b) Marriage is a covenant act.

The consent which they exchange after the liturgy of the Word is not a mere legal contract , but a covenantal act
by which both of them enter into into each other's gamut of relationship. It is an expression of their total and unconditional belonging to one another.The terms of this covenant is there human love purified by selfishness and satisfied in self-gift. Grounded in Christ's mystery this intimate community is made holy by the presence and action of the Holy Spirit. The word of God which they have listened to will be the interpreter of their lives henceforward and not their ideology or their likes or dislikes.

c) Marriage as an act of consecration

The nuptial blessing that is imparted to the newly wed after the doxology is an act of consecration. The covenant
is ratified by God  by the action of the Holy Spirit through the ministry of the Church. The reality of marriage is fully inserted into the history of salvation .It recalls to mind the first blessing pronounced by God on Adam and
 Eve ; all the other blessings that are pronounced on the couples in the course of time are a renewal of that blessing. Henceforward,the relationship between the newly wed people will be regulated and actualized in the spirit of this ratification effected by the Holy Spirit.

d) Marriage as a fruitful union

This is the content of the final blessing given by the priest.The exchange of consent made fruitful by the blessing has now to become a reality in their daily lives.This fruitfulness has the following expressions: they give life to new members in the Church, they themselves grow in selflessness and those bear witness to redemptive union of Christ with the Church; they build up Christian families which are the domestic Church units which constitute the Church in a locality.Thus the newly wed go into the wold to live their alliance ratified before the altar. They become witness of the union of Christ with his Church.

The new rite of marriage translate into ritual the basic theological elements of the sacrament of matrimony. Through its celebration they receive the grace to live their commitment throughout their life.Marriage becomes
not so much their initiative as a response to the call which the Lord has made to them in his Church.

SPIRITUALITY OF CHRISTIAN MARRIAGE.

Spirituality  is the living of an adequate response which the human persons are expected to give to the
call of God moved and led by the Spirit of God. Seen in this light spirituality of married life has the
following characteristic:

It is a daily call and response.

a)While all the beings in this world are created by God with a specific
pattern of behavior called natural law, the human beings are called
into existence personally by God. Life is, therefore, a call and response.
This is given at every moment and hence every moment ought to be a
response. In the case  of persons this call is specific to each one and
it manifest itself in different ways.In marriage it is the call of God given
to a man and woman mediated by each other. The life of the married
people will therefore be conditioned by each other. They respond to God
through their mutual love. They make their life meaningful by this mutual
daily response.

b)The human love becomes the sacrament of the love of God.They manifest
their response to God by their love for one another. By the sacrament of
matrimony each becomes a grace to the other. Their human conjugal love
becomes consecrated love. This will not  take place automatically.
Since they carry with them their belonging to sinful Adam and Eve, they
have to be constantly struggling to keep their love for one another free
from selfishness. It is asceticism of self-denial which makes their human
love become the symbol of divine love.

The acceptance of the cross as an expression of their covenantal love.

The married couple will have to accept the differences  of each. This is the integral part of true love.
This will be the cross that they have to experience daily.This does not characterize each one as the cross
of the other.The cross is in the effort to relate to the other. But if they dedicatedly accept this cross and
live it in fidelity, their relationship will result in an experienced of the resurrection,giving them a lasting joy
and happiness.

The spirituality of sexual union.

Sexual union of married couple is an expression of their love for one
another in its highest form.If this is done in a spirit of genuine love and
not in a hedonistic spirit it will become the sacrament of the creative love
of God. It will build up their communion in such a way that it will grow
into genuine personal relationship lasting even unto death ,continually
experienced even when physical sexual pleasure becomes diminished.
The presence of the Spirit of God who is the real source of happy life
is fully operative in the lives of such couples.