preparation « For Your Marriage

Everything You Wanted to Ask About Marriage–And Beyond

Why does a Catholic wedding normally take place in a church? What does marriage preparation involve? What should a couple do if their marriage is in trouble? Read the answers to these and other FAQs about marriage in the Catholic Church.

Marriage Preparation Is More Than a Formality, Says Pope

In a January speech, Pope Benedict XVI explained the relationship between the Church’s marriage ministry and church law. He called for a “full pastoral commitment” to insure that couples understand the obligations required so that the Sacrament of Marriage is valid.

A Wedding Planning Reality Check

If you’re caught up in the stress of wedding planning, step back for a moment and consider what’s really important about your big day.

New Marriage Prep Program Debuts

Couples in the “Fully Engaged” marriage-preparation program developed by the Diocese of St. Cloud, Minn., and fully initiated there at this start of this year typically meet four or more times with a trained mentor or mentor-couple to discuss key issues in married life. “The mission of ‘Fully Engaged’ is to help engaged couples solidify [...]

Bishops’ Pastoral Letter on Marriage

In November 2009 the U.S. Catholic Bishops approved a pastoral letter entitled “Marriage: Love and Life in the Divine Plan.” The letter brings together the Church’s key teachings on marriage as both a natural gift and a sacrament.

March 2010: Getting to the Heart of Marriage Preparation

Marriage preparation is “precious work” both because “we know that the foundations of a long and happy marriage are laid down in its earliest years” and, “just as surely,” because “the seeds of later problems are sown in the neglects of that period,” British Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster said in a Feb. 14 homily in Liverpool. The archbishop said that “marriage preparation is essentially a spiritual work.”

March 2010: Pope Welcomes Plan for Marriage Preparation Handbook

The Pontifical Council for the Family’s plan to develop a handbook on marriage preparation was welcomed by Pope Benedict XVI. The pope re-emphasized the need for a developmental approach to marriage preparation that extends all the way from early youth to the time the sacrament of matrimony is celebrated.

Budgeting for Your Wedding

Costs vary by region, but the average wedding ranges between $20,000 and $25,000. Some couples justify their spending because it’s a “once in a lifetime” event. Others feel pressured by families and friends to stage an elaborate celebration. Expectations may be greater for couples who have been on their own for a while. Presumably, they [...]

Music

Choosing music for the marriage liturgy can be one of the most rewarding tasks of your wedding preparation. Music is more than a decoration to the ceremony – it is an integral part of the rite, just like the prayers, readings, and actions. Music has the power to convey the depths of God’s love for [...]

Ceremony Options

The Catholic wedding liturgy (or ceremony) presents engaged couples with both choices and structure. The structure is provided by the Rite of Marriage, the ritual book that contains the prayers, readings and liturgical forms used in Catholic weddings throughout the United States. The choices come from a variety of options provided in the Rite of [...]

Rite of Marriage

The Catholic Church provides three different forms of celebrating the Rite of Marriage. When two Catholics are marrying, the celebration will normally take place within a Mass. The second form, which does not include a Mass, is used when a Catholic marries another baptized Christian. A third form, also outside Mass, is usually celebrated when [...]

Readings

The readings at a Catholic wedding liturgy are a proclamation of God’s Word and of the Church’s faith about marriage. For this reason, they are limited to readings from the scriptures (the Bible). There are nine options for the first reading from the Old Testament, thirteen options for the second reading from the New Testament [...]

Planning a Wedding: Ten Tips

Marriage is a Sacrament! The celebration of Marriage is not just a religious ceremony. A marriage between two Christians is a sacrament, which means it is an encounter with Jesus Christ. In a particular way, the bride and the groom, in offering their lives to each other (symbolized in their vows), pledge their selfless love [...]

Preparation Resources

Marriage preparation programs come in many forms: residential weekends, a weekly series, one day programs, parish-based programs, and couple to couple meetings with a mentor couple. Here are some widely-used ones. Before I Do – Preparing for the Sacrament of Marriage Contact: avemariapress.1@nd.edu A Decision to Love 800-321-0411 When Two Become One In this DVD, [...]

Rite for Celebrating Marriage Between a Catholic and an Unbaptized Person

The rite for a Catholic marrying a catechumen (one who is preparing for baptism), a non-Christian, or someone who does not believe in God exemplifies sensitivity for the unbaptized person and his/her family. This third form has the same four basic elements as the first two forms of the rite: questions about intent, exchange of consent, the blessing and exchange of rings, and the nuptial blessing.

Rite for Celebrating Marriage Outside of Mass

When a Catholic marries a Christian of another denomination, the Rite for Celebrating Marriage Outside Mass is used. Hospitality suggests that this form is the appropriate one when a significant number of guests are not Catholic and cannot join in Holy Communion.

Rite for Celebrating Marriage Within Mass

The Catholic Rite of Marriage centers around two key moments: the Exchange of Consent and the Nuptial Blessing. Marriage is rooted in the couple’s mutual vows of faithful love and is blessed by God as an image of the marriage between Christ and the Church. The couple’s declaration of reciprocal consent and the nuptial blessing reveal the sacramental nature of marriage as the spouses become symbols of Christ’s selfless love.

Gospel Readings

Gospel reading suggestions for a Catholic wedding ceremony.

New Testament Readings

Readings and reflections from the New Testamant.

Old Testament Readings

Readings and reflections from the Old Testament.

Making a Success of Marriage

“At its very best marriage affords a man and woman the opportunity to create not only offspring but an entirely unique creature called ‘us,’” David Yount writes in Making a Success of Marriage: Planning for Happily Ever After.

Premarital Inventories

Readiness for marriage cannot be scientifically measured, but an inventory helps engaged couples to make sure that they have discussed the most important issues. These are NOT tests, but rather instruments that prompt discussion on sometimes sensitive issues

Posts Tagged ‘preparation’