National Marriage Week

National Marriage Week (Feb. 7-14) is a great time to support marriage. As Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family and Youth said in his letter to all U.S. bishops, National Marriage Week and World Marriage Day (the second Sunday in February) provide opportunities “to celebrate the gift and blessing of marriage and to affirm and support engaged and married couples.”

The annual observance of National Marriage Week encourages diverse groups to strengthen individual marriages, reduce the divorce rate, and build a stronger marriage culture, which in turn helps curtail poverty and benefits children.

Here are some resources that can help you celebrate marriage this week.

• Spend a little dedicated time in prayer and reflection by participating in our seven-day virtual retreat focused on marriage. This year the retreat draws from Pope Francis’s apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia (2016) and the USCCB pastoral letter Marriage: Love and Life in the Divine Plan. You can find the facebook event here.
• Take a look at our Daily Marriage Tips. Maybe you’ll find a new idea to strengthen your relationship.
• Find more resources on the USCCB National Marriage Week page, including a preaching resource and bulletin insert.
• Visit the website of Worldwide Marriage Encounter, which provides numerous resources for celebrating World Marriage Day.
• Enter our online contest, being run on the For Your Marriage Facebook page. Contest rules can be found here.

• The website for National Marriage Week offers helpful ideas for building up your own marriage, recommended reading, supporting marriage in the community and much more. There’s also a listing of marriage-building events throughout the country.