JULY, 2023
Couples Share their Experience about CatholicMarriagePrep.com

Top 3 Expectations

Gabriel and Eimi – Diocese of Sacramento, CA

• His impression of the prep: I really enjoyed that we were able to talk about this in private. This allowed for more in-depth discussions on such personal topics from the comfort of our screens/in person. I also really appreciated the program’s flexibility, which was vital for my work schedule. I am especially thankful to our instructors for being so thorough and efficient with their responses.
• Her impression of the prep: I thought that our instructors did an incredible job delving deeper into all the topics, even though we were online. We devoted many hours to each assignment and found them incredibly enriching and thought-provoking. We were surprised by the amount of different media offered through the course!
• Did it meet his expectations: Definitely! The depth of the topics was astounding and went above my expectations. All of the media resources were definitely a plus as they allowed it to be more engaging.
• Did it meet her expectations: It exceeded my expectations in all truthfulness. I felt that I was able to gain a variety of resources that I can now go back to at any time. I feel like having digital copies will be fruitful in the months and years to come. I am very glad that we signed up with you to complete our pre-cana prerequisites.

Martin and Emily – Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston

• His impression of the prep: This course was very educational in so many ways. As mentioned, we like to think we are very involved in the church and have learned about marriage, but we still learned so much more and really got reflect deeply on our relationships. It was especially helpful as we are closer to the wedding to realize what truly matters.
• Her impression of the prep: This course was extremely needed at least personally for me. I feel like it came at a perfect time to remind me of what is most important in a marriage and what God expects marriage to be. I know ours won’t be perfect, but this gave me so much hope that if we stick to God’s teaching it’ll be a beautiful journey.
• Did it meet his expectations: For me this course surpassed my expectations.  I really thought it was going to be something I already knew which I did know the scriptures and the effects on a lot of things. However, it
• Did it meet her expectations: It really exceeded my expectations. I wish I could have taken it sooner and I would want to take every so often as a refresher. I think it definitely helped us prepare for this new stage in our lives.

Philip and Monica – Diocese of Salt Lake City, UT

• His impression of the prep: The course offered us knowledgeable ways to build the foundation of catholic/Christian marriage and we had excellent instructors who brought that to light non-judgmentally.
• Her impression of the prep: I am very satisfied with the course because of its very rich content. It is indeed a beautiful course and I am also very happy that such courses exist online and could be done at one’s pace.
• Did it meet his expectations: Yes, it met my expectations. The course gave us time to discuss serious practical topics and process them independently without interference from a counselor.
• Did it meet her expectations:  Yes, it did meet my expectations. I am very glad about the different very important topics covered. The course also strengthened and nurtured my decision to take my marriage relationship seriously.

Top 3 Parish Life

Anonymous:  Archdiocese of Louisville, KY

• Impacted his Faith: It made me realize how much God impacts our life and how important it is for us to continue to learn and grow in the Church.
• Impacted her Faith: It showed me how important marriage is in the church and the best practices to make our marriage the best it can be! It made me want to continue to get closer to God during this important time in our lives.
• His parish life plan: Go to mass weekly, get involved through volunteering, and to one day help other young couples through the process of getting married in the Church.
•  Her parish life plan: We plan to go to mass each week, raising our future children in the church, and getting more involved in our parish.

 Raphael and Oalyssa – Diocese of Brownsville, TX

• Impacted his Faith: With the busyness of work, it was nice to sit down and focus on Catholic study. Going over the material and expectations of engagement and marriage moved me in some ways to want to aspire to noble things together.
• Impacted her Faith: It really helped us both sit down and talk about our faith. My fiancé is a night shift nurse so it’s a bit hard to get together and work. These lessons really helped us schedule time for each other and enjoy each other’s company while we talked about the faith.
• His parish life plan: I am currently an altar server at our parish, and I help with the social aspect of our young adult group.
• Her parish life plan: We are both active and try to recruit as many young adults to attend out meetings and have a fruitful conversation.

Robert and Macy – Diocese of Austin, TX

• Impacted his Faith: I think that the course ignited a fire in new to learn as much as I could about God and why He so desperately wanted a personal relationship with me. I had a lot of questions answered through this course and from outside sources which was very comforting to me. I would say that it revived my faith because I was learning about things that I never knew the meaning behind being raised Catholic.
• Impacted her Faith: I would say a combination of revive and ignite. The course ignited interests in me that I had never known before but also revived areas that I have forgotten about or needed help with. There were plenty of moments where I thought “wow I never knew that” but also times where I thought “this is a good reminder”
• His parish life plan: We will discern how God is calling us to participate in the church. This is something I have been thinking about and praying about and open to letting God work through me.
•  Her parish life plan: Once we are married, we will be living in a new city and have already found a church to be involved in. We have said that we want to reach out and try to get involved where we can. I’d like to find some sort of women’s group or volunteer with youth group.

Top 3 Communication and Comments

William and Deborah – Diocese of Colorado Springs, CO

• How did it better your commutation: Yes, it did help in our communication and we have been having fun with it like sometimes Bill gets a little crabby and I gently remind him that love is not irritable and we laugh.  Our loving acts of kindness have increased quite a bit and we feel closer!! We are older but this course was a nice reminder as to the Gods standards of a solid, successful marriage.
• Appreciated most by him: I appreciated the hard work of our instructors.  They are very thorough and know their stuff.
• Appreciated most by her: I as well appreciated our instructors’ input to our answers and they elaborated on them from which I learned a lot more.  The course was interesting to me and we enjoyed doing this together.  It has already brought us closer as a couple and has us even more excited for our wedding!!

Jacob and Payton – Diocese of Duluth, MN

• How did it better your commutation: Reading the information together, viewing the links, and answering together helped us to reflect and discuss. It also made it easier to discuss views on certain aspects of religion.
• Appreciated most by him: It was very nice to have the feedback in the answer key from the instructors. Also, how quickly the responses came.
• Appreciated most by her: I appreciated our instructor’s feedback and advice. I also appreciate the tools and advice we have gained from this course, as well as learning more about the religious side of marriage.

Charles and Michelle – Diocese of Rockville Center, NY

• How did it better your commutation: This course discussed every aspect and challenge a married couple may encounter which opened up discussions that we have only touched the surface on. This course allowed us to deepen our conversation honestly and openly and really dive deep on what we may encounter and how we may need to handle things if stress or challenges come our way. This course showed us no matter what may challenge us by having God and our Marriage First Aid Kit that we will be able to work through together.
• Appreciated most by him: I appreciated most the conversations we had that were sparked through going through this marriage preparation together. The conversations for some topics were not easy just as marriage isn’t perfect but this course helped us to be able to go through and discuss and prepare ourselves best for the future.
• Appreciated most by her: What I appreciated most was how we were able to take it at our own pace. This is because some questions for us were quick while some we had to reflect and think about which we were able to deepen our communication and understanding of one another. This course really taught us how to be able to in hard times deal with stressors we may encounter in the sacrament of Marriage and how important it is through our Marriage to continuously keep God in the center to guide us through.