Dear Newly Engaged,

Congratulations! You have made a decision, one of the most important decisions of your life. As you begin your preparation for marriage, the Church is here to assist you in every way possible so that you will utilize these next few months to grow in your relationship with each other as well as with Christ and the Church.

The Catholic Church is a community of Christian believers. You have asked this community at Sacred Heart to witness your marriage and to celebrate with you. We believe that marriage is one of the seven sacraments instituted by Christ Himself; a visible sign of God’s invisible loving presence. This special sacrament will give you the necessary graces to deepen and enrich your love in the relationship of Christian marriage. While a wedding celebration lasts only a day, marriage is a lifetime. It is a covenant relationship which must be freely entered into with the ideals of fidelity, perpetuity, openness to the possibility of children, maturity, and the capacity to live out the vocation of marriage.

Every couple is unique. You have special things to tell us, your family and community, about the way you feel about marriage, Church, God, family and each other. For this reason we are asking you to take charge of your wedding. Everything we say and do on your wedding day is a sign and symbol of who you are and what you are promising each other. It will be a special moment of grace for everyone present.

We will do all that we can to make your wedding as beautiful and as meaningful for you as we can. We want this time of preparation to be a positive experience.