The Marriage Prep Ministry: Building a Sacramental Life and Drawing Couples Closer to God

There’s no season in life quite like planning for a wedding. Engagement brings a great mix of excitement, stress, and busy schedules. A wedding is an important and beautiful part of a marriage, but it’s only the beginning. Marriage itself is filled with seasons of joy and seasons of suffering. At St. Patrick, we want to build up all couples entering into the Sacrament of Marriage and give them the tools they need to build a strong and healthy marriage.

Daisy and Martin Aguilar serve as Marriage Prep Coordinators. They have been married for 11 years and have served the parish through this ministry for over a year.

“Marriage Prep provides the couple with support and the tools to build, form, and navigate a life of faith in a sacramental marriage,” Daisy says.

The process of preparing for marriage has several steps and takes place over nine to 12 months. After the initial meeting with the pastor, couples complete an assessment that will help walk them through many topics that are important to address before marriage. Then, through the Witness to Love program, the couple will choose a married couple to serve as their mentors. Couples meet with their mentors several times before the wedding and this relationship can help support the couple in their new marriage. Mentor couples receive training to help them fill this role. Married couples in the parish can help with the Marriage Prep Ministry by serving as mentor couples.

About six months before the wedding, couples will attend Three to Get Married, a weekend retreat offered by the St. Philip Institute. This retreat will cover practical aspects of marriage, as well as offer formation in prayer and the sacramental life as a couple. As the name suggests, the retreat helps participants build their relationship with God as the focus.

“Putting God at the center of your life and at the center of your marriage is key to establishing and maintaining a strong marriage,” Daisy says.

Before the wedding, couples will also take a class on Natural Family Planning, or NFP, which gives couples the tools they will need to have a marriage that is open to life and receptive to the will of God. Preparing for marriage is a busy season but Daisy likes to remind the couples she works with what the real purpose of marriage is.

“A husband and wife provide each other support to get to heaven,” Daisy says.

Daisy and Martin, along with other couples who serve as Marriage Prep Coordinators, are there to walk engaged couples through this hectic time, always reminding them to keep their eyes on what is most important.

“Always put God first,” Daisy says. “Pray together as a family.”

If you are engaged and need to begin the Marriage Prep process, or if you are married and would like to get involved with this important ministry, please contact the parish office at 936-634-6833.

Daisy and Martin Aguilar serve as Marriage Prep Coordinators. They have been married for 11 years and have served the parish through this ministry for over a year.