Andrea Grillo Marriage and the Rite: A Liturgical Spirituality for Married Life (Summary) Up until the past century, it has been the unfortunate habit in theological writings to consider liturgy and spirituality two separate fields of study and reflection. In recent years, the connection between the two has been rediscovered and a genuine liturgical spirituality has been sought in both liturgical reform and liturgical theology. The sacrament of marriage presents a prime example of how spirituality and liturgy interact. In reflecting upon the new Rite of Marriage for the Italian Church, based on the editio typica of 1991, the article offers five points of consideration: (1) Marriage is the last of the sacraments in the sense that it presupposes the sacraments of initiation, is founded on the sacraments of healing, and is served by the sacrament of orders. It is also the first sacrament in that it witnesses to the foundational covenant between God and humanity that makes the sacraments possible. It is thus in the celebration of marriage that the Church liturgically celebrates the beginning of spirituality as well as the dedication of a life founded on God’s love. (2) The “christological-ecclesial otherness” precedes the couple, welcoming them. This otherness enables them to see themselves in relation to self and other, a relationship that constitutes the theological horizon of the experience of marriage and family and the anthropological horizon of a deep experience of Church. (3) This connection between marriage and the constitution of the Church has been made more evident in the current rite by a change in the vocabulary and format of the exchange of vows. Thus the liturgy draws the community into this primordial divine-human exchange. (4) The dual pattern of consent and blessing indicates a diversified ecclesial ministry, that is, one that reveals true hierarchy founded on and serving a real communion of baptized lay members. (5) Finally, the diversification between the forms of celebrating B within the celebration of the Eucharist and within a celebration of the Word B provides options for diverse ecclesial situations that can shape and foster an appropriate pastoral practice of preparation for marriage. In addition to these structural points, the article highlights other existential connections between liturgy and married life. The “common places” of the Christian family B within the home, gathered around the table at meals, in the rhythm between work and rest, and in the patience required for reconciliation after an argument B must be recognized as actual places of prayer and relationship with God, that is, as a true “spirituality”. The Church should draw upon the family’s particular spatial and temporal competency in order to draw out the unique experience of the sacraments as they are lived by the Church in the world. The marriage rite is a guide for liturgical spirituality because it is in this rite that the Church’s primary existence in the relationship of love between God and humanity is portrayed and enacted.