Dear Thomas:

I cannot really answer your question because you give no details as to what is breaking-up the marriage.

Divorce, however, is prohibited by the Bible: (Matthew 19:9)  "And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for unchastity, and marries another, commits adultery."

We must keep in mind that when Jesus said this ("except for unchastity", or some translations say "adultery"), Jesus was not saying that in a valid marriage adultery is grounds for divorce. In the previous verse (v. 8) Jesus says: "For your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so."  From a valid sacramental marriage divorce is prohibited and impossible.

Rather Jesus was talking about invalid marriages. The Greek word used here appears to refer to marriages which were not legally marriages (e.g., incestuous or marriage with a Gentile). The exception phrase does not appear the parallel verse in Luke 16:18: "Every one who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery."

The other passage that comes to mind is about husband and wives are to treat each other:

(Eph 5:21-33)Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Wives, be subject to your husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. As the church is subject to Christ, so let wives also be subject in everything to their husbands.

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. Even so husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no man ever hates his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." This mystery is a profound one, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church; however, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

I was divorced thirty-one years ago. I later received an annulment from the Church. But, as to the break-up of the marriage, I tried to convince my wife to remain in the marriage, despite the fact that she committed adultery twice. She decided to leave. I could not chain her to the house.

The point is that all we can do is to appeal for reconciliation, but we cannot force a spouse to cooperate. Sometime we have to let go.

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary