MARRIAGE PREPARATION

Marriage for a Lifetime
Pastoral Letter to the Engaged
From
The Most Reverend David L. Ricken, DD, JCL
Bishop of Cheyenne
May 28, 2006

Dear Newly Engaged Couples,

As your Bishop, I am delighted to tell you how much I rejoice with you and how very happy I am for you at this important and intensely beautiful moment in your life. Thank you for coming to the Church and to your parish for assistance in helping you to prepare for your marriage and the celebration of the Sacrament of Matrimony when the two of you, by your vows, will declare your intention to live permanently and faithfully together for life according to the plan of God and His Church. On the day of your marriage and for the rest of your lives you will be a living sign to all of us of Christ's total and unconditional love for us as His Church. How blest we are to welcome you! How blest you are to be chosen by our God to show forth His great love to one another and indeed, to all the world!

As you begin your formal preparation for marriage, I pledge you the support and the help of your pastor, your parish priests and deacons and your marriage mentor couples who will assist you as you prepare for your chosen vocation. I also promise you my prayers and guidance as you journey through this process of preparation and into the years of your married life. Our hopes and prayers for you are the same as your own, that you will have a holy and happy lifelong marriage, blessed by God's precious gift of children. Please be very conscientious about your preparation for marriage. I promise you that you will never regret the time you will spend now in preparation for a lifetime together.

INTRODUCTION
You have approached the Church for marriage. The action of the Holy Spirit that has brought you to this decision means that you are taking this time of your engagement for marriage very seriously and we commend you for that. Because we value each one of you and your future as a couple so much, we ask you to be well prepared for this lifelong adventure. Seminarians prepare for priesthood for a minimum of seven years. Deacons prepare for their vocation several weekends a month for four years. It is very important that you too be well prepared for your vocation. Therefore, we ask you to enter fully into each aspect of your preparation. While we understand the busyness of your lives and the desire you have to be married, our urgency is for you to have the best marriage preparation possible and so I ask that you spend the next months cooperating fully with your priest or deacon and with the married couples who will be facilitating the marriage preparation process deemed necessary by the Church. To accomplish this will require commitment and effort on your part but all that you learn and share with one another now during this time of preparation will lay a firm foundation for your marriage and family life.

During the time of your preparation, you will learn much about each other and about the joys and sacrifices of your vocation. You will have an opportunity to assess your readiness for marriage by taking the FOCCUS inventory and you will be offered several options to learn practical life skills to assist you in making every aspect of your married life as healthy and holy as possible. You will also learn about the Catholic Church's vision of marriage and come to a deeper understanding of Christ's love for you and His desire to be one with you in your marriage. To offer you any less than our very best would be for us to fail to honor you and your vocation. Therefore, I ask you to be open to the teaching we offer you and to see as gifts that will last a lifetime, each meeting, class and program you will attend as part of your preparation. I know you understand that this period of preparation will only be the beginning of the commitment you will need to make in order to continue to grow in love and to insure the stability of your marriage and family life. Please, begin right now to pray together everyday, to come to Mass on Sunday, as a couple whenever possible, and to place God at the very center of your life together. Regardless of whether or not you are both Catholic and even if you have never prayed together before, begin to do so now by simply inviting Jesus to be with you. There is nothing more important you can do and He will not refuse what you ask, for He told us that wherever two or three would be gathered in His name, He would be there (cf. MT18:20).

WHAT THE CHURCH TEACHES ABOUT MARRIAGE:
Marriage is a Covenant
A covenant signifies a special relationship between two parties. Some covenants during Old Testament times were between a powerful party and a weaker one. Others were between those of more equal stature. Covenants, unlike simple contracts, were considered to be valid for all time and, although they could be renewed, they could not be taken back once solemnly made. When God entered into His covenants with the Hebrew people, he made them His people forever (cf. Genesis 17:7-8). In very simple terms, He promised to take care of them always and without reservation, asking only that they follow His laws. Regardless of their trials and failings, He always honored His promise to them and always provided means of renewing His covenant with His chosen people. The prophets, spoke of God's covenant with Israel in terms of exclusive and faithful married love in order to prepare the conscience of the people for a deepened understanding of the unity and indissolubility of marriage (cf. CCC 1611). So great and so extensive was God's unconditional love for His people that He sent His own Son, who, as the "Lamb of God" (John1:29), shed His blood and gave His life in fulfillment of the covenant promise. Through the permanent and total gift of Himself, Jesus made possible the "new and eternal covenant" of the Eucharist in which He renews the sacrificial covenant of His life, death and resurrection and remains with us for all time. "In this sacrifice of the new and eternal covenant, Christian spouses encounter the source from which their own marriage flows is interiorly structured and continuously renewed" (Familiaris Consortio 57).

When you marry you will enter a covenant with each other and with God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God will be the first partner in this covenant of love as you pledge to each other permanence, fidelity and fruitfulness in your love for the whole of life (CIC, can.1055). Your covenant promise is a promise of total self-donation as modeled by Christ's total gift of Himself. Rest assured that in every struggle of ordinary life and even in the most difficult of times, God will never abandon His part in the covenant of life and love which you enter into on your wedding day. The grace of His presence can strengthen your daily commitment to live out your covenant of marriage in every moment of your life and in every decision you make to "love one another" (John 15:12). There will be times when it will be necessary for you to renew your covenant through forgiveness, but this too will be an important sign of your lifelong commitment to one another. The frequent reception of the Sacrament of Reconciliation is necessary to assist you in your life together. As you each come to know Christ's forgiveness for you, pardoning one another and renewing your love will be helped and assisted by this powerful sacrament.

Marriage is a Sacrament
Marriage is one of the seven sacraments, one of the seven most precious gifts of Christ to His Church. A Sacrament is defined as "an efficacious sign of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us through the work of the Holy Spirit" (CCC 1131). The word sacrament itself actually means "mystery." Each sacrament, each mystery, makes really present in some way that which it signifies. Each includes the grace that God gives to help us live the Christian life in imitation of Him. Thus, the Sacrament of Matrimony in some way makes really present in the life of Christian spouses and to those who see their love, both the mystery of the love that exists within the Holy Trinity and the mystery of Christ's total self-giving love for His Church. The two of you, in your exchange of vows, become, by God's grace, a revelation of this great mystery. By giving your word in such a solemn manner, you are promising, in a very visible way, to show forth the permanent, faithful, life-giving and intimate love of Christ, to your families, your friends, your church and the world by always, "deferring to one another out of reverence for Christ"(Ephesians 5:21-33). Your vows are indeed only a beginning for "the gift of Jesus Christ is not exhausted in the celebration of the sacrament of marriage, but rather accompanies the married couple throughout their lives" (Familiaris Consortio, 56). Jesus "abides with them so that just as He loved the Church and handed Himself over on her behalf, the spouses may love each other with perpetual fidelity through mutual self-bestowal" (Gaudium et Spes, 49).

You will spend the rest of your lives striving to live out this sacrament and the meaning of the simple, yet life-altering words of your vows. Now, during the time of your engagement, as you draw closer to God through prayer, weekly Mass attendance, scripture reading and your marriage preparation studies, you will draw closer to one another as well. On your wedding night, as you come together in the joyful expression of sexual intimacy meant for marriage alone, you will make real and true the vows you will say to one another in your wedding ceremony. Each act of love making will then express your permanent and faithful love for one another and be a beautiful renewal of your promise to love one another with a love that is free, total, faithful and fruitful. As a married couple, you will have the privilege of opening yourselves to the gift of life which is such a mystery and such a miracle that the birth of each child will be for all time a unique and living expression of your "two in one flesh" union (Mark 10:6-8). Pray together about this beautiful teaching concerning the sacrament of marriage and you will come to understand why it is that sexual activity must be saved until the Sacrament of Matrimony is celebrated after which it has the protection of a solemn and lifelong commitment.

Marriage is a Vocation
Marriage is also a vocation. It is a call from God to live out your baptism within the married state. All couples who are considering getting married should ask themselves, "Is this the person with whom God wants me to live my life? Is this the person for whom God is calling me to pour out my life in many acts of self-sacrifice and self-giving? Do I feel truly called to walk the journey of life toward eternity in a married relationship with this man or this woman? Do we together have a sense that we are being called to live our lives within both church and society as a married couple?"

The vocation of marriage is a vocation by which you are called not only to serve one another but also to serve and partake in the saving mission of Christ Himself. This mission will first be lived out within your family as you place yourselves at the service of one another and your children. Thus you must be ready and willing to sacrifice and to live your lives in imitation of Christ's other-centered love both by being open to the gift of children and also by practicing the virtues of charity and justice as you create an atmosphere of hospitality within your home. In the vocation of marriage you will have a unique opportunity to commit yourselves "to bringing the light of Christ to bear on a culture which, in an ever more disturbing way, is in danger of losing sight of the very meaning of marriage and family as an institution (Novo Millennio Inuente 10). This is but one reason why we are very serious when we ask you to consider this time of marriage preparation as true vocational discernment. Our late Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, has helped us to understand the importance of preparing for your vocation in the married state. He very clearly stated that, "The very preparation for Christian marriage is itself a journey of faith. It is a special opportunity for the engaged to rediscover and deepen the faith received in baptism and nourished by their Christian upbringing. In this way they come to recognize and freely accept their vocation to follow Christ and to serve the kingdom of God in the married state" (Familiaris Consortio 51).

Right now, you may be in the throes of infatuation. God may be speaking to you through this natural means, but be careful and cautious in your discernment. Do your best to make sure that the person to whom you are engaged is the one to become your spouse for life. Ask your pastor, your parish priest or deacon, trusted members of your families and your marriage preparation mentors to assist you in this discernment. Participate with an open mind and an open heart in every aspect of your preparation. Take the time you need and do not get overwhelmed with wedding details. Make these months a time of chaste courtship and serious conversation. If you discern your vocation prayerfully and carefully you will have no reason to fear and God will confirm your choice with a certain peace. This is a good time to practice trusting God to help you in your decision-making as you turn to Him, knowing that He will lead you only to what is good and holy for your life and for your future.

Mixed Marriages
Perhaps you are coming to the Church for marriage from different religious backgrounds. If so, please allow me to share with you my urgency for you to experience what the Catechism of the Catholic Church calls a "flowering of what is common," in your faith and, "respect for what separates" you. (CCC 1636). With gratitude to your families who formed you in faith and religious practice, you have now come together and declared your intention to build a Christian home and family. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance that you share openly and honestly together now, before you are married, about the differences in your faith, your intentions regarding religious practice and also any differences that may exist in how you view marriage. I do want to invite you both to consider attending the RCIA classes in your parish, either now before you are married or afterwards, to learn more about the Catholic faith and, if the Holy Spirit moves your hearts, to become one in that faith together.

If you are the Catholic partner entering a mixed marriage, you have a serious obligation to continue in the practice of your faith and to baptize and educate your children in the faith of the Catholic Church. If you are the non-Catholic partner, you do not take on an obligation to the Catholic Church but you must not prevent the obligation of your Catholic spouse. At the same time, you should expect respect and support from your Catholic spouse so that, if you choose, you may continue in the practice of your own religious tradition. Always, especially in the raising of children, you should strive to grow together in prayer and in the practice of the virtues so that you can teach and show by both faith and respect for each other the truth of God's love for all people.

THE THEOLOGY OF THE BODY
During your marriage preparation you will learn about Pope John Paul II's Theology of the Body. This beautiful teaching can be a wonderful assistance to you in understanding the dignity and importance of your vocation. There are three essential principles presented in this teaching that I would ask you to remember.

Made in the Image and Likeness of God
The first principle concerns the dignity of the human person. This dignity is inherent, that is, it is part of the nature of every human being. From where does this dignity come? It comes from the Creator, Himself. "God created man in His image; in the divine image He created him; male and female He created them" (Genesis 1:27). Man and woman are human beings to an equal degree. They are both created in God's image with unique and complimentary gifts. This image and likeness of God, which is essential for the human being, is intended to be passed on by the way of man and woman, as spouses and parents, to their children from generation to generation (Mulieris Dignitatem 6). The dignity possessed by man and woman exists from the very moment of conception and remains, regardless of the circumstance, condition or situation of life, until the moment of natural death. It is important to note that while man and woman can choose to behave in inhuman ways, thereby losing or lessening their likeness to God, they can never lose the dignity that comes from being created by God. Because of this dignity, derived as it is from the Creator, each and every person is to be treated with the utmost respect. The body too is good and beautiful and it expresses in a uniquely beautiful way what it is to be human. Therefore, it should be treated with great respect, with love and self discipline so that what the body does, and the language it speaks, will express and be worthy of the true dignity of being a fully human person. This is the dignity with which each of you was created and it is in the awareness of this dignity and with the greatest respect that you are called to cherish one another for life.

A Love That Reflects the Holy Trinity and Christ's Love for the Church
The second principle of the Theology of the Body is that the love between spouses in marriage is a reflection of the love that exists within the three persons of the Blessed Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This spousal love, expressed within marriage, in all the little and grand ways of loving and giving and sacrificing and dying to self for the other. By freely choosing to love, husband and wife make visible in a real and understandable way what it means to love as God loves, totally and without reservation, permanently and faithfully, seeking the good of the other and giving selflessly without expectations. This kind of love also reflects Christ's love for His Church. It is a love that sacrifices even unto death. It is a love that continues to nurture and heal day after day. This is the love your marriage can reflect to others. As you strive to love your spouse the way Christ loves the Church, your life together can become an invitation to know God Himself.

Self-donation and the Gift of Sex
The third important teaching in The Theology of the Body is that each human person is called to make a free and sincere gift of self to God and to the other. Man and woman, created for one another, come to know themselves most clearly in the act of self-donation (Gaudium et Spes, 24). In marriage, this means the one hundred percent giving of oneself to one's spouse, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually through endless acts of love through the days, months and years of life. The call to unity is written into the very way the bodies of man and woman are made to give and receive love. In and through their love for one another, husband and wife form an "intimate community of life and love" (Gaudium et Spes 48) in which nothing is held back in giving the total gift of self to one another. This gift, as expressed in the vows of marriage and in sexual intercourse, speaks a beautiful language about what it means to be truly human, made in the image of God who is love. "Conjugal love involves a totality, in which all the elements of the person enter …It aims at a deeply personal unity, a unity that, beyond union in one flesh, leads to forming one heart and soul; it demands indissolubility and faithfulness in definitive mutual giving, and it is open to fertility (CCC 164, cf. FC 13). This is the complete oneness you are called to live by making every consideration of your spouse truly life-giving and by allowing every act of marital intercourse to be open to the gift of life in children.

The Practice of Chastity
How do married couples live out these beautiful ideas in their marriage and family life? They do so by acting in accord with their dignity as human persons. "None can achieve true happiness, the happiness that they desire with the strength of their whole soul, unless they observe the laws inscribed on their nature by the Most High God. To be happy man (man and woman) must prudently and lovingly cultivate these laws" (Marital Chastity and Human Freedom, Aug. 2004). This cultivation requires living chastely both now before you are married and then within marriage by freely choosing to discipline your passions in such a way that you will fully belong only to one another for life.

The Two Purposes of Marriage
Let us consider for a moment what the Church calls, "the goods of marriage." The purposes of marriage are twofold; the unity of the couple through their faithful and indissoluble love for one another and secondly, their cooperation in the procreation and education of children. The Second Vatican Council wisely declared these goods to be of equal importance and so the Church seeks to offer you and all couples assistance in attaining both in a fully human way. This assistance will also make your free choice for chastity much easier both now and in the years to come. According to the teaching of the Catholic Church, married love by nature is "human, total, faithful, exclusive and fruitful" (Gaudium et Spes 50). Each of these characteristics is essential to the success and happiness of your marriage.

NATURAL FAMILY PLANNING
The Church has a long tradition against contraception for the reason that it excludes the gift of life and can easily turn the spouse into an object of gratification instead of a mutual partner and co-creator. In addition, contraception, whether through the use of chemicals or barriers, prevents the giving and receiving of the whole person of the spouse, including the gift of his or her fertility.

The Church does not teach and has never taught that couples are to have as many children as biologically possible. Rather, the Church asks you to be responsible parents, to receive with gratitude the gift of children and also to care for them, providing for their needs and their education, including their education in the faith. "The task of giving education is rooted in the primary vocation to participate in God's creative activity" (Familiaris Consortio 36). You are charged with the serious task of transmitting and nurturing human life. The teaching of the Church makes it clear that judgments about how to fulfill the tasks of responsible parenthood are yours, to be made in the sight of God. The Church also teaches that your judgments cannot be made lightly but must always be made according to a "right conscience" that is, a conscience that is informed and enlightened by faith and guided by the teaching office of the Church which interprets divine law in the light of the Gospel (cf. CCC 1784-1785).

We ask then that you be open to the gift of children and to see each child God may give you as a gift. We also ask that when, for a serious reason, it is necessary for you to space or limit the number of children you have, you make use of only those natural means by which, through periodic abstinence, you can assure that you will be able to honor both the needs of your family and the plan of God for your marriage. As you plan for your family, the Church stands ready to assist you by offering you clear and careful instruction in Natural Family Planning.

Natural Family Planning teaches you as a couple a set of observations and practices that will assist you in understanding the fertility of both partners and the cycles of a woman's body. With the knowledge gained, you will be able to abstain from intercourse during the fertile times of the wife's cycle at those times when you have determined that it is necessary for you to avoid becoming pregnant. When learned carefully and practiced correctly, NFP is "up to 99% effective in avoiding pregnancy" (NFP Myth and Reality, Secretariat for Pro-life Activities, USCCB). It is also important to note that if, by chance, you have difficulty conceiving, what you learn can also help you identify the most fertile time within a cycle when the chances of conception are the greatest.

Natural Family Planning is approved by the Church because it preserves the full human dignity of a couple's lovemaking while, through making use of periodic abstinence, it leaves every act of intercourse open to the possibility of conception. By using NFP you can respect God's role as the ultimate creator of all life and cooperate in relationship with Him through prayer and monthly discernment. The mutual responsibility that is assumed by couples who use this method of planning for their family has actually been proven to build both communication and deeper levels of intimacy in their relationship with one another, making them "more tender with each other and more attentive to each other, assisting them in dispelling that inordinate self-love that is opposed to true charity" (Humanae Vitae 21). Without question, the use of natural family planning requires discipline. However, when both of you embrace and cooperate in this practice, this discipline will give your love a deeper human meaning. It will help you "become strong in virtue and rich with spiritual goods," It can foster peace in your home and aid you in solving difficulties in other areas of your life as well as in providing healthy sexual education for your children (cf. Humanae Vitae 21).

What a gift this can be to both your marriage and your family life! For these reasons, Natural Family Planning is a requirement of engaged couples in the Diocese of Cheyenne. As you complete your required course in Natural Family Planning, I pray that you will delight in all that you learn about one another and the miraculous gift of your fertility.

COHABITATION
For many years now, in this country, there has been a common but mistaken understanding that living together before marriage can be a good way for couples to get to know one another prior to making a permanent and public life commitment to one another in marriage (National Marriage Project, State of Our Unions, 2002). This practice has shown itself to be very counterproductive. In fact, it completely eliminates the very important stage of chaste courtship in the couple's relationship that is such an essential part of preparing for the vocation of marriage. Sexual activity before marriage, either inside or outside of a cohabiting relationship, can easily lessen the necessary verbal communication that assists couples in discussing many of the most important issues in their relationship and objectively discerning a lifelong vocational commitment. (Leon Kass, The End of Courtship).

Couples who live together before marriage represent themselves as living out a commitment that is less than a total gift of self. They may share many things such as shelter, finances, physical intimacy, even children but they do so in a manner that holds in reserve the opportunity to end the relationship. In such a situation total trust in one another and respect for each other's dignity is lacking and the clarity necessary for true discernment is clouded by an emotional and physical vulnerability that can lesson the freedom required for marital consent.

Cohabitation before marriage in no way insures healthy or lasting marriage. Research shows that cohabiting couples actually have a 50% greater chance of divorcing in the early years of marriage. This figure, added to an already high marriage failure rate, means that cohabiting couples have up to a 75% to 80% chance of divorce In addition, couples who have cohabited experience poorer quality of communication before marriage, more negative communication in marriage, lower levels of emotional and sexual satisfaction, higher perceived relationship instability and a higher risk for domestic violence (Cohan & Kleinbaum, 2002, Brown, 2004, Kamp Dush et al., 2003 as reported in research by Scott Stanley, University of Denver.)

The above research supports the wisdom of what the Church has always taught regarding chaste courtship and the essential characteristics of Christian Marriage. The unity, fidelity, indissolubility and fruitfulness of marriage are possible only within the context of a free and total self gift of one to the other that demonstrates the willingness of spouses to carry out their duties as spouses and parents. Chastity before and within marriage witnesses your "Yes" to the truth and meaning of sexual love written into your very being and makes possible the fulfillment of the deepest desire of your human hearts for truly unconditional love.

Therefore, because we can want no less for you than God's own deepest desire for true oneness, I ask that during your preparation and until the day of your wedding, that you separate and live apart, or, if that is truly not possible, that you live as brother and sister, sleeping separately and refraining from sexual intercourse. This will be a sign of your willingness to sacrifice for one another and express your intention to form your marriage according to the teaching of Christ and His Church. My prayers and the prayers and assistance of the Catholic community will be with you as you make choices to implement this essential part of your formation.

PLANNING YOUR WEDDING DAY
Planning your wedding day is a very important part of the whole process of entering into a sacred covenant with one another and with God. There are many important details that need to be attended to and cared for and this does take a lot of careful consideration and decision making. Both the time and date of your wedding and your rehearsal date and time will need to be scheduled with your both your priest or deacon and with the parish.
I would also ask that you meet with your pastor and whomever else he may designate to assist you in planning for your wedding so that your selection of readings, music, flowers, and your use of ministers and volunteers involved in the ceremony will express all that you hope it will and at the same time be in conformity with liturgical guidelines. Remember to plan a time for the Sacrament of Reconciliation in the final days before you receive the Sacrament of Matrimony and, if you are both Catholic, to receive communion together as a couple.

A FINAL WORD
I, as your Bishop, along with your pastors, parish priests, deacons and the married couples who will assist you in your preparation assure you of our support and prayers, not only now, but throughout the years of your married life. You are a great gift to the Church and you will not walk the journey of marriage and family life alone. As you live out your vocation and build your family, I encourage you to stay close to the parish community, to attend Mass every Sunday or more often if possible and to receive the Sacraments of Reconciliation and Eucharist frequently. As a couple and as a family, I urge you to develop a spirituality of prayer and devotion to the Blessed Mother. I encourage you to pray the Rosary together and with your children. Including Mary in the heart of your home will always make it easier for you to sense a spirit of peace and reconciliation among yourselves. Mary's intercession will help you in so many ways to be faithful to the vows you have spoken and to the love you have promised. Please continue, in every circumstance, to pray together daily and to study and live the beautiful teachings of our faith by taking advantage of all that is offered for married couples in your parish and in the diocese. Above all, remember that God Himself is with you every step of the way. Turn to Him always as you strive to grow in your love and ask for His grace as you remember to forgive one another's failings. Allow the Holy Spirit to help you make your lives truly holy and you will indeed live in the joy God has prepared for you (cf. John 17:11). May Jesus and His Blessed Mother be with you now and in all the days of your married life.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

The Most Reverend Bishop David L. Ricken, DD, JCL
Bishop of Cheyenne
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Catholic Engaged Encounter

A Wedding is a Day........A Marriage is a Lifetime

The weekend utlizes a dynamic communication process that will help couples communicate effectively throughout marriage.

This is a time for couples to be alone, to focus on their couple relationship away from the distractions and tensions of everyday life.

What happens on the weekend?

A team of two married couples and a priest share on various topics pertaining to married life. Each couple then privately discusses these aspects of marriage from the viewpoint of their own relationship. The focus of the weekend is on couple reflection, discovery, understanding and development of a life-long communication technique.

Throughout the weekend, each couple is given private time to explore and share the strengths of their relationship and the areas for growth, their desires and attitudes about marriage, sexuality, family, children, money, God and church.

During the weekend, the Christian values of commitment and responsibility to marriage, to God, and to the church community are emphasized.

What is the cost?
The cost of the weekend is $160 per couple, payable upon registration. For a Printable Registration Form click here . This covers the whole weekend, supplies, meals, etc. Engaged Encounter is self-supporting, so if you have an extraordinary financial problem, please let your pastor know or contact us.

CALENDAR

For more information, call:
Marriage, Family & Respect Life Ministry
1(800)788-4616 (Daytime) or 1(307)237-2723 (Local) or e-mail pat@dioceseofcheyenne.org
Bill and Karen Fehringer
(307)472-0173 (Evening)
Steve and Jan Martin
(307)577-3009 (Evening)

FOCCUS - an acronym for "Facilitating Open Couple Communication, Understanding and Study", is an internationally used instrument for marriage preparation. It is self-diagnostic and designed to help couples learn more about themselves and their unique relationship. It provides individualized couple feedback on where each partner stands in regard to topic areas important to marriage. FOCCUS was developed to reflect the values and ideals of marriage as sacred.