Sep. 18th – Patrick and Erin – Archdiocese of Philadelphia, PA “I felt a lot of personal growth while completing the course”

Him: I think that the variety of courses touched on vital components of a Catholic marriage and as a result, I believe Erin and I have deepened our understanding of the sacrament within the Catholic faith. This experience also offered a safe and non-judgmental environment for us to freely discuss how we plan to live our lives together. Additionally, we learned of the important aspects to prioritize, as well as how to work through conflict (what to do and what not to do).

Her: Overall, not only do I feel prepared but also supported by my future spouse as well the comfort in knowing I can always confide in others in my community. Additionally, aspects such as communication, financial planning advice, and conflict resolution strategies really resonated with me. I think this spiritual preparation contributed to ensuring a strong relationship with both God and my spouse, as well as our future children.

Both: There were topics (including contraception) that we were not even aware could harm our relationship. It can cause a riff and resentment in many ways. Recognizing that together and making choices that will solidify our union is our perspective.

Sep. 19th – Edson and Arely– Diocese of Orange, CA “It reinforced our trust and respect for each other and our future marriage”

Him: The amount of flexibility offered with taking a course like this online was great. Especially considering that it felt comprehensive in such a way that I can't imagine I would've learned any more if it had been done in person.

Her: I was surprised at how deep the lessons would get and how thorough our instructor’s responses would be. Even though the course was online, it didn't take away from the experience.

Both: The attention to detail in the curriculum and the level of personalized attention we received from our mentors was phenomenal. The different resources that were used to round out our studies were of premium quality as well.

Sep. 20th – Gregory and Elizabeth – Diocese of Manchester, NH “It helped facilitate lots of good conversations between me and my fiancé.”

Him: It was good for us because we are long distance which made it hard but I liked how we didn't have to make calls or have meetings but still got feedback and messages from the instructors.

Her: This course was helpful for us because we could do it at our own pace - we are long distance with inconsistent schedules so we really appreciated this option. The feedback from our instructors was a great addition of information and guidance.

Both: We learned helpful skills for good communication and active listening. By having to come up with answers together, we worked on brain storming and thinking out logical responses together. We learned from each other.

Sep. 21st – Bruno and Elise – Diocese of Austin, TX “I appreciate the feedbacks from our instructors”

Him: I like the way the course is delivered. Instead of a lesson, we had to think about the questions, research and read the bible passages then the instructor review and share what the church teaches. For me this is the best way to teach. I was deep into the subjects and I believe I will remember better this way. I extremely appreciate our instructors’ fast responses to our submissions.

Her: The course gives me more information on the Catholic marriage. This will allow me to start a good couple life.

Both: We took time of daily lives to commit to a time to meet and work together on the assignments. We share our opinions, explain ourselves and we have the same visions for most of the teachings. We believe we have the knowledge and are on the same page to enter Catholic marriage.

Sep. 22nd – Matthew and Rebecca – Diocese of Orange, TX “The course helped me renew more of my desire to get closer to God”

Him: This course helped me understand the depth of what goes into preparing for a marriage. It also helped me think more outside the box on issues that I didn't think about before. I am pleased with the examples used to help me clearly understand what was being discussed, and the use of videos was beneficial to listen to testimonies from priests and others regarding common questions.

Her: This was more than I could have anticipated in terms of preparation. This was a great combination of thought, reflection and problem solving. It pushed us to really think about topics and gave us great resources to use during our marriage.

Both: This was not something you could "skim through" or complete without thought. I love that this challenged us to work together and talk about real life issues and challenges married couples face and I appreciated the real-life approach to topics and that the couples helping us seemed like genuine honest couples that go through challenges just like we do.