Scottish Catholic Observer

Married life ‘is something so beautiful, so beautiful that we must preserve it, because it is forever’, the Pope said, but he also offered three words – permission, thanks and forgiveness – to help married couples in their lives.

Speaking of couple preparing for marriage, he said, “I tell them they are the ones who have courage, because it’s not easy to form a family. It’s not easy to make a life commitment, it takes courage, and I congratulate them because they have courage.”

Referring to the three words of advice he gave, he continued, “Always ask your spouse, the wife to the husband and the husband to the wife, ‘what do you think, what do you think if we do this?’, because it’s the spouses who confer the sacrament of marriage, one to the other. And this sacramental relationship is maintained with this sentiment of gratitude, of thanks.”

The third word, he concluded, is ‘a very hard word to say.’ In marriage mistakes are always made, he said, and the important thing is to know how recognise one’s mistakes and ask for forgiveness, which ‘does a lot of good.’

Pope Francis finished with a reminder that love can overcome any problems in a marriage. Calling on young couple never to finish a day ‘without making peace’ – “because the cold war the next day can be very dangerous” – he added that ‘where there is love, a gesture fixes everything’.

“In marriage there are always problems or discussions,” the Pope said. “It’s habitual and it happens that the husband and wife argue, raise their voice, fight.

“But don’t panic when this happens.”