{"id":145381,"date":"2023-02-14T10:30:00","date_gmt":"2023-02-14T15:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-should-we-wait-another-7-years-to-get-married\/"},"modified":"2024-09-17T11:41:32","modified_gmt":"2024-09-17T15:41:32","slug":"ask-a-priest-should-we-wait-another-7-years-to-get-married","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-should-we-wait-another-7-years-to-get-married\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;Ask a Priest: Should We Wait Another 7 Years to Get Married?&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote>\n<address>Q: I have been in a very loving, Christian relationship for two years now. We want to get married but have to wait another seven-plus years while we finish med school\/grad schools. We have been saving ourselves for our entire relationship, but it seems impossible to continue another seven years. I know I want to marry him, but I&#8217;m not sure what to do. \u2013 M.<\/address>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><em>Answered by Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC<\/em><\/p>\n<p>A: While it is prudential to try to plan ahead, we want to avoid the trap of thinking we can plan everything in life. Remember the parable of the man who wanted to build bigger barns (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Luke%2012%3A16-21&amp;version=NABRE\">Luke 12:16-21<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>What is more important is learning to rely on God&#8217;s providence and not just our own resources and skills.<\/p>\n<p>Jesus took a natural institution and elevated it to a sacrament for baptized Christians, so their love and holiness will be aided by a special sacramental grace.<\/p>\n<p>That means marriage wouldn&#8217;t be just between you and your spouse; rather, Our Lord wants to be in the center of the relationship. You would have God on your side.<\/p>\n<p>Being together intimately is one aspect of marriage, but it shouldn\u2019t be the only motivation for marriage. Marriage brings many benefits beyond marital intimacy, including the spiritual good of the spouses.<\/p>\n<p>It is good to keep things in perspective, too. Many graduate students do marry and start families while completing their studies. It\u2019s not impossible.<\/p>\n<p>If you marry but have serious reasons for delaying the start of a family while completing graduate studies, there are resources such as NaProTechnology that could help you live married life more chastely.<\/p>\n<p>These resources could also help you conceive when you discern you are ready without violating your health (through artificial means) or your Christian convictions.<\/p>\n<p>That said, a prolonged courtship isn\u2019t always recommended. Remaining chaste is a relationship isn\u2019t easy, and the longer the courtship, the tougher the challenge.<\/p>\n<p>Also, be wary of thinking that you need to have everything &#8220;perfectly&#8221; in place before marriage. Six years from now you might face a situation that tempts you to put off marriage even further.<\/p>\n<p>In any case, it\u2019s impossible to discern what the future holds. Plan as you might, marriage will bring its own surprises, not all of them pleasant.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps it would be to take some of this to prayer and see whether the Holy Spirit might be inviting you to have more faith in God and less on human planning.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Q: I have been in a very loving, Christian relationship for two years now. We want to get married but have to wait another seven-plus years while we finish med [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":362,"featured_media":145952,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[3718],"tags":[6665],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-145381","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ask-a-priest","tag-dating-marriage"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"","pp_force_visibility":null,"pp_subpost_visibility":null,"pp_inherited_force_visibility":null,"pp_inherited_subpost_visibility":null,"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v28.8 (Yoast SEO v28.8) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>&quot;Ask a Priest: Should We Wait Another 7 Years to Get Married?&quot; - Regnum Christi<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-should-we-wait-another-7-years-to-get-married\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"&quot;Ask a Priest: Should We Wait Another 7 Years to Get Married?&quot;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Q: I have been in a very loving, Christian relationship for two years now. We want to get married but have to wait another seven-plus years while we finish med [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-should-we-wait-another-7-years-to-get-married\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Regnum Christi\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/RegnumChristiEn\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-02-14T15:30:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-09-17T15:41:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/1200x675-RC.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"675\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@RegnumChristiEn\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@RegnumChristiEn\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/ask-a-priest-should-we-wait-another-7-years-to-get-married\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/ask-a-priest-should-we-wait-another-7-years-to-get-married\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8ad2d347644cc6887ae52670c470c68b\"},\"headline\":\"&#8220;Ask a Priest: Should We Wait Another 7 Years to Get Married?&#8221;\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-02-14T15:30:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-09-17T15:41:32+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/ask-a-priest-should-we-wait-another-7-years-to-get-married\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":434,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/ask-a-priest-should-we-wait-another-7-years-to-get-married\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/09\\\/Ask-A-Priest-Header.png\",\"keywords\":[\"Dating &amp; Marriage\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Ask a Priest\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/ask-a-priest-should-we-wait-another-7-years-to-get-married\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/ask-a-priest-should-we-wait-another-7-years-to-get-married\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/ask-a-priest-should-we-wait-another-7-years-to-get-married\\\/\",\"name\":\"\\\"Ask a Priest: Should We Wait Another 7 Years to Get Married?\\\" - Regnum Christi\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/ask-a-priest-should-we-wait-another-7-years-to-get-married\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/ask-a-priest-should-we-wait-another-7-years-to-get-married\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/09\\\/Ask-A-Priest-Header.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-02-14T15:30:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-09-17T15:41:32+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/ask-a-priest-should-we-wait-another-7-years-to-get-married\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/ask-a-priest-should-we-wait-another-7-years-to-get-married\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/ask-a-priest-should-we-wait-another-7-years-to-get-married\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/09\\\/Ask-A-Priest-Header.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/09\\\/Ask-A-Priest-Header.png\",\"width\":3750,\"height\":2500,\"caption\":\"Regnum Christi Spirituality Center Ask a Priest\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/ask-a-priest-should-we-wait-another-7-years-to-get-married\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Portada\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"&#8220;Ask a Priest: Should We Wait Another 7 Years to Get Married?&#8221;\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"RegnumChristi.com\",\"description\":\"Regnum Christi is a Catholic Community of Apostles including lay people, consecrated men and women, and the priestly order of the Legionaries of Christ\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"RegnumChristi.com\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/07\\\/open-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/07\\\/open-1.png\",\"width\":900,\"height\":600,\"caption\":\"RegnumChristi.com\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/RegnumChristiEn\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/RegnumChristiEn\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/regnumchristi_english\\\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8ad2d347644cc6887ae52670c470c68b\",\"name\":\"Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/485147bd811c2a8642adf1f1806f85f0adef2b00ef8ccabc9b46f8420af19e16?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/485147bd811c2a8642adf1f1806f85f0adef2b00ef8ccabc9b46f8420af19e16?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/485147bd811c2a8642adf1f1806f85f0adef2b00ef8ccabc9b46f8420af19e16?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC\"},\"description\":\"Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC, ordained to the priesthood in 2001, taught theology and Scripture at the then Mater Ecclesiae College in Rhode Island and is now a part-time chaplain at Overbrook Academy in Greenville, R.I. He holds degrees from Holy Apostles College and Seminary in Connecticut, the Regina Apostolorum Athenaeum in Rome, and Northwestern University in Illinois. He was an assistant publisher of the National Catholic Register and Faith &amp; Family magazine and an editor of the Zenit news agency\u2019s English edition. He has written for\u00a0SpiritualDirection.com\u00a0and\u00a0ePriest. Fr. McIlmail also worked in spiritual retreats in the Northeast, New England, the Midwest, and the South\u00a0and assisted with mission work in Mexico. Born in Philadelphia, he worked in journalism and was active in the pro-life movement before entering the novitiate of the Legion of Christ in 1992. His contributions to RCSpirituality include responding to\u00a0Ask A Priest\u00a0questions and sharing his insights in our\u00a0Weekly Newsletter.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.regnumchristi.com\\\/en\\\/author\\\/emcilmail\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\"Ask a Priest: Should We Wait Another 7 Years to Get Married?\" - Regnum Christi","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-should-we-wait-another-7-years-to-get-married\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\"Ask a Priest: Should We Wait Another 7 Years to Get Married?\"","og_description":"Q: I have been in a very loving, Christian relationship for two years now. We want to get married but have to wait another seven-plus years while we finish med [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-should-we-wait-another-7-years-to-get-married\/","og_site_name":"Regnum Christi","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/RegnumChristiEn","article_published_time":"2023-02-14T15:30:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-09-17T15:41:32+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":675,"url":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/1200x675-RC.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@RegnumChristiEn","twitter_site":"@RegnumChristiEn","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-should-we-wait-another-7-years-to-get-married\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-should-we-wait-another-7-years-to-get-married\/"},"author":{"name":"Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC","@id":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/8ad2d347644cc6887ae52670c470c68b"},"headline":"&#8220;Ask a Priest: Should We Wait Another 7 Years to Get Married?&#8221;","datePublished":"2023-02-14T15:30:00+00:00","dateModified":"2024-09-17T15:41:32+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-should-we-wait-another-7-years-to-get-married\/"},"wordCount":434,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-should-we-wait-another-7-years-to-get-married\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Ask-A-Priest-Header.png","keywords":["Dating &amp; Marriage"],"articleSection":["Ask a Priest"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-should-we-wait-another-7-years-to-get-married\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-should-we-wait-another-7-years-to-get-married\/","url":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-should-we-wait-another-7-years-to-get-married\/","name":"\"Ask a Priest: Should We Wait Another 7 Years to Get Married?\" - Regnum Christi","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-should-we-wait-another-7-years-to-get-married\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-should-we-wait-another-7-years-to-get-married\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Ask-A-Priest-Header.png","datePublished":"2023-02-14T15:30:00+00:00","dateModified":"2024-09-17T15:41:32+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-should-we-wait-another-7-years-to-get-married\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-should-we-wait-another-7-years-to-get-married\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-should-we-wait-another-7-years-to-get-married\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Ask-A-Priest-Header.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Ask-A-Priest-Header.png","width":3750,"height":2500,"caption":"Regnum Christi Spirituality Center Ask a Priest"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-should-we-wait-another-7-years-to-get-married\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Portada","item":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"&#8220;Ask a Priest: Should We Wait Another 7 Years to Get Married?&#8221;"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/","name":"RegnumChristi.com","description":"Regnum Christi is a Catholic Community of Apostles including lay people, consecrated men and women, and the priestly order of the Legionaries of Christ","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/#organization","name":"RegnumChristi.com","url":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/open-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/open-1.png","width":900,"height":600,"caption":"RegnumChristi.com"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/RegnumChristiEn","https:\/\/x.com\/RegnumChristiEn","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/regnumchristi_english\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/8ad2d347644cc6887ae52670c470c68b","name":"Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/485147bd811c2a8642adf1f1806f85f0adef2b00ef8ccabc9b46f8420af19e16?s=96&d=blank&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/485147bd811c2a8642adf1f1806f85f0adef2b00ef8ccabc9b46f8420af19e16?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/485147bd811c2a8642adf1f1806f85f0adef2b00ef8ccabc9b46f8420af19e16?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC"},"description":"Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC, ordained to the priesthood in 2001, taught theology and Scripture at the then Mater Ecclesiae College in Rhode Island and is now a part-time chaplain at Overbrook Academy in Greenville, R.I. He holds degrees from Holy Apostles College and Seminary in Connecticut, the Regina Apostolorum Athenaeum in Rome, and Northwestern University in Illinois. He was an assistant publisher of the National Catholic Register and Faith &amp; Family magazine and an editor of the Zenit news agency\u2019s English edition. He has written for\u00a0SpiritualDirection.com\u00a0and\u00a0ePriest. Fr. McIlmail also worked in spiritual retreats in the Northeast, New England, the Midwest, and the South\u00a0and assisted with mission work in Mexico. Born in Philadelphia, he worked in journalism and was active in the pro-life movement before entering the novitiate of the Legion of Christ in 1992. His contributions to RCSpirituality include responding to\u00a0Ask A Priest\u00a0questions and sharing his insights in our\u00a0Weekly Newsletter.","url":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/author\/emcilmail\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145381","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/362"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145381"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145381\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145381"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=145381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}