Marriage Preparation - Programs

Marriage preparation programs are the way in which the Catholic Church helps you learn about the life you are about to enter as a married couple. The wedding is a day, and marriage is for the rest of your life. Accordingly, the following programs exist to provide you with a foundation about marriage.

Engaged couples seeking marriage in the Diocese of Greensburg are expected to complete marriage preparation in one of three ways: 

Mentor Couple	Also referred to as the Sponsor Couple program, this program serves as the primary program in the Diocese of Greensburg. It is offered for engaged couples who wish to meet in private with a trained parish couple. The sessions cover issues encountered in the day-to-day living of married life. The engaged couple meets in the mentor couple’s home for a series of four, informal two-hour sessions. These are very relaxed meetings, and there is no cost. The sessions are scheduled at times convenient to both couples.
Catholic Engaged Encounter	This is a weekend program run by the independent national organization, Engaged Encounter. Engaged couples attend and room at a retreat center from Friday evening through Sunday morning. There is a fee to cover the cost of room and board. A series of sessions are held in large groups, with married couples making presentations that address particular circumstances of married life. Details are located at http://www.engagedencounter.org or view the diocesan brochure.
Evenings for the Engaged	A program where parishes in the Diocese of Greensburg have their own private, large group sessions, exclusively for their parishioners.  A team of married couples presents topics similar to the way in which they are presented at the Engaged Encounter weekend. The engaged couples have the opportunity to dialog with one another about the topics. The cost, as well as the number of topics and length of time devoted to these sessions, varies by parish. Only a few parishes in the diocese offer this program.

“Do we have to do this?” The short answer is “yes.”

• Seriously think about what you are about to do.
• Marriages fail, in part, because of unanticipated and unfulfilled expectations.
• Think about all the planning that is involved for a one-day wedding.
• Now compare that to the planning for decades of married life to which you are committing yourself.