Prayer For Marriage Catholic
Dear Husband,
I pray that you will always love me as much as I love you. Amen!
I pray thee love me best, when others do despise me;
And not to wrong me with a jealous eye,
Nor ever froward word or look of hate;
That thou wouldst keep thy self from all uncleanness,
And from the company of wicked men;
Deeming them good friends who’d do us greatest harm;
And that thou wouldst not too oft my looks admire,
Nor think thyself more worthy than another woman:
For though thy love may be as great as mine is now,
To my Dear and Loving Husband by Anne BradstreetIf ever two were one, then surely we.
“To My Dear and Loving Husband” is a poem written by Anne Bradstreet. The poem was written in 1650 when she was 26 years old. It illustrates the theme of marital love between husband and wife, where they are as one person. The structure of the poem follows:
The first stanza introduces a comparison between herself and her husband using “if ever two were one”. The second stanza describes his kindness towards her which makes him more than just a beloved husband but also a friend that she can trust with all her heart. In the third stanza, there is another comparison made between herself and others’ wives who have been married longer than them; she compares how happy she is with their situations.
If ever man were loved by wife, then thee;
If ever man were loved by wife, then thee;
There’s no one I love as much as thee.
If ever wife was happy in a marriage, then me;
And it’s not just because of your money or fame, but because you really care about me.
If ever wife was happy in a man,
If ever wife was happy in a man,
If ever husband was happy in a wife,
When two are one with hearts and hands,
The angels hear the praises of their God!
Compare with me, ye women, if you can.
Compare with me, ye women, if you can.
If you can’t compare with me, don’t. If you can compare with me, don’t.
Comparing yourself to other people is a dangerous game that will only leave you feeling worse than if you’d never started in the first place. Remember: nobody’s marriage is perfect and there are many things about your husband that aren’t particularly easy to deal with either — but that doesn’t mean they’re reason enough not to try!
I prize thy love more than whole mines of gold
“I prize thy love more than whole mines of gold, and all the riches that the earth contains. I prize thy love more than all my other possessions, for it is better than life itself.”
- King Solomon (Proverbs 8:10-11)
In this passage from the Bible, King Solomon was praising God for his gift of love. Love is what we pray for in marriage because it’s something we cannot do on our own; it has to be given from someone else. Because we don’t have enough strength or power within ourselves to sustain a long lasting relationship with another person, we go to God and ask him to give us his grace so that there will be no end to our union together.
Or all the riches that the East doth hold.
The Song of Songs is a love poem, but it also has some great lessons for married couples. In this chapter, we see that a husband and wife should be like gold and silver. The value of gold is not diminished by being mixed with another metal; in fact, it’s the mixture that makes it even more valuable than pure gold! By working together as one, you can become an even richer couple than either of you could be separately.
If you feel like your marriage isn’t as strong or successful as others around you—or if you’re struggling just to find a partner at all—remember that God made each person unique for a reason: so they could share their gifts with others! And the truth is that no matter how good-looking someone may seem at first glance (think Solomon), they won’t necessarily be right for us because we might have different needs or interests than them (Solomon had 700 wives). So keep on looking until God shows up in such an unexpected place that your heart sings out “I found him! I found him!”
My love is such that rivers cannot quench,
In the words of St. Paul, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.” This love that we are called to live in marriage is known as caritas—God’s own compassionate nature toward us as human beings and our ability to return that love to God and each other. The Church teaches us this through her sacrament of matrimony:
“The spouses are ministers of Christ’s grace who support one another with reciprocal rights and duties for their own salvation and for the well-being of their family” (CCC 1633).
Nor ought but love from thee, give recompense.
If you love someone, then you should be willing to give them your love. And if you are not willing to give, then how can they trust that it is real? And what can they do with a gift that is not free? If I were married and my wife asked me if she could go shopping with her friends on Friday night, and I said “no” because I had already made plans for us—what would that tell her about how much I loved her? How can she trust me if I am unwilling even now to sacrifice something else in order to spend time with her?
Thy love is such I can no way repay.
Now, as you know, love is a two-way street. You can only love someone if they love you back. But when it comes down to it, love is not a one-way street. It’s not just the other person who needs to give and receive love; both people in a marriage need to do that in order for their relationship to be healthy and strong.
The heavens reward thee manifold, I pray.
God is the source of all love. He made you, me, and everyone else in the world. He loves us so much that he sent his son to die for us on the cross so that we could have eternal life with him in heaven.
God wants us to be with him forever and have a relationship with Him. So when you pray for your husband or wife’s salvation, God will reward you manifold! He will give you blessings because he is happy to see how much you love your spouse and want them to be saved by Him as well!
Then while we live, in love let’s so perseverThat when we live no more, we may live ever
In the Catholic Prayer for Marriage, we pray to God that our love will be so strong that it endures in heaven. This is a wonderful prayer because it reminds us of the importance of sacrifice and commitment in marriage. We are called to give up our own desires and needs, even if they aren’t bad or selfish, so that our spouse can have what he or she needs.
Love isn’t all about giving up your wants—it’s also about choosing to put your spouse first out of love for him or her. You don’t want your spouse to feel alone when you’re gone; instead, you want him or her to know that their happiness and well-being are always important to you.
Two people who are in love should strive to make their relationship last forever. This can be done by continuing to show each other how much they mean to each other, just like Anne Bradstreet did for her husband when she wrote this poem.