A WEDDING IS A DAY

A MARRIAGE IS A LIFETIME

It is a weekend away with other engaged couples with time alone as a couple to plan the marriage. It is designed to give couples planning marriage the opportunity to dialogue honestly and intensively about their future lives together. It is a time to have private discussions with one another regarding: their strengths and weaknesses, desires, ambitions, goals, children, family, their role in the Church and society.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND AN ENGAGED ENCOUNTER WEEKEND?

Any couple who is serious about getting married. A couple should not come to the weekend with the intention of getting to know each other better so they can decide whether or not to get married. The weekend is designed for couples who have already made a commitment to one another.

WHEN AND WHERE ARE WEEKENDS HELD?

Weekends are held at regular intervals during the yea in Timmins. Upon receipt of a registration form, the engaged couple will receive detailed instructions. Please contact persons listed on this page for more information.

WHEN SHOULD THE COUPLE ATTEND AN ENGAGED ENCOUNTER WEEKEND?

It is highly recommended that couples take part in such a weekend as soon as they decide to mary, preferably six months prior to the wedding.

The weekend begins on Friday evening at 8:00 p.m. and ends with mass on Sunday afternoon around 4:30 p.m. It is essential that all couples remain until the end.

Though a series of ideas presented by a team of two catholic married couples and a priest, the engaged couple is encouraged to discuss privately all aspects of married life. This a done, always from the viewpoint of their own relationship. Most of the time on the weekend is taken up by their personal reflections and by the couple's private discussions, with communal meals and Sunday liturgy providing group participation.

The team's sharing on their sacrament of matrimony presents a living example of married life on a day to day basis. This helps the engaged couple to understand in a loving atmosphere that although a wedding is a day, a marriage is a lifetime.

The biggest surprise to most of the couples who have attended a weekend, is that they thought they had already talked about all the subjects presented. They discovered so much more about each other on the weekend. Some have said that they had merely talked around a lot of these subjects and really had not gotten into them until the Engaged Encounter weekend.

WHO CAN BE A SPONSOR COUPLE?

Any loving couple who knows the engaged couple and who believes in the importance of marriage preparation (parents, relatives, friends) can be a sponsor couple.

Definitely not! It is a very low key weekend with the emphasis on quiet and relaxation. There are no group dynamics. The atmosphere of the weekend is one in which each couple can concentrate exclusively on one another. A very small amount of time is sprinkled throughout the weekend to relax, take a walk or get to know some of the other couples. But we must stress that it is not a social weekend. The engaged couples are there to work at deepening their level of communication with each other as a couple.

DO THE COUPLES ATTENDING THIS WEEKEND HAVE TO BE CATHOLIC?

Although the weekend is catholic in orientation and is presented by two catholic couples and a roman catholic priest, catholics who are planning to marry a person of another faith have found the weekend to be an ideal way to complete their pre-marriage preparation.

WHAT DOES IT COST?

Weekends cost $100.00 per couple. Please make money orders or certified cheques payable to "Catholic Engaged Encounter", Diocese of Timmins. To guarantee registration, payment is due two (2) weeks prior to the weekend.

Rene & Jennifer Dunkley
44 Poplar, P.O. Box 965
Schumacher, Ontario P0N 1G0
(705) 267-2413
Email:

jenandrene@nt.net