The marital relationship, an intimate relationship sustained by Christ

Abstract

The aim of this work seeks to investigate the relationship of two persons through the Sacrament of Marriage. This relationship is based on mutual self-giving and on the unconditioned promise of steadfast love. While exploring the meaning of the marital relationship, it aims to study ways that enhance the relationship such that it develops and grows in love and intimacy. It also tries to suggest a way of living a spirituality that is conjugal and familiar. This dissertation also hopes to examine how the marital relationship becomes more mature, how it can be sustained and healed, so that it grows in the various areas of intimacy, namely the intellectual and emotional, the sexual and the spiritual, such that it provides a solid basis for a shared spirituality. Conjugal Spirituality is the way that the shared faith is lived within the circumstances of the married life. There the creativity of love is expressed between all the members of the family and the shared life becomes much richer. Marriage and the family become a 'domestic church' in which Jesus Christ is present in the midst of the everyday struggles. Married couples are called to become witnesses for others, to evangelize and transform the world. This is a lifelong process that must be sustained by Christ. In this dissertation the method employed is through a review of extensive literature written by various authors on the Marriage Sacrament, Covenant and Relationship, as well as other literature that explores the relatively new area of a spirituality that is conjugal and familiar.