Marriage prep course

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Giannamarie3232

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Hello all!

I have a friend who is entering the Catholic Church with her fiancé this coming Easter Vigil. She already has her wedding planned out for August of next year. I mentioned to her that she should have waited to speak with the priest because she is required to have a six month marriage prep course. Now thinking about it… can the class start six months prior to that date or will it have to start the moment she is baptized in the Church?

She said the reason she chose August is because all of her immediate family lives in Arizona and August is the only time they are all able to make it out.

Thank you!
 
She should speak to the pastor at the parish where she is in RCIA immediately. Marriage prep is usually about 6 months prior to the wedding, and may or may not be classes. It takes different forms in different dioceses.

Step one: meet with the pastor.
 
Are you asking if the marriage prep can be started before she is baptized? If so, yes it can. It would be good for her to talk to the priest as soon as possible to ensure everything is completed on time though as different dioceses and parishes may have different schedules.

That said, my husband proposed on New Years Day and we were married in August of that same year so it is doable.
 
YES! I should have been more specific. She is worried that she will lose her original wedding date since it will not be a full six months from April ( when she will enter the church) and August ( the time of her wedding)

So again, you are saying she CAN start marriage prep classes before her RCIA is up?
 
Would it be different though because her and her fiancé are entering the church at the same time?
 
They should still be able to start prep. She needs to speak to the pastor of the church where they’re getting married as soon as possible. Did she already reserve it?
 
They are still waiting to hear back from the preist.
She did not reserve yet. She has to wait to meet with him before doing that, right?
 
It might be present to wait for a response, especially if losing money on any reservation is in question. Not because, it can’t be done or accomplished in that time frame, but the priest would have the ultimate decision.
 
Normally, yes. That’s why I asked. It’s usually the first step in determining your actual wedding date. I think that, once she talks to the priest, she’ll be able to get everything scheduled and on track. August seems pretty doable, as long as the church is not already booked.
 
Marriage prep and RCIA at the same time will make the couple extremely busy, but otherwise, it can be a bit of “two birds, one stone” because of the potential overlap in education and inquiries that might be needed.

Slightly different case, but anyone in an irregular marriage status must clear that up prior to entering the Church via RCIA, which means couples doing convalidations actually do their marriage prep at the same time - so yes, this is a common occurrence to do both concurrently. (The only difference in these cases is the weddings happen before the baptisms.)
 
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