Do people have to have sex on their wedding night after married

patron-saint-of-smart-asses:

walkingxwithxstrangers:

journeyofaconvert:

patron-saint-of-smart-asses:

They can start having sex as soon or as far away from their wedding night as they feel comfortable with.

However, you do have to consummate your marriage if you are Catholic. The Church also encourages the practice of natural family planning, so if you are trying to avoid pregnancy that might mean abstaining from relations until a later date from your wedding, until you are infertile or at certain periods in your marriage, but if you don’t consummate your marriage (as a Catholic) that can be grounds for an annulment from my understanding.

Ok but what about Mary and Joseph though? They never consummated their marriage. Why is that a bad thing? Seriously, someone tell me

Because Mary was a virgin dedicated to God’s service, who was then chosen to be His mother, and Joseph was to be her guardian. Furthermore, the Holy Family’s purpose was to raise up the Savior before He would start His ministry, not emulate marriage for other people to copy.  They had a valid marriage, but it was a special exception, considering they were raising God in the flesh Himself.

Here is an article that may interest you: https://rcspirituality.org/ask_a_priest/ask-a-priest-how-could-marys-marriage-to-joseph-be-considered-valid-when-it-was-not-consummated/