Ways to Use the Course
How you fit into the process of our online, on-demand marriage preparation class.
The Initial Meeting
Catholic marriage preparation commonly begins with a meeting between the engaged couple and a priest or deacon in their home parish. This is to discuss the requirements that must be met prior to the couple being married in the church.
One of these requirements is Pre-Cana. Determining which Pre-Cana program is the ideal solution is also just as important to discuss. You want to make sure that your couples are receiving a quality program, while also meeting them where they are with their unique needs and challenges.
Opting in for our online program = peace of mind for you as a ministry leader. Rest assured that we have designed a course that not only meets the unique challenges of today’s Catholic couples — it ensures that all of the “must-have” conversations, as outlined by the USCCB, are included.
Read More: Why Online Courses?
The Online Pre-Cana Program
Your couple opted in for our online Pre-Cana program… what’s next?
Here are the options that you can present to your couple to navigate through Living Our Faith in Love:
Self-Led
Engaged Couples Working Through The Program On Their Own Time
Living Our Faith in Love has multiple, self-led elements.
The packet downloaded at the beginning includes “his and hers” discussion guides that encourage meaningful conversations and reflection throughout the experience of marriage preparation.
A series of video presentations is delivered online, each followed by a reflection exercise. These reflection exercises are intended ensure that couples gain an understanding of the topic and the main takeaways.
Once all of the topics have been completed, a “Print Your Certificate” button will appear. When couples click on that button, their Certificate of Completion will be ready for download as a .pdf.
Mentor-Led
Engaged Couples Working With A Facilitator, Clergy, or Sponsor Couple
The engaged couple has an initial meeting (live or remote) with their facilitator(s) that will accompany them through the preparation process. In this initial meeting, they review the course contents included in Living Our Faith in Love and agree on a schedule to work through it.
For example, everyone agrees to reconvene every Sunday evening for 4-6 weeks. In between each meeting, the engaged couple works through a couple segments of the course. This way, when they reconvene with their facilitator(s), they come to the table already having digested the course content. They watched videos, completed exercises, and filled out His & Hers Discussion Guides.
This method sets everyone up for a true “ministry of accompaniment” in an efficient manner that respects the time being volunteered by facilitators. Prior to each weekly meeting, the engaged couple already put in the work of learning on their own time, allowing facilitators to serve as mentors, not teachers.
The Follow-Up
Upon completion of their marriage preparation program, we encourage couples to arrange for a follow-up meeting (live or virtual) with the priest or deacon that will be marrying them in the Catholic Church.
This meeting is the perfect time for the couple and clergy to review the premarital inventory report* and His & Hers Discussion Guides filled out by the couple during the course. These are invaluable tools that highlight areas of closeness in a relationship and bring to light areas of potential disagreement that would benefit from facilitated conversation.
* The Catholic Couple Checkup premarital inventory is an included, but not required, element of the Living Our Faith in Love course experience.
The Wedding Day
All of the hard work and preparation culminates to the observance and participation in the Sacrament of Marriage.
Rich in tradition and liturgy, the Church offers this sacred opportunity to join with family and friends in dedicating the couple’s marriage to God, the author of all love.
You were with the couple every step of the way, helping them to author each chapter of their marriage preparation, and now you have the privilege and the honor of witnessing them begin a new story — the story and adventure of their lives together.
