Since the restoration of the diaconate as a permanent degree of the sacrament of Holy Orders at the Second Vatican Council, the call for candidates has multiplied in dioceses throughout the world. Many married men have responded[1]. However, the Magisterium, ecclesial communities and all baptised people have yet to fully grasp this new development. In the ecclesiastical province of Lille in the Hauts de France region, research based on semi-directive interviews has been undertaken. Its aim is to understand how the sacrament of Holy Orders is rooted in the sacrament of marriage experienced by couples whose spouses are permanent deacons, and what transformations and innovations have taken place in their couples and in their ecclesial practices. In the ecclesiastical province of Lille, after the call to the diaconate and a diocesan year of discernment (called year zero), candidates undertake a six-year provincial formation course, with each diocese retaining its own procedures for their progression towards ordination to the diaconate.