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Marriage Preparation and Newlywed Outreach

CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR ENGAGEMENT! 

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 your parish and set up a meeting with either a priest or deacon, or the marriage coordinator/facilitator.  This person will walk you through the steps in preparing for a life-long and joy-filled marriage.

2. Participate in meetings with your mentor couple. These meetings will take place over the course of many months before your wedding, and your mentor couple will continue to accompany you throughout the first several years of your married life.

3. Attend Genesis: A Pre-Cana Retreat. See all available dates on the Genesis Retreat here.

4. Complete a course in Natural Family Planning. For a list of courses available in person throughout the archdiocese and online, please visit the NFP webpage:

Recommended activities:

Check out these Frequently Asked Questions by Engaged Couples.

Genesis Marriage Retreat

As you prepare for marriage, we invite you to be a part of the Genesis Marriage Community, where you will meet other engaged and newly married couples as well as married couples from around the Archdiocese of Cincinnati who want to share this exciting journey of married life with you.

It all begins with GENESIS, the one-day retreat for engaged couples.  On the GENESIS retreat, also known as Pre-Cana, you will deepen your relationship with Jesus Christ and one another.  You will meet other engaged couples as you begin the journey towards your wedding day where “authentic married love is caught up into divine love.” 
30 August 2025

(Spanish speaking couples only)30 de Agosto9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.St. Susanna Catholic Church616 Reading Rd, Mason, OH 45040Mientras te prepares para tu matrimonio, te invitamos a ser parte de una […]

St. Susanna Catholic Church, 616 Reading Rd.
Mason, OH 45040 United States
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$80.00 Buy Now

Nazareth Newlywed Outreach

Nazareth: Ordinary Life with Extraordinary Love is a new initiative sponsored by the Archdiocese designed to help couples in their first five years of marriage tap into the power of their wedding vows in Christ. If you are interested in bringing this initiative to your parish, please contact David Ulmer at dulmer@catholicaoc.org.

Information for Parish Clergy/Marriage Coordinators 

  1. Click to view the Chancellor Resource site where the M1 form in English and Spanish are available. Click here to download our resource sheet with Guidelines for the process for marriages celebrated in another (Arch)diocese.
  2. Click to order the Archdiocese of Cincinnati Wedding Liturgy Planning Guide.
  3. Click for information about how to implement the Marriage Catechumenate at your parish.
  4. Marriage Data Folders: the folders come in packs of 25 and there is a minimal fee. Place your order by contacting Central Services at centralservices@catholicaoc.org
30 Aug

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