FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT MARRIAGE ENCOUNTER

The Marriage Encounter weekend is a positive and personal experience offering married couples an opportunity to learn a technique of loving communication that they can use for the rest of their lives. It's a chance to look deeply into their relationship with each other and with God. It's a time to share their feelings, hopes and dreams with each other.

The emphasis of the Marriage Encounter weekend is on the communication between husbands and wives. The weekend provides a conducive environment for couples to spend time together, away from the distractions and tensions of everyday life, while encouraging them to focus on each other and their relationship.

It's not a retreat, marriage clinic, group sensitivity, or a substitute for counseling. It's a unique approach aimed at revitalizing Marriage.

This is a time for you and your spouse to be alone together, to rediscover each other and together focus on your relationship for an entire weekend. Every marriage deserves that kind of attention!

Any married couple who desires a richer fuller life together.   A marriage can never be too good.  Marriage Encounter is designed to deepen and enrich the joys a couple shares together, whether they have been married for only a short time, or many years.  Marriage Encounter also provides support and encouragement to priests and religious who are dedicated to their vocation in life.

The weekend is Catholic in orientation and is expressed in the tradition and understanding of the Catholic Church.  It is open to all, and so a certain number of spaces are reserved each weekend for couples of other faiths.

A series of presentation are given by a team of Catholic couples and a Catholic Priest.  Each presentation allows you and your spouse a rare opportunity to look at yourselves as individuals, then to look at your marriage and your relationship to one another, and finally to look at your relationship to God, the Church and the world.   The weekend starts at 8:00 PM on Friday night and runs until about 4:30 on Sunday afternoon.

YES.  The weekend is oriented strictly to each individual couple.  You concentrate on your spouse to such an extent that you are hardly aware of the other couples present.  The presentations are given to the group as a whole.   After each presentation, the husband and wife have time in the privacy of their room for their own personal discussion.

The encounter weekend teaches a communication technique which permits each couple to explore important areas of their relationship in a spirit of love and understanding.  By continuing the newly acquired technique begun on the weekend, husbands and wives continually grow closer together to live more joyful and purposeful lives. While not an essential part of the experience, the availability of a community of others who have shared the Weekend and who share similar values provides a supportive environment for even further growth.

A $50 NON-REFUNDABLE REGISTRATION FEE confirms your reservations, food and lodging.  There is limited capacity, so early registration is encouraged.  At the end of the weekend each couple is given a blank envelope and asked to make a donation.  No one is ever refused the opportunity to make a weekend because of the lack of funds.

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