Question 2 - Validity of Marriage
Father, I just joined Tradition. Is my marriage in the Novus Ordo valid? Should we renew the exchange of our vows?
In the sacrament of Marriage, the spouses are the ministers of the sacrament. The priest is only the official witness of the Church. Provided that the necessary conditions were gathered at the moment of the exchange of the vows (both spouses were free to get married; they had the intention to have kids if God wanted to give them kids; they wanted to be faithful to one another; they wanted to be united in the sacrament till death), there is absolutely no reason to doubt the validity of your marriage.
The Church insists so much on the indissolubility of the sacrament of marriage that there is no such thing as the renewal of marital vows among her approved ceremonies. In avoiding having such a ceremony, the Church probably wanted to prevent any thought among the Faithful that there could be such a thing as temporary marital vows. But… the main problem today with the Novus Ordo Church’s marriages is that they are providing Declarations of Nullity for reasons that are very untraditional and unreal, having thus giving way to a «Catholic Divorce». I would strongly advice that you approach the priest and present him your situation if you have been given a so called «annulment» by the Novus Ordo.
