THE LIVE COURSE

How Long? One evening per week on four weeks. Check our calendar to find our class dates.
Each evening course lasts about two and a half hours. The course is spread over a month to give couples time to process and discuss each topic.

How? The course is not a lecture.
The instructors work with a beautiful Power Point Presentation. A few video clips will also be shown to support the teachings.
Couples are challenged to find answers to different questions. The goal is for them to own their knowledge. The instructors then complete the couples' answers and give many life experiences.
An oral quiz on the preceding course will be given at the start of each evening. Each couple then receives a summary of the preceding teachings.

Homework:  Each couple is given a Workbook.
At the end of each chapter, they have a selection of documents to read to complete the evening course.
Couples are also required to write each other a love letter on the different subjects we cover in class.
Before evening three they must fill two questionnaires based on two audio teachings from Dr. Janet Smith: Humanae Vitae and Conscience on the necessity to form our conscience; Contraception Why Not to better understand the Church's position on contraception.
The workbook also includes a set of fun quizzes to do together.

Each couple will receive a certificate of completion at the end of the course.
 

1- First Evening: In the Beginning...

After a time of presentation, the course starts with Genesis: God's Plan for man and woman, the origin of marriage and how sin distorted everything.
We will read Genesis and find clues of what it means to be human, to be a man and to be a woman which should help us tremendously in our marriage and family life.

Michelangelo

We will also define sin and how it distorted man and woman's relationship. How does this still affect us today.

What is this fruit Adam and Eve ate and why didn't God want them to eat it?
Is there any hope for redemption?

These are among the questions of our first evening.

3- Third Evening: The Rite of Marriage in details:

We will analyze each sentence of the vows.

1) Freely and without reservation
2) To give yourselves to each other
3) For the rest of your lives
4) Will you accept children lovingly from God
5) and raise them up according to the law of Christ and his Church
6) I take you

You will really know what you are getting into but you will also learn a lot about each other and how to make your relationship even stronger and deeper.

We will discuss several important topics: cohabitation, sex before marriage, contraception, abortion, reproductive technologies...

You will learn that being a Catholic couple requires to accept to walk upstream in our culture!

Couples will work individually on these core topics: abstinence and Natural Family Planning.
 

What is a Sacrament? How can it be important to receive Sacraments?
After a short review of the seven sacraments of the Church, we will reflect on what it means to receive the Sacrament of Matrimony? What can we expect?

We will also listen to St. Paul who will give us clues on how to have a better marriage through the love and respect connection (better than Dr. Phil!)

Forgiveness
Your Body is a Temple

This will be the second part of our evening.
Couples will split in groups to work on these two topics.

We will learn how forgiveness is vital to a marriage and rediscover the beautiful gift of the Sacrament of reconciliation.

We will also learn that we owe immense respect to our bodies as they are the Temple of the Holy Spirit and a window on our souls. This will give us clues on how to have a holy sex life..

 
What is going to hold you together for life?
What do you expect from marriage?

Each couple will reflect individually on these questions.

Together we will then try to unmask the myths about marriage and help you bring your expectations in line with reality.

We will make a list of all potential problems in a marriage and each couple will then try to find together their own potential problems.

We will then discuss together how to avoid money to become a problem, what is discipline and what are your ideas on raising children.
 

We will practice together vital communication tools.

We will end the evening with prayer:
How to pray as a couple and then as a family "for a family that prays together is a family that stays together." (Mother Teresa)

Certificates will be delivered after the final prayer.