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Engaged Couples

Witness to Love: Two Pathways for Engaged Couples

Parish Pathway:  If your church/parish is a Witness to Love parish, contact the parish office for information, obtain materials and meet with a marriage prep coach. The flier below provides a roadmap for the typical marriage formation process. Your parish or diocese may have other requirements.

 

 

 

Virtual Pathway: If you would like to participate in Witness to Love, but are not being prepared at an active WTL parish, our team would be happy to coach you through our Virtual Pathway. Talk to the priest or deacon preparing you and follow the steps on the flier below or in our Virtual Pathway page here.

 

 

 

How to Choose a Mentor Couple:

Requirements:

  1. Married 5 years or more in the Catholic Church
  2. Active in the Church
  3. Have a marriage and family you both admire
  4. Go to the same church as you do now OR attend the church you will be married at OR attend the church that you will be attending after the wedding
  5. Should not be immediate family members

Steps to discerning:

Make sure to pray about your choice. Who can challenge you to have a better marriage? Do they have a strong relationship with Christ? Are they the couple you would go to naturally if you needed relationship help in the future? Do you like the way their kids turned out? Would you be happy if you had a marriage relationship like theirs? Discuss what it is specifically that you admire about their marriage. It doesn’t matter if you know them really well, but it does matter that you trust and admire them. If you get stuck, ask your parish for suggestions but remember that you still need to invite a couple to mentor/sponsor you. Just ask!

How do I go about getting materials or finding an NFP class?

Check with your parish to see if they have Witness to Love materials in stock. If they do not have materials on hand simply click on this link: “Couple’s Marriage Prep Bundle” and order a set of materials. Make sure to order them well before you schedule your first meeting with your Marriage Prep Coordinator to ensure that the materials arrive in time.

If your parish requires or suggests a Natural Family Planning or “Fertility Awareness” course please contact your diocesan Office of Marriage and Family Life for a list of live classes or register for an online NFP class here.

Ready to Get Started?

Your Marriage Prep Coordinator should have everything you need to begin, including workbooks and access to the online course materials.

A Couple's Testimonial

I believe we definitely grew as a couple, not only closer to each other, but closer to God and the church. We really focused on the sacrament of marriage throughout the preparation. We also talked about things that really happen after the wedding; not being 100% perfect all of the time and how to deal with conflict/differences.

We both feel like this marriage prep has helped us so much. We would definitely want others to experience the positive knowledge to be gained. To people who think this is too much work, I would say to them that marriage itself is also a lot of work. I would tell them the divorce statistics today. You get what you put into it. Marriage is something that is supposed to be forever. If you can build your marriage on a strong foundation in the beginning, using the tools and lessons you can learn through Prepare-Enrich, I think you will find marriage to be something that CAN last forever.

I believe the Witness to Love marriage prep program brought us closer to our mentor couple because not only did we discuss some very deep issues, but also they were very honored that we chose them to mentor us. They really put time and effort into our meetings and were honest and open about their experiences. We also went to church as a family, which was also a pretty cool requirement.

~”Witnesses to Love” Jeremy & Lindsay