Marriage Preparation: Pre-Cana
Congratulations on your engagement and your upcoming marriage! Please know that even if you will not be getting married in our Church, we would still like to help you prepare! Your marriage preparation should be completed at least 6 months before your wedding. The Marriage Preparation Program prepares couples by briefly reviewing some fundamentals about the Catholic faith, the Catholic concept of marriage, perspectives on children and family planning, and guidelines for family budgeting.
Our program is sensitive to couples from diverse faith traditions. Each year we schedule a Fall and a Spring Pre-Cana program. We call it a “Pre-Cana” program because the first miracle that Jesus performed was at a wedding feast in the town of Cana.
Upcoming Marriage Preparation Program
February-March 2025
Orientation Meeting
Friday, February 7, 6:00 PM to 6:30 PM at the Newman Center
Full-day Retreat
Saturday, March 15, 9 AM to 4:00 PM at the Newman Center
Your registration is not complete until you pay an offering of $300 per couple, which helps cover the cost of the retreat and Foccus session.
Click below to pay the fee by credit card.
If you have any questions, contact our Sacramental Coordinator,
Carole Tokarczyk , at office@saintsaj.org
or 267-787-5000, x1.
Our Pre-Cana program has four parts:
(1) A 30mins, in-person orientation meeting.
(2) On-line work (about three hours per week over four weeks) in which you review videos and text online and complete homework assignments. As part of the online work, you and your future spouse will complete an inventory of questions called FOCCUS, which helps to identify topics for you to discuss with the guidance of a certified FOCCUS facilitator.
3) A full-day Pre-Cana Retreat, where you will hear and discuss presentations by married couples. There will also be a Q&A with the pastor and a concluding Mass.
4) After the retreat day, each couple will have 1-2 hours of facilitated meetings with a FOCCUS facilitator to review the results of the FOCCUS inventory. These meetings are completed after the retreat day and are scheduled between the couple and their assigned FOCCUS facilitator.
“On the third day there was a marriage at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; Jesus also was invited to the marriage, with his disciples.”
