Marriage Preparation

Office of Marriage & Family Life
Jeff Heinzen,
Director Phone - 608.791.2673
Fax - 608.788.8413
email: familylife@dioceseoflacrosse.com

God’s blessings upon your engagement! Just as you have a checklist of items needed to plan for your wedding and reception, you will also need a checklist of items needed to properly prepare for the Sacrament of Marriage within the Catholic Church. Take the time to complete each of these steps in the order suggested. Doing so will ensure complete and meaningful formation.

Click here for the current Marriage Preparation Program schedule

Step 1: Give gratitude to God for the love that He has given to you as a couple. Pray together for His mercy and grace throughout your engagement.

Step 2: Make an appointment with your parish priest or deacon more than 6 months in advance of your tentative wedding date. We strongly urge you to do so as soon as you are engaged and before you have selected the reception hall, asked attendants to stand up for your wedding or made any other decisions regarding your date and the church. Most parishes have local policies about marriage and you will want to preview them along with the marriage policy of the Diocese of La Crosse.

Step 3: Supply your priest/deacon with a current copy of your baptismal certificate (if marrying outside of your home parish).

Step 4: Meet with the priest/deacon to complete the pre-nuptial questionnaire and review all parish and diocesan policies.

Step 5: Participate in a pre-marriage inventory, for example FOCCUS.

Step 6: Meet with your priest, deacon or sponsor couple to discuss the results of the pre-marriage inventory (may entail multiple meetings).

Step 7: Attend a Marriage Preparation Program (see the schedule above or talk to your pastor).

Step 8: Meet with the priest/deacon or parish wedding coordinator to discuss wedding liturgy details.

Step 9: Select Scripture readings, petitions, music.

Step 10: Participate in the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession) prior to your wedding.

Download this list as a printable checklist.

"The very preparation for Christian marriage is itself a journey of faith. It is a special opportunity for the engaged to rediscover and deepen the faith received in Baptism and nourished by their Christian upbringing. In this way they come to recognize and freely accept their vocation to follow Christ and to serve the Kingdom of God in the married state." - Pope John Paul II, The Role of the Christian Family in the Modern World

Thoughtful Questions for Engaged Couples:

Looking for advice?

Advice for the groom
Advice for the bride

Would you like to begin praying together?

We have some (free) resources that could help!

Looking for a way to plan your family?

Think you might be rushing into marriage?

Marriage Missions: Is He Or She the One?

Are you living together before marriage? Your marriage will be more secure if you don’t! To read why, Click Here