Starting Saturday, February 11, 2023, we will be conducting a 6-session marriage-preparation course for English-speaking couples (planned dates: Saturdays, 11, 18, 25 February; 11, 18 and 25 March. No meeting on Saturday, March 4). The course will be conducted entirely in English, by a native-speaker, using materials from the United States. Participants should be proficient in English, and at least one person must be a non-Polish-speaker. If you are preparing for the Sacrament of Matrimony in the coming year and you need a course in English, please send us an email at contact@pastoralcentre.pl.

Please read the full description of the course before emailing us, to make sure it is the right course for you. (See below.)

You must email us (contact@pastoralcentre.pl) to be placed on the list of interested couples (texts or FB messaging will not put you on the list). When you email, we need the following information: Full names of the engaged man and woman (as they appear on your legal identification cards or passport); what country or countries you are from; what religion each person is (if any); if you are Catholic, whether you have completed your sacraments of initiation (baptism, first communion and confirmation).

When your email is received, you should receive a response within 24 hours from the course instructor. If you do not receive a response 24 hours after you emailed us, your email probably went to spam and you can speak directly to Fr Marcin or the instructor after Mass, or use FB messaging to alert us that your email might have been lost.

Our Marriage Preparation Course is open to English-speaking couples who, for linguistic reasons, are unable to participate in a course in Polish (non-Polish-speakers or couples in which only one person speaks Polish and both speak English). All those who wish to attend should be proficient speakers of English, since the video presentations and course workbook are in English and the teacher is a native-speaker of English. This course is not appropriate for people who are unable to follow a lecture, enter into a discussion, answer questions or watch a film entirely in English without translations, interpreters or subtitles. You can watch a preview of the video part of the course here:

This course prepares couples for the Sacrament of Matrimony in the Roman Catholic Church. Participating couples should be open to Church teaching about marriage and should have the desire to understand and live out the requirements of Catholic marriage, whether or not both participants are Catholic.

Course Requirements

Participants will be required to complete a pre-marital survey (questionnaire). The questionnaire is entirely confidential – read only by the priest – and is designed to help the couple discuss issues related to marriage, as well as helping the priest get a sense of particular areas of marriage preparation that each couple may need to work on or discuss in depth.

Participants will be provided with a workbook for the course. It is expected that the participants will read the appropriate texts and answer assigned questions for each session. The cost of the course will be given in the email you will receive when you ask to be put on the list of participants.

The course itself consists of six meetings, held on Saturdays (be prepared to be present from 9:30-13:00). Attendance at all meetings is required for couples to complete the course. Meetings will consist of video presentations and short talks before and after the films. There will be two presentations per meeting, with a break between the two presentations. Each presentation takes about 2 hours, so assume you’ll spend about 4-5 hours per week at each meeting. If you register for this course, please clear your schedule and do not plan any other events or activities during the scheduled hours for the sessions. Your willingness to take the course seriously and to commit to attending it is an indication to us of your seriousness about Catholic marriage.

Besides participation in the weekly meetings, participants will meet with the priest in charge of the course at least once and possibly more times as needed. These private meetings will be devoted to review of the pre-marital survey, and answering the questions and particular needs of each couple as they prepare for the Sacrament of Matrimony. These meetings are arranged individually to suit the couples’ and the priest’s schedule.

The Pastoral Centre for English-speakers cannot organize marriage preparation ad hoc or individually as an alternative to this course. This course will never be conducted online.