The Religious Bulletin of the University of Notre Dame offers the following suggestions regarding courtship and marriage:

Keep your head. Love is proverbially blind, but if possible, keep your head.

Lead a clean life. This should always be possible. The great aids to it are: a) Clean ideals – the Blessed Virgin Mary for womanhood, St. Joseph for manhood; b) Clean companionship, dictated by decent self-respect; c) The private vow of chastity made with your confessor’s permission; d) An ardent attachment to the sacraments and prayer.

Learn frugality. The woman who has to be won by expensive presents is not worth winning. Let her love you for yourself. If you spoil her now you’ll have to pay the bills later on. Frugality is an essential of marriage.

Seek counsel. Your parents may be pretty dumb in your eyes, but they know much more than you do about marriage. And your priest knows plenty about what wrecks marriage. Those who don't consult him before marriage are most likely to do so after it’s too late.

Never confuse either infatuation or lust with love. Love implies reverence. A man or woman who does not command your respect is not worthy of you. Your own self-respect demands that you shun such company; and if you are lacking in self-respect, you are doomed to learn by bitter experience that lust is a terrible master.

Marry your own. Your Catholic faith is your greatest treasure. Protect that treasure by taking as your spouse one who loves the Faith and practices it as you do. This com­mon faith constitutes a powerful reinforcement of your mar­riage vow. It serves as an anchor, helping you to weather the storms of life that are sure to come.

As a note of special advice to women, they also recommend:

Pay some attention to a man's ability as a breadwinner. Food must be provided for a family to survive. The mortgage, insurance, and utility companies present their bills with terrifying regularity on the first of the month. No pay, no service. More important than dancing dexterity is the ability to make a living and to maintain a home. This means a willingness to work — and to keep on working when babies come and living expenses mount.