The Sacrament of Marriage

Marriage is a mystical union between a
Bride and a Groom
Patterned closely upon the love of
Christ for His Church

As We read in the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

"On the threshold of his public life Jesus performs his first sign
- at his mother's request - during a wedding feast.
The Church attaches great importance to Jesus' presence
at the wedding at Cana. She sees in it the confirmation
of the goodness of MARRIAGE and the proclamation
that thenceforth MARRIAGE will be an efficacious
sign of Christ's presence."

Here at Saint Patrick Catholic Church, we will do
all in our power to insure that you and your guests
experience the loving presence of Jesus at your personal wedding feast.
You will experience a
"confirmation of the goodness of marriage" and of
you and of your families and guests,
all of whom are welcome to share holy communion
the fullest sign of Christ's blessing upon your new life together!

Marriages may be celebrated in any of five ways at
Saint Patrick Catholic Church.

Your wedding may be celebrated within a Nuptial Mass. This is the most commonly requested celebration.

Your wedding may be celebrated with a Catholic Wedding Service, with is a shortened service without a Eucharistic celebration.

We celebrate wedding Masses and Services for those previously married outside the church by a Justice of the Peace, Judge, or protestant minister.

We are happy to renew your wedding vows for anniversaries and special occasions. A special Mass for this may also be scheduled if you desire it.

We offer the option of a Wedding Service at a place of your choosing away from the church.

Since your Wedding day should be as individual as you are,
we offer as many options as possible to make this day
memorable for bride, groom, and guests!

There is no requirement for marriage classes or other time
consuming preparatory sessions before your wedding.
Your days will already be overfilled with preparations
for the wedding day without such added requirements.

We recently discovered a web site detailing the costs associated with being married at Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome. This site details, among other things, all costs associated with the wedding itself (which are quite extensive). As the pricing structure is quite high, it bears reading:

Basic Costs:

How much will it cost you to be married here in Rome? Depending on what you want it may vary. We have found that weddings in Rome are very time consuming and take us away from the work of the parish. Weddings for visiting couples are an additional service we provide beyond our usual parish responsibilities.

As of February 23, 2008, we were informed that St. Peter's Basilica has just increased their fees (in fact they have doubled). This will mean that, as of March 1, 2008 we are readjusting the fee we require. Our basic cost (for the Chapel of the Choir in St. Peter's Basilica, your church paperwork, the administrative costs and time of the Santa Susanna Parish Staff, the organist and the priest) is 1,150 Euros (or the US dollar equivalent). The fee for the Chapel and for the organist alone make up a little more than one half of this amount. This fee must be paid in full by check at least TWO MONTHS prior to the wedding date. If the wedding is canceled after that date, these fees are not refundable! However, a 200 € deposit or its American dollar equivalent is now required once the wedding date is confirmed at St. Peter's Basilica (this requirement begins February 24, 2009 and applies to wedding dates requested after March 1. ) We are often asked if it is appropriate to give a personal gift to the priest celebrating the wedding. This is certainly not required, but if you would like to do this, the suggested gift would be 100 € or so, given on the day of the wedding with your thanks for his assistance. Please note that if we do decide to continue assisting with weddings at St. Peter's, these fees will be raised as of January 1, 2011, due to the increase time and paperwork involved in arranging these weddings.

Our thought is this: if the Vatican can publish its rates for the use of the best known church in all Catholicism, then we certainly can as well.

At Saint Patrick Catholic Church
Your wedding day will be celebrated with
Dignity, understanding and concern to detail!