Marriage preparation takes place over two half days and includes
a mass for all couples who are due to be married that year.
Marriage preparation is offered to all couples that are to be
married in the Parish and wider deanery.
Communication is central to the course, which looks at the
marriage vows and there meaning in today's world. The four themes
explored are
- For better for worse- feeling good about being in love and
expectations, practical issues and minor irritants.
- In sickness and heath - this is the second part of session one
after coffee and we act out a trivial row and how to advise the
couple! Mainly we explore the role of good communications within
the relationship but we also look at physical ill health- what kind
of support do we expect from each other from bad cold to serious
health issues.
For health we look at lifestyle but focus on
the sexual nature of a healthy relationship shared pleasure and
shared responsibility and we provide a platform for discussing
misunderstandings of the Church's teaching and areas of debate and
dilemmas. Two of us are NFT tutors.
- Forsaking all others - second session- this looks at the
changing nature of relationships with parents, siblings and friends
before marriage and immediately afterwards and the need to
communication as a couple without hurting others. In a trivial task
we look at the first Christmas of the married life.
- Till death us do part- here we explore the canon and civil law,
what exactly do the vows mean, and we look now at the ceremony
itself and what is said by whom and to whom, who is present
and why. One of the team members is a solicitor and takes the lead
with this. This takes us finally to the plans for the great day and
in our last hour as well as looking back at what the course has
achieved for them in terms of facilitating discussion privately, we
provide time to look at planning the service, what Readings and
why, writing Bidding prayers and other practical issues.
We always ask them to complete a short evaluation, which has on
the whole been positive but also has helped us to modify the
course.