On December 26, the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, Pope Francis issued a letter to married couples for the Amoris Laetitia Family Year, which began in March 2021 and concludes in June 2022.

“Marriage, as a vocation, calls you to steer a tiny boat – wave-tossed yet sturdy, thanks to the reality of the sacrament – across a sometimes stormy sea,” the Pope said in his brief letter. “Let us never forget, though, that by virtue of the sacrament of matrimony, Jesus is present in that boat; he is concerned for you and he remains at your side amid the tempest.”