Is my marriage valid?

[didache]

When I was 18 years old I participated in an abortion.
From then until I was 31 years of age I was not a practicing Catholic.
When I was 31 I got married in a Catholic church.
However, neither my wife or I did penance before we were married.
Last month I went to penance and confessed this grave sin.
My concern now is whether my marriage is valid in the eyes of the Chuch? If not, what can I do?

 

[Jan_Wakelin]

The validity of a marriage does not depend on the holiness of the couple. If it is a sacramental marriage (that is, both the husband and the wife are baptized), then in order to receive the graces, that is, the fruit of the sacrament, they must be properly disposed.

1128 This is the meaning of the Church’s affirmation that the sacraments act ex opere operato (literally: “by the very fact of the action’s being performed”), i.e., by virtue of the saving work of Christ, accomplished once for all. It follows that “the sacrament is not wrought by the righteousness of either the celebrant or the recipient, but by the power of God.” From the moment that a sacrament is celebrated in accordance with the intention of the Church, the power of Christ and his Spirit acts in and through it, independently of the personal holiness of the minister. Nevertheless, the fruits of the sacraments also depend on the disposition of the one who receives them.

So, your marriage was always assumed to be valid, dispite the state of your soul. Thank God you have returned to grace through the sacrament of Confession. There is no more to be done than to ask God daily to help you to remain in his grace.