Noted author and moral theologian William May presents a timely treatise that explains how marriage is the indispensable rock upon which is built not only a good family but, as Pope John Paul II says, "a civilization of love." This is so precisely because, as May shows so well, marriage is person-affirming, love-enabling, life-giving and sanctifying.

Because of these four qualities, marriage fully respects the equal dignity of husband and wife as persons, and it also recognizes and values the complementarity of their sexuality. Likewise, marriage honors the truth that each new human life brought about by the marital union is a person equal in dignity to his mother and father. Thus, May probes the social significance of this complementarity of men and women, as well as the reasons why human beings are to be begotten only in an act of spousal love, not made by new "reproductive techniques."

This profound and readable work is rooted in the understanding of marriage proclaimed by the Catholic Church, particularly by Pope John Paul II, the greatest champion of marriage and family in the world today. May devotes particular attention to John Paul II's vision of the family in his eloquent and heart-filled "Letter to Families."

"Professor May enjoys great prestige - it is most encouraging to see a professor of such authority present a book which is solid, modern and faithful to Church teaching."
- Cardinal Alfonso Trujillo
President, Pontifical Council for the Family

"Disarmingly easy to read, this book itself simulates a rock: in terms of its authority derived from Scripture and Church teaching, and in the treatment of its subject which is always clear and compelling."
- Dr. Donald de Marco
Author, Biotechnology and the Assault on Parenthood