Marriage Preparation Process necessary to seeking marriage in the Catholic Church

For couples planning to marry in the Catholic Church, please contact St. Joseph Parish at least six to nine months before your anticipated wedding date to begin the marriage preparation process.

Step #1 - Contact your parish
- your first meeting will be with a parish priest, deacon or designated lay marriage preparation minister. At this time, you will review:

• Schedule and confirm the wedding date
• Complete the pre-nuptial forms required (A-form)
• Prepare to obtain baptismal certificates (to be dated no more than 6 months before wedding)

Step #2 - Administration of a pre-marital inventory - FOCCUS

• The purpose of a premarital inventory is to help reveal the strengths and weaknesses in your relationship. Inventories are not "tests" you pass or fail. Inventories are not something you can prepare or study for. An inventory is simply a "snap-shot" of your relationship at the moment you take it. The value of a premarital inventory is not just in taking it, but in the conversations you will enter into after you take it and during the facilitated or review sessions that follow it.

Step #3 & #4 - Register for a Marriage Preparation Seminar for the engaged (during Covid19 you may choose one of the online options listed above)

Dates for JFM weekends in 2021: TBD

• Joy-Filled Marriage Seminar - A marriage preparation weekend for engaged couples. The Joy-Filled Marriage is a comprehensive marriage preparation program rooted in virtues as well as the Theology of the Body. The program incorporates rich Catholic theology with sound psychology.

Step #4 - NFP Introduction Session to the natural way (God's plan) for planning a family- NOTE: You may register directly with one of the NFP instructors listed here.

Step #5 - Plan the Wedding Liturgy

• Meet with the parish priest to plan the liturgy for your wedding ceremony.

• Marriage between two Catholics is normally celebrated within Mass
• Marriage between a Catholic and a baptized non-Catholic may be celebrated inside or outside the Mass
• Marriage between a Catholic and an unbaptized person is celebrated within the Liturgy of the Word