Today, I’d like to share two conversion stories: my friend’s, and my husband-to-be’s.

I first met Emily on a sweaty, late August day during the chaos of freshman move-in. Dressed in a red RA t-shirt, she calmly fielded mothers’ questions and fathers’ jokes while shouldering suitcase after suitcase up the stairs for her future residents. 

Online marriage prep is still a fairly novel idea. It’s natural to have questions about it, and easy to fall prey to certain assumptions. As a person who went through CatholicMarriagePrep.com just last fall, I’ll use my recent experience to differentiate between some of the most common “myths” and “facts” about our program.

1 - Fr Michael: “I saw that you started the online CatholicMarriagePrep.com in 2004. Why did you start an online marriage prep?”
CMP: “The Archdiocese of Denver, knowing that our program was very complete, deeply spiritual, and interactive, asked us to help couples who were far from town and couldn’t participate to in person classes. So, we answered and the fruits are beautiful”

In 1996 John Paul II during this very time stated, “We are an Easter people and Alleluia is our song!”  Profound words from one of the greatest evangelists of our time. What do these profound words mean?  

Why Justice of the Peace first?

I was baptized in an Episcopalian church, but only went to church very rarely, for Easter, if we happened not to be doing anything else. My fiance, who was raised as a Catholic, had gone through a divorce and had not gone to Mass since his marriage. 

"I do not promise to make you happy in this world but in the other." - Our Lady of Lourdes

"Faith lifts the staggering soul on one side, Hope supports it on the other. Experience says it must be, and love says let it be." - St. Elizabeth Ann Seton