Josephite marriage
Josephite marriage, also known as spiritual marriage, chaste marriage,[1] and continent marriage, is a religiously motivated practice in which a man and a woman marry and live together without engaging in sexual activity.
Catholicism
A feature of Catholic spiritual marriage, or Josephite marriage, is that the agreement to abstain from sex should be a free mutual decision, rather than resulting from impotence or the views of one party.
In senses beyond spiritual marriage, abstinence is a key concept of Church doctrine that demands celibacy of most priests and all monks, nuns and certain other officials in the Church. The doctrine established a "spiritual marriage" of church officials to their church; in order to better serve God, one had to disavow the demands and temptations of traditional marriage. This rule was enforced by Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor, whose marriage to Cunigunde of Luxemburg was also a very famous spiritual marriage. [citation needed]
Saints
Occasionally, spiritual marriages may also be entered later in life, with the renunciation of sexual relations after raising a family to fully dedicate oneself to God. In October 2001,
See also
References
Further reading
- Elliot, D. : Spiritual Marriage: Sexual Abstinence in Medieval Wedlock. Princeton University Press.
- One Chaste Marriage, Four Kids, and the Catholic Church by Geoffrey Leavenworth Nov. 17, 2021, New York Times