The Sacrament of Marriage, or Holy Matrimony, is a public sign that one gives oneself totally to this other person. It is also a public statement about the loving union of husband and wife and speaks of family values and God's values.

It is preferred that the couple (or one of the two) seeking Marriage be a member of a Catholic parish before contacting Fr. Dave or Deacon Rob to discuss a proposed wedding date. Initial contact should be at least 9 - 12 months in advance of your proposed wedding date to discuss the guidelines for your wedding and to begin marriage formation for your marriage to take place at St. Jude or another approved Church. Weddings are normally celebrated Friday evenings or Saturday afternoons. Other days may be arranged with the presiding minister. NO weddings are celebrated during the Lenten season. The Catholic Community of St. Jude utilizes the Witness to Love format for our marriage preparation. Please see below for more information on this innovative process of marriage preparation.

Note: If you live outside the area that would prevent you from attending your marriage formation here; then please approach your Catholic parish where you live and complete the pre-marriage formation that is require by that Diocese. You will still need to meet with Fr. Dave or Deacon Rob sometime before beginning the marriage formation process. You may contact either Fr. Dave ([email protected]) or Deacon Rob ([email protected]) at 517-669-8335. Thank you.

What is Witness to Love?

Witness to Love is a virtues-based, Catechumenate model of marriage renewal and preparation that integrates modern principles of psychology and the virtues to help couples facilitate an authentic dialogue about their relationship.

Why Witness to Love

Allowing engaged couple to choose their own mentors is key to experiencing the depth of Witness to Love.

In the most recent Synod, there was a call for a Marriage Catechumenate to address the reality of isolation and lack of parish involvement that is leading to so many divorces of today’s young couples. Witness to Love addresses this urgent pastoral issue so engaged couples experience the Church not as strangers, but as a committed and life-giving family of faith. Mentors who meet the basic requirements of this model become an essential part of the catechumenate team as the “trusted” means of communicating what must be revealed about marriage through Jesus to the engaged couple. Trust is required to believe that marriage is a means of salvation that should always be indissoluble, unitive, and procreative. It is within the trusted relationship between the mentors and the engaged that the marriage remains strong, is formed from love, is strengthened by good catechesis, and is nourished by prayers and a sacramental life. Deep conversations, encounters with Christ, and renewal are available consistently for both the mentors and engaged couple.

What makes Witness to Love different?

What makes Witness to Love unique is that the engaged couple chooses their own mentor couple. This is a couple they both admire and see as a source of faith formation. This mentor couple gives them a concrete connection and integration into the parish. Through the sharing of the mentor couples’ own marriage journey, the engaged couple inherits a “lifeline” of support in their commitment to Jesus and His Church.

The mentors must meet some basic requirements and they are trained to mentor the engaged couple. Unlike other mentor models, there is no need to build trust for the marriage prep process to work – the trust already exists. Deep conversions, encounters with Christ, and renewal happen consistently for both the mentors and the engaged couple.