The family is the privileged setting where every person learns to give and receive love… The family is an intermediate institution between individuals and society, and nothing can completely take its place… The family is a necessary good for peoples, an indispensable foundation for society and a great and lifelong treasure for couples. It is a unique good for children, who are meant to be the fruit of the love, of the total and self-giving of their parents… The family is also a school which enables men and women to grow to the full measure of their humanity… O God, who in the Holy Family left us a perfect model of family life lived in faith and obedience to your will, help us to be examples of faith and love for your commandments.

Pope Benedict XVI
(courtesy of the Magnificat)