Dear Rene,
Jone/Adelman in their "Moral Theology", no. 656, teach: "The
primary purpose of marriage (the procreation and education of
children) is essential for its validity to the extent that the
right to marital intercourse may never be excluded. Nevertheless,
it is lawful to renounce the exercise of that right by mutual
consent (the so-called Joseph union or virginal marriage) .... If
the primary purpose is not excluded, the contract is lawful and
valid ...."
Although the Code of Canon Law was obviously not in force at the
time of the marriage of Mary and Joseph, yet it sheds light on
every marriage by enuntiating a basic principle of marriage.
Canon 1057, no. 1: "A marriage is brought into being by the
lawfully manifested consent of persons who are legally capable
... no. 2: Matrimonial consent is an act of will by which a man
and a woman by an irrevocable covenant mutually give and accept
each other for the purpose of establishing a marriage."
Pope Pius XI, in his encyclical letter "Casti Connubii" ("On
Chaste Wedlock"), writes: "In marriage, therefore, there is a
union and a close association of minds which are wedded in a
union more important and more intimate than the physical union.
This union does not come from any fleeting emotion or interior
feeling but from a deliberate and firm decision of the will. And
under God's design a sacred and inviolable bond arises from this
wedding of souls."
Sincerely in Christ,
Father Mateo
- Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit -
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