By Gia Myers • Posted February 4, 2026

Every February, National Marriage Week (Feb. 7-14) culminates in World Marriage Day which invites couples and families to pause and reflect on the beauty, purpose, and spiritual power of marriage.

In the Catholic Church of Philadelphia, the annual celebration that takes place this year on Sunday, Feb. 8, is a call to rediscover marriage as a living sacrament and a wellspring of grace for the Church and society.

Dr. Daniel Drain, director of the archdiocesan Office for Life and Family, describes marriage as nothing less than the primary path to holiness for married couples.

Drawing on the wisdom of St. John Paul II, Drain points to a foundational truth articulated in the pope’s 1981 apostolic exhortation, Familiaris Consortio: “The sacrament of marriage is the specific source and original means of sanctification for Christian married couples and families.”

“Your marriage bond is what’s going to make you a saint,” Drain said, describing marriage as a continual source of God’s grace in a couple’s life.

National Marriage Week, he says, offers couples an invitation to return again to that bond as to a fountain, one that nourishes, refreshes, and renews.

Throughout the week couples are encouraged to mark the occasion in both simple and meaningful ways. Revisiting wedding vows, re-reading the Scripture passages proclaimed at their nuptial Mass, or visiting the church where their marriage began can powerfully reconnect spouses to the grace of the sacrament they received.

Above all, Drain urges couples to take time together to thank God for the shared life that has unfolded since their wedding day.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) supports these efforts by offering a free At-Home Couples’ Retreat designed to help spouses pray, reflect, and grow together throughout the week.

The USCCB promotes National Marriage Week and World Marriage Day to highlight marriage as a lifelong covenant, strengthen families as the “domestic church,” and build a culture of life and love in an increasingly fragmented world.

This year’s theme, “Man and Woman He Created Them: Together with Purpose,” underscores the missionary dimension of marriage.

Drain connects the theme to the archdiocese’s pastoral vision of missionary discipleship. Today’s Christian families, he notes, live counterculturally by their very existence: choosing lifelong fidelity, openness to children, and faith-centered living in a society that often offers little support for those commitments.

In this sense, married couples are living “a missionary adventure,” he said.

Spending time together intentionally, therefore, becomes essential to sustaining married life. One practical way couples can nurture this intentionality is through regular “date nights.”

“You should never stop dating your spouse,” said Drain.

While seasons of life, especially those involving young children, can make formal outings difficult, the heart of a date night is undistracted presence. Time spent over a shared meal – absent device screens – allows couples to delight again in one another and renew the daily gift of self that they first exchanged on their wedding day, Drain believes.

One way for married couples to spend a day together focused on their marriage is the Together in Holiness marriage enrichment conference to be held Saturday, Feb. 28 at St. Peter Church in West Brandywine.

Auxiliary Bishop Efren Esmilla will celebrate Mass to start the day, which will continue with talks by top speakers, meals and opportunities for prayer and meeting other couples.

On-site child care is available, and lunch and breakfast are included in the registration fee. Learn more here.

Local parishes throughout the archdiocese are supporting marriages through special events. St. Ann Parish in Phoenixville will host the third annual “Cana Date Night” Mass and Dinner Feb. 14, featuring a Saturday evening vigil Mass with a nuptial blessing followed by a catered dinner.

St. Maria Goretti Parish in Hatfield will host “Date Night, Marriage Matters 2026,” a formal St. Valentine’s Day celebration with dinner and dancing on Feb. 14.

These gatherings provide fellowship, prayer, and joyful affirmation of married life.

National Marriage Week also coincides with broader efforts to promote a culture of life. The Office for Life and Family will partner with the Pro-Life Union of Greater Philadelphia on Feb. 14 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of St. John Paul II’s Evangelium Vitae, a prophetic 1995 encyclical affirming the sacredness of every human life.

Together, strong marriages and a reverence for life form the foundation of a society rooted in love rather than loneliness, Drain explains.

As Pope Francis once reminded families, marriage is not without crosses. Yet the Christian faith assures couples that suffering, when embraced together, is not without meaning.

“The way of the cross,” Drain said, “is a fruitful way.”

During National Marriage Week, couples are invited to rediscover that truth and to return once more to the source of grace that is their marriage bond.