A Catholic Handbook for Engaged and Newly Married Couples

In this practical guide to marriage, learn the “secrets” of building a sound, spiritual relationship with your fiancé or spouse—from toothpaste in the sink to natural family planning.

In the Foreword, Father Kenneth Baker praises the book as both practical and faithful: "This handbook is outstanding both for its practicality and for its fidelity to the Catholic faith. It is practical because it offers good suggestions on most aspects of married life, such as the wedding, the honeymoon, the relationship between husband and wife, in-laws, finances, raising children, sexual relations, practicing the faith, and developing a spiritual life of personal relations with God.

The handbook is also thoroughly Catholic. It offers excellent advice on how to live the Catholic faith as a married man or woman. There is no waffling here, no dissent, no ambiguity. The author spells out clearly what the Catholic Church expects of married people in the areas of married life, sexuality, and family life."

Frederick Marks, who holds an undergraduate degree from Holy Cross College and a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan, has lectured widely and taught courses on the fundamentals of the Catholic faith at both the university and parish level. He is also the author of numerous articles, as well as five other books, including A Brief for Belief: The Case for Catholicism (Queenship, 1999). He has been married to his wife, Sylvia, for over thirty years. They have a daughter, Mary Anne.