“This is life, and we must face it in this way, with the courage of living it together. Married life is beautiful, and must be protected.” ~ Pope Francis
Marriage is a calling we receive from the Lord and a gift from God from the very beginning of creation. Jesus elevated marriage to a sacrament in order that the good of spouses and the upbringing of children might be filled with the grace of the Holy Spirit and oriented toward salvation.
Celebrating Matrimony at St. John the Evangelist
Marriage preparation at St. John consists of several components designed to help you and your future spouse grow together and understand the Church’s teachings on marriage more fully so that you are both ready to enter into a Total, Free, Faithful, and Fruitful covenantal marriage on your wedding day. Our program, Witness to Love, includes choosing a mentor couple that you want to invite along this journey with you. You and your mentors will meet about once a month to learn to communicate, work on important virtues to have a happy marriage, and learn from a couple that has time, experience, and wisdom to offer. We include other steps in your journey toward your special day to ensure you feel cared for, supported, and fully ready to say yes to this beautiful sacrament.
These steps include:
- Attending “God’s Plan for Love” Marriage Retreat (with your mentors!)
- Meeting with one of our priests for a personal conversation
- Completion of a Natural Family Planning course
- “A Lasting Promise” weekend
- Completing FOCCUS inventory
- and more!
To prepare for marriage at St. John’s, please contact Angel Koerkel or call the office to make an initial appointment. Please note that we do not set wedding dates prior to meeting with an engaged couple at least 2 times and we highly recommend that you not put down any non-refundable deposits with venues, caterers, etc before our initial appointment.
Take a look at our Marriage Guidelines Booklet for more information and check out our helfpul tips for choosing a Mentor Couple.
To pay Marriage Prep fees online, click here: MARRIAGE FEES and then choose “Marriage Prep” from the dropdown funds menu.
If you or your intended spouse have previously been divorced, even if they are not Catholic, please contact Angel to discuss beginning an annulment prior to any wedding planning.
Annulments
Marriage is intended to form a lifelong family-building covenant between a man and a woman. A marital covenant is a bond between the husband, wife, and God that, once established, cannot be broken by any human means. However, for a variety of reasons, it is possible to enter into a legal marriage without forming the sacramental covenant as intended by God and the Church has a procedure to investigate if this is the situation. When this process is entered into by a person, they are often said to be seeking an annulment. If you or your intended spouse have been previously divorced and would like more information about the nullity process, please contact Angel Koerkel at: angel@saintjohnjackson.org