With the date for your wedding set and confirmed, it is time to begin the marriage preparation process. If you are a registered parishioner, marriage preparation will be done here at Sacred Heart – generally by the priest assigned to celebrate your wedding ceremony. This information outlines a typical process – yours might be slightly different, although not drastically so.
The purpose of the first meeting is to get to know a little bit about the couple. It is all very relaxed and conversational. At the end of meeting you and your fiancée will complete a FOCCUS survey document. FOCCUS is an “inventory” survey designed to help couples learn more about themselves and their unique relationship. The survey provides individualized couple feedback on where each partner stands in regards to topics important to the marriage. Areas of coverage include:
Life style expectations Problem Solving
Friends and interests Religion & Values
Personality match Parenting Vision
Personal Issues Extended Family Issues
Communications Sexuality Issues
Financial Issues Readiness Issues
Marriage as Covenant Family of Origin
Dual Careers Interfaith/denomination issues
other areas
Preparation for marriage requires that you obtain a recently issued copy of your Baptismal Certificate from the church where you were baptized. It must be a recent copy (less than 6 months since issue) of your baptismal certificates with annotations. “Annotations” refer to the recording of other sacraments, usually First Eucharist and Confirmation.
In the Catholic Church, even if you received First Eucharist and Confirmation at churches other than the one in which you were baptized, we still send the notification of your reception of those sacraments to your baptismal church of record - who records them in the baptismal register.
Your baptismal church will have all the records. You need only call the church, tell them you need the certificate for an upcoming wedding, give them the date of your baptism (or at least an idea of the date). Tell them where you would like the certificate sent (to you is the best place). If there are “complications” in obtaining the documents, not to worry, we can figure out the solution during your first meeting.
After the results of the FOCCUS have been processed, there are several follow-on meetings to go over the FOCUS survey. The follow-on meetings are a facilitated discussion between you and your fiancé based on the results of the survey. During these sessions, there will be ample opportunities to discuss the Sacrament of Marriage, the practical elements of a common life, and spirituality of Christian marriage.
Couples must attend a Pre-Cana class. The classes are an opportunity to delve into the sacramental and spiritual aspects of marriage. The Diocese of St. Petersburg offer Engagement Encounter weekends as well as a Pre-Cana Program.
Here at Sacred Heart, we offer a Pre-Cana class that meets three consecutive Saturday mornings. The people in attendance (up to 8 couples) are all parishioners. Although it is your choice, we prefer you to attend the Pre-Cana here because the schedule gives you time to absorb and reflect upon the presentations and the chance to meet parishioners! Find out more about Sacred Heart's Pre-Cana program here.
For the Diocesan Conferences, please obtain a registration packet from Marcelle Dunbar (x220). The Diocese requires that this registration be received by them before they will schedule your conference. The Diocese can be contacted by calling 727-341-6847 for more information once they have received your registration.
After the focus meetings and the Pre-Cana meetings, there is a private conversation between the priest and each of you individually – these are conversations intended to ensure that each of you has full freedom to give yourself in marriage. Part of the meeting occurs with the priest celebrating the ceremony and part occurs with the musician/cantor assigned to your wedding.
And finally, there is a meeting(s) about planning the liturgical aspects of the wedding ceremony itself, music, details, etc. The priest helping prepare you will provide you with a booklet which outlines the ceremony and will help you plan the liturgical aspects of the ceremony. The assigned musician wil help you select music appropriate for your celebration. There are more details about these things in the "Catholic Wedding Ceremonies" section of About Catholic Marriage.
Quick guide to other pages on this web site:
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