Marriage

The Sacrament of Marriage/Matrimony signifies the union of Christ and the Church. It gives spouses the grace to love each other with the love with which Christ has loved His Church; the grace of the sacrament thus perfects the human love of the spouses, strengthens their indissoluble unity, and sanctifies them on the way to eternal life. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1660

I want to get married at St. Caspar Pairsh. What do I do?

CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR ENGAGEMENT!

       Your decision to get married was one entered into with a great deal of thought and, hopefully, with much prayer. Now that you have decided to marry, you will certainly be putting a great deal more time and effort (and again, hopefully, prayer) into planning and preparing for a sacramental relationship of life and love with each other for the rest of your life. Since you are planning to make St. Caspar Parish the place for the celebration of your wedding, everyone at St. Caspar Parish would like to be as helpful as possible. This is an exciting time filled with many blessings and preparations.

The steps below will help you in your Catholic marriage preparation process.

1.   As soon as possible after your engagement, contact St. Caspar Parish (419-337-2322) and set up a meeting with the Pastor. At this meeting it will be confirmed that you are able to be married in the Catholic Church. If either the man or woman has been previously married, an annulment will be required from the previous bond. Both the bride and groom requesting marriage in the Catholic Church must be free to marry.

2.   Once your freedom to marry in the Catholic Church is established, including Baptismal status of both the bride and groom, the Pastor will schedule your wedding on the parish’s Master Calendar. Your wedding date and time must be approved by the Pastor.

3.  After a date for the wedding is scheduled, the Pastor will walk you through filling out the official paperwork. This paper work becomes part of the permanent record for the parish.

4.   The Pastor will then explain the formation process for the Sacrament of Matrimony which consists of between 8 to 10 appointments covering the topics: What is marriage? What does it mean to be faithful? The FOCCUS relationship dynamics assessment; and help in planning your wedding.

5.   An Engaged Couple’s retreat is required during the process. The Pastor will help you find a retreat day and location.

6.   Meetings with the Pastor begin soon after the initial appointment and paperwork is completed.