Member Supported Restoration Radio

In this episode of Pastoralia, we take a few steps backward from our look at Catholic child rearing to discuss the Catholic ideal of courtship. Blind and infatuated worldlings date in order to date, with perhaps only the remotest thought to the permanence of marriage. Why, then, does a Catholic not merely date for the sake of dating? We begin our episode with a look at the purposes of courtship, which extend well beyond compatibility testing. Next we speak about the spiritual aspect of courtship and, for all the good which may come out of it, the necessary near occasions of sin it requires. How is a Catholic to court virtuously? Before moving any further, armed with the knowledge of the purposes of courtship, Father discusses who is — and who isn't — someone to pursue in a courtship. Avoiding stock answers, we look at not only the most basic requirements, without which a marriage would lack a common foundation, but, beyond the necessities and although not strictly required, how compatibility between two po