Marriage preparation is needed for any couple seeking the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony. This process is tailored to the needs of the couple.
“Marriage preparation constitutes a providential and favourable period for those oriented toward this Christian sacrament, and a Kayrós, i.e., a period in which God calls upon the engaged and helps them discern the vocation to marriage and family life. The engagement period is set within the context of a rich evangelization process. In fact, questions that affect the family converge in the life of the engaged, the future spouses. They are therefore invited to understand the meaning of the responsible and mature love of the community of life and love which their family will be, a real domestic church which will contribute toward enriching the whole Church. The importance of this preparation involves a process of evangelization which is both maturation and deepening in the faith. If the faith is weak or almost nonexistent, it must be revived. Thorough, patient instruction that arouses and nourishes the ardor of a living faith cannot be excluded. Especially where the environment has become paganized, it will be particularly advisable to offer a “journey of faith, which is similar to the catechumenate” (FC 66), and a presentation of the fundamental Christian truths that may help acquire or strengthen the maturity of the faith of the persons contracting marriage. It would be desirable if the favourable moment of marriage preparation could be transformed, as a sign of hope, into a New Evangelization for the future families.”
Pontifical Council for the Family, Preparation for the Sacrament of Marriage, 2 (Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1996).
CCC 1603 “The intimate community of life and love which constitutes the married state has been established by the Creator and endowed by him with its own proper laws.… God himself is the author of marriage”(GS 48 § 1). The vocation to marriage is written in the very nature of man and woman as they came from the hand of the Creator. Marriage is not a purely human institution despite the many variations it may have undergone through the centuries in different cultures, social structures, and spiritual attitudes. These differences should not cause us to forget its common and permanent characteristics. Although the dignity of this institution is not transparent everywhere with the same clarity, (Cf. GS 47 § 2.) some sense of the greatness of the matrimonial union exists in all cultures. “The well-being of the individual person and of both human and Christian society is closely bound up with the healthy state of conjugal and family life.”(GS 47§ 1).
Contact Pat Shea upon your engagement to set up a time to meet with Fr. Hank or Fr. Raymond and discuss further details.