Summary of "Preparing for Matrimony: Three Pre-Requisites for Dating - SSPX Sermons"

Key Wellness and Preparation Strategies for Matrimony

The sermon emphasizes the importance of serious preparation before entering into dating and marriage, highlighting matrimony as one of the two social sacraments intended to sanctify society by communicating life on a natural level. The priesthood, by contrast, communicates supernatural life. Matrimony requires a foundational personal formation that mirrors, in seriousness though not length, the rigorous formation for priesthood.

Three Pre-Requisites for Dating and Matrimony Preparation

1. Ability to Sacrifice

Sacrifice means the ability to deny oneself for the good of the beloved.
True love involves self-denial, not gratifying passions or emotions.
Sacrifice is the first act of love and requires effort and practice.
If a potential partner leads towards sin or impurity, that relationship should not be pursued.
Sacrifice and mortification of self are essential for a happy and holy marriage.

2. Being Respectable

Respectability is grounded in virtue and maturity, not superficial traits like appearance or humor.
A person preparing for matrimony must be an adult, striving seriously for virtue.
Virtue includes qualities like prudence, temperance, and others that can be concretely worked on and measured.
Both partners should possess virtues to be able to raise children and build a strong family.
Respectability is built over years of preparation and effort.

3. Purity

Purity, especially chastity, must be cultivated before dating.
Marriage is not a fix for impurity or lack of self-control.
Entering matrimony with unresolved impurity issues will only perpetuate problems.
One must work on conquering concupiscence and practicing chastity as a foundation.
Matrimony builds on nature; grace is given to those who have laid a natural foundation of virtue and purity.

Additional Points

Matrimony requires serious, long-term preparation, not just a short course or last-minute effort.
The process of preparing for matrimony should be taken as seriously as preparing for priesthood, albeit in a different way.
Men and women (adults), not boys and girls, should enter into marriage.
The sacrament of matrimony is a cooperation with God’s work of creation and sanctification of society.
Priests often have to do “CPR” for couples who come unprepared, but the goal is to encourage preparation beforehand.
The standards set in relationships influence the behavior and growth of both partners.