Are you recently engaged? Civilly married and wanting to have your marriage blessed? Just beginning to talk about marriage, but interested in learning more? Congratulations! This is an exciting time for you, and the parish wants to support you as you prepare for this wonderful life change.

The process of preparing for the Sacrament of Matrimony is one of growth and discovery. Preparing for a sacrametnal marriage at will help you build the best possible foundation for life-long marriage. You will explore the meaning and purpose of marriage, the gift of sexuality, and the true meaning of responsible parenthood. You will also discover that, as you grow in your relationship with Christ, you will be able to love each other better. The better you love each other with Christ-like love, the more joy you will discover in your marriage. preparing for marriage does take some time, but the rewards are well worth the effort.

Please call Fr Ross at (907) 474-9032  if you have any questions about marriage or about the process of preparing for marriage.
 

     The Catholic Church has a very genuine and pastoral concern for its members and their growth in holiness. Essential to this is their sacramental life in the Church. Consequently, the Church wants to be involved in their preparation and celebration of the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony.
     The Church teaches that marriage, within God’s plan, is an intimate partnership of life and love. The Church expects a man and a woman to commit themselves to each other for life. They are to be faithful to each other and be open to children. Husbands and wives render mutual help and service to each other through an intimate union of their persons and of their lives. In short, marriage is a union of two persons, an interpersonal relationship which includes the sharing of the whole of their lives.  This commitment of spouses presumes sufficient maturity, freedom, knowledge, and psychological capacity.

• The first step of the process is to set up an appointment with the pastor and identify all the other steps neccesary for preparing for a lifelong marriage. It may take 6 months or longer to fully prepare.
• The  Marraige Prep Check List is a downloadable form to help you keep track of the many steps involved. Preparation includes
  • Pre-Nuptial inquiry
  • Witness Affidavits
  • Pre-Marital Inventory
  • Obtain a current baptismal certificate within 6 months of the date of the marriage for each Catholic (and a Baptismal certificate for a non-Catholic)
  • Marraige Instruction
    • Beloved Classes, or
    • ON Line Instruction
  • Catholic Engaged Encounter Retreat
  • Natural Family Planning INstruction
  • Planning for a Catholic Marraige Liturgy
  • Obtaining an annulment if married previously

• If you are considering marraige, please schedule an appointment with the pastor a minimum of 6 months prior to your planned wedding date.

  The local parishes rotate offering marraige classes each quarter.
• Spring Classes at Saint Rapahel begin in April and will run for 6 consecutive weeks
  Summer Classes at Immaculate Conception
  Fall Classes at St Nicholas
  Winter Classes at Sacred Heart

• Couples planning on attending the Spring Classes should register with
      St. Raphael Catholic Parish
      1125 Old Steese Hwy N.
      Fairbanks, AK
      (907) 457-6603
      straphaelcatholicparish@gmail.com
   
• Beloved – Mystery and Meaning of Marriage includes six inspiring and informative sessions.

CatholicMarriagePrep.com offers an online course of instruction to prepare you for marriage as an alternative to the video based Beloved classes offered at Sacred Heart Cathedral.  The course consists of a total of nine assignments (worksheets).
The work is done in two steps:

1. The couple access their first form and the first worksheet through the links they receive in their instruction email when they register. They fill them out and submit them.
2. Your instructor couple reviews your work and uploads your personal answer key on your profile. The couple must read it before moving to the next step. Your answer key contains the link to your next assignment.

At the end of the course, you will receive a certificate of completion is uploaded to your profile.

Teaching Method: 

• The goal is to get a couple to think and discuss each topic together first, in order to find your own answers. This heuristic process allows you to stay engaged in the subject being discussed and helps you own the knowledge that is being passed on. Instructors help you to understand the teachings of the Church with your customized answer key.
• The course requires a minimum of 20 hours of active work. It is usually completed in three to six weeks. It must be completed within three months maximum.
• Instructors review each worksheet within 24 hours to a maximum of three business days for the regular course.
• Plan on spending 1-2 hours to complete each worksheet plus an additional 1-2 hours to review each answer key. Worksheets on The Rite and Relationship Tools usually take longer. Time will vary according to the discussions that the questions and answers trigger between the couple.

Please counsult the priest at Sacred Heart for more information to insure that the online marriage prep is what is best in your particular cirmstance. For more information, please go to catholicmarriageprep.com/online-pre-cana-info The cost is $194.00 per couple.
 

The Catholic Engaged Encounter Weekend offers couples a unique opportunity to look at their commitment to each other in a deeper way as they prepare for marriage. It gives them the opportunity to focus exclusively on each other for a weekend in peaceful surroundings, free from the pressure and distractions of the outside world.

Though Catholic in origin, this experience is open to any engaged couple wanting to prepare for a deeper, more meaningful life together. The Weekend is an in-depth, private, personal, marriage preparation experience within the context of Catholic faith and values.

The next Engaged Encounter Weekend is scheduled for October 14-16, 2022

• Additional information and a Registration form are available for download below.
• Please contact ceeak@hotmail.com or you may call directly to the local Engaged Encounter at (907) 488 -2462 for more information
• The Engaged Encounter Weekend is required for those preparing through Beloved Classes and encouraged for those use CatholicMariagePrep.com

The book, Together for Life, is available at the parish to help you pick readings and plan for a Catholic Wedding Liturgy. The infomation is also available online at TogetherForLifeOnline.com

• At this website there are many resources to help you understand your wedding ceremony and make it a significant moment in the beginning of your lifelong commitment together.

• PREPARE-ENRICH is designed to help you better understand yourself and your relationship as you prepare for marraige. It contains both a couples assessment and a structured feedback process. As part of the feedback process, the program teaches the couple relevant relationship skills like communication and conflict resolution.
• The goal of the program is to help premarital couples prepare for marriage (PREPARE) and married couples enrich their marriage (ENRICH) by increasing their awareness of relationship strengths and growth areas and providing you with skills to improve your relationship.
• The Customized version is totally online and is tailoed for each couple based on background information you provide.  Customized scales include topics such as cohabitation issues, cultural/ethnic issues, interfaith/interchurch, dating issues, forgiveness and a variety of scales for parenting based on the age of the child and parenting situations (parenting expectations, step-parenting, intergenerational issues, etc.).
• PREPARE-ENRICH asks you questions about communication, conflict resolution, partner style and habits, financial management, leisure activities, affection and sexuality, family and friends, relationship roles, and spiritual beliefs.
• PREPARE-ENRICH also assesses a couple’s closeness and flexibility, family-of-origin, personal stress, four areas of relationship dynamics, and five factors of personality.
• During the feedback process, the facilitator receives a Facilitator’s Report (20-25 pages) and uses it to work with a couple. The couple is given their own Couple’s Report (10 pages) and exercises from a Couple’s Workbook.
• After meeting with the pastor, he will register a couple to take the premarital online inventory. 
  • You will need access to the internet and a credit card.
  • Brdie and Groom work indepently on line to complete the assessment.
  • Once both individuals ahve completed the online portion, the priest is given the results and will schedule a follow up session as you prepare for marriage.

For a person previously married, the prior marriage must be annuled before you can marry in the church. This is different than a civil divorce or civil annulment.

There is a misconception that an annulment is simply a Catholic divorce; nothing could be further from the truth. Divorce is a civil law procedure in which one or both persons decide to end an existing marital contract.

An annulment is different. The Catholic Church teaches that once a sacramental marriage is constituted by the valid, mutual consent of the couple, only death can break the marriage covenant. Marriage is forever. An annulment is an official judgment on the part of the Church that (1) there was an impediment that prohibited a valid marriage, or (2) a defect of the consent of one or both parties rendered the marriage consent invalid.

• LACK OF FORM - The Church requires that a Catholic party must be married before a duly-authorized priest or deacon in the presence of two witnesses. This is called the canonical form of a marriage. If a Catholic is married before a justice of the peace, a civil judge, or a minister of another Christian church, then the marriage is not considered valid in the eyes of the Church. This is called a lack of form. The bishop can grant a dispensation from the requirement of canonical form, but it must be done before the wedding.
• FORMAL CASE - Every broken marriage has various elements and causes that brought about its demise.  If the prior marriage does not qualify for a lack of Form, than a formal case may be necessary. Before a Diocesan Tribunal can render a decision, it needs to obtain as complete a history of the marriage as possible, including information about the parties’ background, the events surrounding courtship and wedding, as well as the actual problems and difficulties encountered during the marriage.
• Please make an appointment with the pastor to discuss your particular situation if you have been previously married and are seeking to marry again.