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For Engaged Couples

We're very excited that you've decided to receive the Sacrament of Marriage in the Catholic Church! To help you prepare for this lifetime commitment, we've
provided some materials for you to review under the guidance of the deacon or priest who will be walking with you on your Marriage Preparation journey!
- Marriage is a sacred calling, about God and serving God’s purposes. It's a vocation just as the priesthood of a priest is a vocation. Marriage is a covenant relationship wherein a man and a woman establish themselves in a partnership for life. God is present in this relationship to bless, assist and guide you.
  
  This relationship is ordered for the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of children. Through Matrimony, God raises up the “Domestic Church” where faith is planted in the hearts of children and radiated to the surrounding world.

You're Engaged? Now What?

1. Where Am I getting Married?

Do you know what Parish you want to get married at?

NO?

Parish Finder

YES?
What Deanery is this Parish a part of?

Central Coast Deanery St. Ann Parish, Lizana and Our Lady of Chartres St. James Parish, Gulfport St. John the Evangelist, Gulfport St. Joseph Parish, Gulfport St. Therese of Lisieux Parish, Gulfport St. Thomas the Apostle, Long Beach	East Central Coast Deanery Blessed Francis Seelos and Our Mother of Sorrows Parishes, Biloxi Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Cathedral, Biloxi Our Lady of Fatima, Biloxi Sacred Heart, D'Iberville St. Mary Parish, Woolmarket St. Michael Parish, Biloxi Vietnamese Martyrs, Biloxi
East Coast Deanery Holy Spirit Parish, Vancleave and Christ the King Mission, Latimer Our Lady of Victories, Pascagoula Sacred Heart, Pascagoula St. Alphonsus, Ocean Springs St. Elizabeth Seton, Ocean Springs St. Joseph the Worker, Moss Point St. Ann Mission, Hurley St. Mary Parish, Gautier St. Peter the Apostle Parish, Pascagoula	Northern Deanery Holy Rosary, Hattiesburg Holy Trinity Parish, Columbia and St. Paul the Apostle Mission, Tylertown Immaculate Conception Parish, Laurel St. Bernadette, Waynesboro and Holy Trinity, Leakesville Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish, Lumberton and St. Joseph Mission, Poplarville Sacred Heart, Hattiesburg St. Fabian, Hattiesburg St. Francis Xavier, Wiggins St. Lucy, Lucedale St. Peter Parish, Bassfield and St. Lawrence Mission, Monticello St. Thomas Aquinas Parish, Hattiesburg
West Coast Deanery Annunciation Parish, Kiln Holy Family, Pass Christian Most Holy Trinity, Pass Christian Our Lady of the Gulf, Bay St. Louis Our Mother of Mercy, Pass Christian Sacred Heart, Dedeaux St. Ann, Bay St. Louis St. Charles Borromeo, Picayune St. Clare, Waveland St. Matthew the Apostle Parish, White Cypress St. Rose de Lima, Bay St. Louis	Military Our Lady of the Rosary, Keesler Air Force Base, Biloxi St. Joseph the Worker, Seabee Base, Gulfport

2. Who should I contact?

1. Contact the office of the parish, in which, you wish to get married OR one of our Marriage Preparation Directors

Choose the Marriage Prep Director to contact based on your Parish's deanery
- Don't know where to get married? Check out "Where Am I Getting Married?" to find a parish near you.
- Don't know what deanery your parish is in? Check out "Where am I Getting Married?"

2. Set up a meeting with the Marriage Coordinator of this parish

This may be with the Priest of the parish, a Deacon, or a lay person. The Office or Marriage Prep Director will help you get in contact with the right person

3. Decide on who your Couple Sponser will be and set up meeting times with your Sponser for Marriage Prep!

Marriage Preparation Directors
(Check out "Where am I getting Married" to find your Deanery)

Deacon Norm Cantrelle	Deacon Jerry Dubuisson

ncantrelle@biloxidiocese.org	jdubuisson@biloxidiocese.org
Northern West Coast	Central Coast East Coast East Central Coast

3. What do I need to know about Marriage prep?
- Couples Guide
  
  Why Prepare: The marriage formation process is to assure that you are free to marry, have the capacity to marry and the right intention to marry. Further the formation process provides assistance in your final months of discernment of the sacramental bond where you will promise to be faithful “for better or for worse” and to love and honor each other every day of your life.
  
  What to Expect during Marriage Formation: “Immediate Preparation” for marriage should begin six to nine months ahead of the anticipated date of your wedding. The process begins with an initial meeting/s with a Priest or Deacon, followed by four educational steps and concludes with a final meeting with the Priest or Deacon just prior to the ceremony. These pastoral and educational steps are listed and described below.
  
  Initial Meeting/s with Priest or Deacon and Prenuptial Investigation
  
  Check out "Where Am I Getting Married?" and "Who do I Contact?" to find what Priest/Deacon to Contact
  
  Educational Components
  
  Completion of the Premarital Inventory Assessment
  
  Education in Natural Family Planning
  
  Participation in a Sponsor Couple Program
  
  Participation in a Premarital Retreat or Workshop
  
  Final Meeting with Priest or Deacon
  
  Our Couples Guide shows you the steps that you will take during Marriage Prep in more detail.
  
  Learn More about Marriage Prep Below!
4. What retreats are available for Engaged Couples?
- Learn More Locations
  
  Catholic Engaged Encounter offers Premarital Retreats all over the United States.
  Check out locations, to find a Retreat with dates that work for you and your future spouse.

All About Marriage Prep
Initial Meeting/ Inventory
- Meeting with Your Parish's Marriage Coordinator
  
  This could be a Deacon, lay Person, or the Priest at your parish. Most Parishes use FOCCUS for this meeting. Find out more about the the initial inventory of your marriage in the couples guide
  
  Couples Guide
  
  This is also the time to set up your couple sponser and find out what couple sponser program will work best for you and your future spouse.
Couple Sponsor Programs
- Couple Sponsor Program Options
  
  For Better & For Ever, A Resource for Couples Preparing for Christian Marriage.
  In using For Better & For Ever, sponsor couples are trained to meet the engaged “where they are” as the starting point for dialogue about the vocation of Matrimony. Used by most parishes in the Diocese.
  
  Better Together.
  Better Together is a video-based sponsor couple program consisting of 12 components administered in 6 sessions.
  
  Beloved, Finding Happiness in Marriage.
  Run by Augustine Institute. Currently 2 parishes use Beloved; St Alphonsus, Ocean Springs and Sacred Heart, Pascagoula.
  
  Unveiled: Marriage Prep Anytime, Anywhere.
  The preferred online/ DVD Sponsor Couple Program for the Diocese of Biloxi when an engaged couple is separated by distance is Unveiled: Marriage Prep Anytime, Anywhere
  
  More About Couple Sponsor Programs
NFP
- Natural Family Planning (NFP)
  
  The Catholic Church supports the methods of Natural Family Planning (NFP) because they respect God's design for married love. In fact, NFP represents the only authentic approach to family planning available to husbands and wives because these methods can be used to both attempt or avoid pregnancy. When learning about NFP, it is important to know that:
  
  Natural Family Planning is an umbrella term for certain methods used to achieve and avoid conception. These methods are based on the observation of the naturally occurring signs and symptoms of the fertile and infertile phases of a woman's menstrual cycle. Some natural methods include use of fertility monitors to better understand the time of the wife's fertility. Married couples using NFP to postpone conception abstain from intercourse and genital contact during the fertile phase of the wife's cycle. No drugs, devices, or surgical procedures are used to avoid pregnancy. Married couples who use NFP to attempt a pregnancy, make use of the fertile window--the optimum time when conception is likely.
  
  Learn More
Other Resources