Couples planning marriage must contact the parish office at least six months in advance. Preparation sessions are required.

Father Larry and Deacon Don conduct all pre-marriage interviews.  They go through all the requirements for the celebration of the sacrament. 

Therese Jandernoa is the Music Coordinator at St. Patrick Parish. All music and musicians must be approved/planned by meeting with Therese.

Deacon Don and his wife, Beverly, will often assist in counseling couples to be wed through St. Patrick Parish. See the PREPARE/ENRICH section for some things that a couple can expect in a counseling session.

Frequently asked questions about the Sacrament of Marriage -

PREPARE/ENRICH is a program based on a set of five inventories that examine major relationship issues a couple may experience. Deacon Don is trained to administer and counsel couples using the PEPARE/ENRICH tool.  He administers one of the five different assessments to most, but not all couples.  Each session, as each couple, is different.  Deacon Don and Beverly facilitate a discussion based on the results of the specific inventory that is administered.  There are usually two sessions after completion of the inventory.  They last about two hours each.  The criteria for discussion is based on each individual couple.

What are the five different inventories?

• PREPARE - Pre-marital couples
• PREPARE-MC - Pre-marital couples with children
• PREPARE-CC - Cohabiting Couples with or without children
• ENRICH - Married couples with or without children
• MATE - Couples over the age of 50  

What are the major goals of the PREPARE/ENRICH Program?

There are six goals of the PREPARE/ENRICH Program.  In order to achieve these goals there are also six corresponding couple exercises designed to help couples improve their relationship skills.  The six goals are:

1. To explore Relationship Strengths and Growth Areas
2. To learn Assertiveness and Active Listening Skills
3. To learn how to resolve conflict using the Ten Step Model
4. To help the couple discuss their Family-of-Origin
5. To help the couple with financial planning and budgeting
6. To focus on personal, couple and family goals  

What relationship areas are assessed by the Inventories?

The following are the 20 relationship areas assessed in each of the five Couple Inventories:

A. Focuses on Significant Issues for Couples (14 scales)

B. Personality Assessment (4 scales):

C. Couple and Family Map (4 scales):

More information may be found at http://www.prepare-enrich.com/.

Back to Sacraments page