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Marriage Preparation Schedule
Office of Marriage and Family Life Formation
900 S. Woodward Street
Allentown, PA 18103
MFLF@allentowndiocese.org
Directions available upon request
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Diocesan Policies for Marriage
Couples should inform the parish of their plans to wed and schedule a meeting with the priest as soon as they are engaged.
The FOCCUS Inventory should be taken online within two weeks of the first meeting with your priest. After you complete the online Marriage Preparation Registration form, the Office of Marriage and Family Life Formation will create a FOCCUS survey for you. You will receive an email from FOCCUS at each of your individual email accounts. You are to take the FOCCUS Inventory separately without conferring on your answers so that the results will be valid. FOCCUS is a survey designed to help couples learn more about their unique relationship. Its purpose is to facilitate open and honest communication between you as a couple.
Marriage preparation classes must be taken at least six months prior to the wedding date. Please review this website for the schedule.
One in Christ Marriage Preparation Program
Cost: $150.00 per couple
The One in Christ Marriage Preparation Program aims to prepare the engaged couple to administer the sacrament of marriage to each other. It contains catechetical, pastoral, and spiritual components. Couples meet over a four week period in a classroom setting to learn from teachers trained in Catholic theology and adult learning pedagogy. A panel of married couples makes the pastoral contribution by putting the theology learned in the classroom into a real-life context for the couples. The couples also experience a day of recollection for an opportunity for spiritual reflection.
The program runs monthly, rotating among the Lehigh Valley, Berks County, and Schuylkill/Carbon County areas, enabling couples to attend a marriage preparation program as soon as possible after becoming engaged. Marriage preparation classes must be taken at least six months before the wedding to provide ample time for discernment and planning.
Topics:
The self-sacrificial love that exists within the Trinity, which is the basis for a theological anthropology, is explained and related to marital love. The distinction between a covenantal relationship and a contractual one is explored, revealing why marriage in the Church differs from a simply civil marriage.
The life skills of communication and financial planning are approached from a theological perspective. Communication is rooted in living a virtuous life, communicating the love of God to one’s spouse. Wealth is considered in light of stewardship, as a gift received to be utilized to build the kingdom of God.
The program addresses sexuality and family life in light of the self-sacrificial nature of love and how it manifests itself in one’s relationship with a spouse, with material possessions, and with God Himself. Natural Family Planning and infertility issues are taught from the medical perspective.
The most practical life skill for the engaged couples is prayer. Without the personal encounter with Christ, the information about God’s love taught in the classroom remains academic and impersonal. Thus, the program includes an opportunity to meet Jesus in the sacramental life of the Church.
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Berks County
Registration for every program closes one month prior to the first day of class.
Pre-register online
| Date |
Location |
Time |
Saturdays, August 4, 11, 18, and 25, 2012
Saturday, August 11, 2012 |
Berks Catholic HS, Reading |
Saturdays, 9:00 – 11:30 AM
Saturday, August 11, 1:00 – 3:30 PM |
Tuesdays, November 6, 13, 20, and 27, 2012
Saturday, November 18, 2012 |
Berks Catholic HS, Reading |
Tuesdays, 6:30 – 9:00 PM
Saturday, November 18, 9:00 – 11:30 AM |
Lehigh / Northampton Counties
Registration for every program closes one month prior to the first day of class.
Pre-register online
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| Date |
Location |
Time |
Tuesdays, July 10, 17, 24, and 31, 2012
Saturday, July 21, 2012 |
Notre Dame HS, Easton |
Tuesdays, 6:30 – 9:00 PM
Saturday, 9:00 – 11:30 AM |
Saturdays, October 6, 13, 20, 27, 2012
Saturday, October 13, 2012 |
Notre Dame HS, Easton |
Saturdays, 9:00- 11:30 AM
Saturday, October 13, 2012, 1:00 – 3:30 PM |
Schuylkill / Carbon Counties
Registration for every program closes one month prior to the first day of class.
Pre-register online
| Date |
Location |
Time |
Saturdays, June 2, 9, 16, and 23, 2012
Saturday, June 9, 2012 |
Marian HS, Tamaqua
*Saturday June 2 at St. Jerome School Gym- 266 W. Broad St. Tamaqua, PA 18252 9:00 – 11:30 AM |
Saturdays, 9:00 – 11:30 AM
Saturday, June 9, 2012, 1:00 – 3:30 PM |
Tuesdays, September 4, 11, 18, and 25, 2012
Saturday, September 15, 2012 |
Marian HS, Tamaqua |
Tuesdays, 6:30 – 9:00 PM
Saturday, September 16, 2012, 9:00 – 11:30 AM |
Saturdays, December 1, 8, 15, and 22, 2012
Saturday, December 8, 2012 |
Marian HS, Tamaqua |
Saturdays, 9:00 – 11:30 AM
Saturday, December 8, 2012, 1:00 – 3:30 PM |
CANA II
The Church wants to assist all engaged couples preparing for sacramental marriage. Cana II is for relationships involving children where either or both partners have had a prior marriage that ended in divorce and annulment or death of spouse. Cana II couples participate in the One in Christ Marriage Preparation Program outlined above. A panel of remarried couples is present to assist with issues particular to Cana II couples.
Marriage Preparation Schedule
Engaged Encounter Weekend Schedule
Catholic Engaged Encounter is a weekend retreat for engaged couples. An atmosphere is created for the couple to concentrate exclusively on each other, free of the distractions, pressures and interruptions of daily living – a "time out" away from home, friends, and wedding preparations. There are no group dynamics or group therapy. It is a quiet weekend, specifically designed to give the couple the opportunity to talk honestly and intensively about their future together – an opportunity to discover a deeper appreciation of their relationship and God's call to unite in a permanent union, the Sacrament of Matrimony.
The weekend consists of a series of presentations beginning Friday evening and ending Sunday afternoon. Led by a team of married couples and a priest, the couple is encouraged to talk privately with each other on many aspects of marriage, always from the viewpoint of their own relationship.
Among the subjects discussed are ambitions, goals, attitudes about God, sex, money, children, family, and their role in the church and community. Personal reflection and couple discussion are the main focus of our weekend.
Through personal sharing, the members of the presenting team talk about what the Sacrament of Matrimony means to them personally, as well as the impact a great marriage can have on the world. Personal stories are meant to encourage the engaged couple to explore attitudes and expectations. Good ideas and tools are offered to help the couple to continue to grow closer through the years.
Post Office Box F • Allentown,
PA • 18105-1538
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2003 The Catholic Diocese of Allentown
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