1601 "The matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life, is by its nature ordered toward the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring; this covenant between baptized persons has been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament."
84
1659 St. Paul said: "Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the Church.... This is a great mystery,
and I mean in reference to Christ and the Church" (⇒ Eph 5:25, ⇒ 32).
1661 The sacrament of Matrimony signifies the union of Christ and the Church. It gives spouses the
grace to love each other with the love with which Christ has loved his Church; the grace of the
sacrament thus perfects the human love of the spouses, strengthens their indissoluble unity, and sanctifies them on the way to eternal life (cf Council of Trent: DS 1799).