions that take place during parish office visits. It is one of the responses the diocese is making to Bishop O’Connell’s “Plan for Strengthening Marriage.”

For many people, the process of marriage annulment is very mysterious, often accompanied by considerable misinformation. In order to dispel misconceptions, the diocese sponsors Annulment Information Sessions (in English and in Spanish) annually in parishes within each county of the diocese. Click the article title for a list of sessions.

Our parish Marriage Ministry is introducing a series that can enrich marriage – Beloved! This series is designed to be flexible – it can be viewed on your home computer at FORMED.org.

Tens of thousands of couples have healed their marriages through Retrouvaille (Retro-VIE). If you know anyone who could benefit from this program, please pass this on. A program will be held on the weekend of February 21-23, 2020 at the Family Life Center in Malvern, PA. Click the article title for more information.

The parish family of Our Lady of Sorrows-Saint Anthony congratulates and extends its prayerful best wishes for a long and happy marriage to the couples who were wed in the second half of 2019. Click the article title for a list of names.

Do you want a deeper connection in your marriage? Try a weekend away--but not just any weekend. Try a Worldwide Marriage Encounter Weekend. Click the article title for the date and location of the next weekend, and a link for more information.

“Marriage means the invasion of our privacy, the giving up of our pretenses. But the sense of belonging to one another brings rich and satisfying compensations.” (David & Vera Mace, founders of ACME) Think of one way that you’ve changed this past year. Has this enriched or stressed your marriage?

It is the very times that we feel most stressed and pressed for time that we can short change our spouse. After all, he or she will understand. Today, take a moment when you next see your spouse to pause and offer a warm, knowing glance. No words need be spoken. Takes maybe 5 seconds. You can spare the change.

What counts in making a happy marriage is not so much how compatible you are, but how you deal with incompatibility. In what way are you and your spouse most different?

Four couples from Our Lady of Sorrows - St. Anthony joined couples from other parishes in Mercer and Burlington counties at St. Mary Cathedral last Sunday to mark anniversary milestones and receive Bishop O'Connor's episcopal blessing on their many years of wedded bliss. Click the article title to see the names of the four couples.

“Getting married is the boldest and most idealistic thing that most of us will ever do.” (Maggie Gallagher, co-author of The Case for Marriage) Pause today to remember your wedding day. Are there any dreams that you had on that day that you now think were unrealistic? Think of one thing about your marriage that has turned out to be better than you expected.

All married couples disagree at one time or another. Remember this rule for ‘fighting fair’: “Feelings are neither right nor wrong, they merely are.” (Marriage Encounter) Accept your spouse’s feelings even if you don’t share them. Share your own feelings without rancor.

As you prepare for Thanksgiving, thank God for your spouse. Tell your spouse a specific quality that endears you to her or him. Remember that there are many people in our world still looking for love, still looking for a soul mate.

A day of renewal, hope, and healing for separated and divorced Catholics who long for God's healing love will be offered on Saturday, October 19, at St. Barnabas Catholic Church, Bayville. For more information, click the article title.

In terms of housekeeping, on a scale of 1 to 10 are you a “CLEAN” or a “DIRTY”? Likewise, are you a “NEAT” or a “SLOPPY”? What is your spouse? Often clean and neat are equated with moral superiority. As desirable as these qualities might be, morality comes into play when differences cause tension between you and neither is willing to budge (or your home would not pass muster even with a blind health inspector).

“Love the family! Defend and promote it as the basic cell of human society; nurture it as the prime sanctuary of life. Give great care to the preparation of engaged couples and be close to the young married couples, so that they will be for their children and the whole community an eloquent testimony of God’s love.” (Pope John Paul II, 2001) Pray today for volunteers who guide couples through marriage preparation or marriage enrichment programs.

“A successful marriage is one in which you fall in love many times, always with the same person.” (D. W. McLaughlin)

“It is when the spouses no longer feel like being in each other’s company always, when they would rather be elsewhere some of the time, that their love begins to be tested and will be found to be present or absent.” (M. Scott Peck, The Road Less Traveled)