Pope Francis urged 10,000 engaged couples who gathered in St Peter’s Square this morning to build their relationship on charity and not to be afraid of “for ever”.
During the ceremony organised by the Pontifical Council for the Family the couples shared testimony, sang songs and heard readings about love.
Pope Francis answered questions from the young people about commitment, living together and marriage.
“Today many people are afraid of making definitive decisions, that affect them for all their lives, because it seems impossible,” he said. “This fear of 'for ever' is cured by entrusting oneself day by day to the Lord Jesus in a life that becomes a daily spiritual path of common growth, step by step.”
“You would not wish to build [love] on the shifting sands of emotions, but on the rock of true love, the love that comes from God.”
"In the Our Father prayer we say, 'Give us this day our daily bread'. Married couples may also learn to pray, 'Give us this day our daily love', teach us to love each other."
In an address to bishops from Poland who were visiting Rome last week, Pope Francis blamed the tendency to see marriage as a “form of emotional satisfaction that can be constructed in any way or modified according to one’s will” as at least one cause for an increase in the divorce rate.
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