Newly Engaged

Congratulations on your upcoming wedding, we are thrilled to be walking alongside you as you prepare for The Sacrament of Marriage!

Marriage is a special blessing, a gift from God! Through marriage we are given the opportunity to form a loving family that can give birth to new life.

“For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. So they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, no human being must separate.” Mark 10:7-9

Newly engaged couples will prepare for their Sacrament of Marriage through an 8-month marriage preparation process.

Civilly Married

Convalidation is a rite within the Catholic Church allowing a civilly married couple to enter into full communion with the Catholic Church. A convalidation is needed when one or two baptized Catholics enter a marriage that is invalid, and later decide that they would like to have a valid sacramental marriage recognized by the Catholic church.

Couples seeking this celebration will complete an 8-month marriage preparation process as an engaged couple entering their first marriage. 

Annulments or Decree of Nullity

A divorce is a legal recognition that there was an existing and valid legal marital contract, which the legal divorce now dissolves.

This is different from an annulment or “decree of nullity” from the Catholic Church, which certifies that despite the fact that there was a wedding, despite the fact that the parties believed that they were married, and due to various reasons, a valid bond never existed.

If you are divorced, but want to be free to marry, you must begin the annulment process.

Marriage & Family Life

The family is the first school of love and life. It is where we have our first experience of community, learning to pray, share, listen, ask, forgive and sacrifice for one another. We can learn how better to love as parents through the example of the Holy Family. We learn to be more like Christ, as we study His word and love one another as He loves us. Living in a family prepares us for living in the world, and forms us as whole, healthy and loving Christians.

The Marriage & Family Life department is here to help you and your family grow your domestic church.