Colossians 3:14:
(6 months before the wedding) Call as soon as you get engaged! It is important to meet with your priest or deacon even before setting a date. A member of the parish staff will schedule a meeting with you to discuss your wedding preparations as soon as possible.
(7-8 months before the wedding) The FOCCUS Inventory provides you with a personalized profile of your relationship. Your parish will set up your inventory session and, upon completion, the follow-up sessions needed to review your results. These sessions aim to facilitate communication between you and your future spouse. *Note: Some parishes use inventories other than FOCCUS
Before the wedding, the priest will provide a booklet to help you plan your wedding ceremony.
One or two days before the ceremony, there is a practice to which they are invited: the bride and groom and their companions and also ministers (readers) who will participate in the ceremony, it is a way to make the celebration a sacred moment.
If you did not participate at a Catholic parish in Marriage Preparation at the time of your wedding then you can participate in a regularization process. Wedding vows and blessings can be conducted in the church to make your wedding official in the church. Contact our Marriage Preparation Coordinator for more information.
An annulment is the process by which a Priest or advocate assists and ministers to divorced members within our parish community. An annulment is a statement proclaiming that a marriage was not valid in the eyes of the Catholic Church. The annulment process involves prayer, sharing, gathering information, and healing. Annulment advocates educate and encourage the person as they guide and assist them through the annulment process. If you are interested in finding out more about the Annulment process please contact the pastor to answer your questions.
We will include on this page all the guidelines to plan your wedding, in the meantime you can contact the parish priest directly.
Marriages in which the partners do not share the same religious beliefs and affiliations are considered “mixed” marriages, or ecumenical marriages. If the couple is a Catholic and a non-Christian, the marriage is considered interfaith. Mixed marriages also include marriages in which the non-Catholic party has no religious persuasion. We know that ecumenical families are not identical; their lifestyles and faith choices are varied. The Catholic Church does try to support these couples to help them prepare to meet faith challenges with a spirit of holiness. Mixed religion couples can live out Christ’s call to be one and often experience a level of ecumenism more acutely.
For couples who are preparing for marriage, good-quality marriage preparation is essential in helping couples work through the questions and challenges that will arise after they marry, specifically those in regard to raising children.
Baptized Catholics are required to marry according to “canonical form,” that is, in Catholic ceremonies. Normally, a mixed marriage is celebrated by a priest outside of Mass because both spouses so not share full communion with the Church. At times, serious reasons may present obstacles to observing the “canonical form” of marriage. In these cases, the Catholic spouse should seek a Dispensation From Form (permission to marry in a non-Catholic ceremony). The Church cannot recognize a non-Catholic ceremony, involving a Catholic party, without a dispensation. Subsequently, marrying according to canonical form (convalidation) remains possible for Catholics in this situation, even many years after a non-Catholic wedding. See your parish priest or deacon for more information.