Produced by the Marriage Resource Centre, SmartLoving provides resources to support couples throughout their commitment life-cycle. The SmartLoving series is recognized internationally as one of the most comprehensive range of materials for Catholic marriage formation.

Smartloving Engaged provides formation for engaged couples through an at-your-own-pace program. Session videos on the theology of marriage and practical life skills are interspersed with discussion questions and activities.

The program costs $90 per couple, and includes free access for a sponsor couple. It takes 9-15 hours to complete.

Learn More Here

Helping prepare engaged couples to embrace God’s plan for the sacrament of matrimony is an honor and a privilege. In today’s climate, it is also a challenge. Joy-Filled Marriage is a marriage preparation program produced by Ascension Press and designed to meet that challenge. This program offers a comprehensive approach to marriage preparation that covers not only the sacramentality and theology of marriage, but the practical life skills necessary to live out the rich Catholic vision of marriage.

Joy-Filled Marriage costs $105 per couple and requires 8-10 hours to complete the session videos interspersed with discussion questions and activities.

Learn More Here

This retreat offers an opportunity for engaged couples to share time with one another in private reflection and with other couples in fellowship. The retreat is lead in person by a team of married couples and clergy.

Catholic Engaged Encounter is offered in both Omaha and Norfolk, and costs $200, which covers lodging and meals.

Learn More About Omaha

Learn More About Norfolk

Catholic Marriage Fellowship offers quarterly online marriage-prep retreat days, modeled after diocesan daylong marriage preparation programs. The retreat offers formation in the Church's teaching on Christian Marriage while guiding engaged couples to reflect upon and discuss the essentials of practical life skills, and theological/spiritual marital topics before entering into the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony.

This retreat costs $95, and takes a 6.5 hour day to complete.

Learn More Here

After your initial meeting with a couple, send them the link below to register for a pre-marriage inventory through FOCCUS Marriage Ministries. Their session will be automatically assigned to the primary admin in your organization; any admin can then assign the session to the chosen facilitator.

Sign Up for FOCCUS now

Couples directed to use the REFOCCUS inventory may use the button below to create their registration.

Sign Up for REFOCCUS now

If you have questions about using the FOCCUS website or need to change an administrator on your account, contact FOCCUS Toll free at 877·883·5422 or by e-mail at foccus@foccusinc.com.

A webinar was held in the Spring of 2023 to orient Marriage Preparation coordinators to using the FOCCUS system. If you missed this webinar, you can view it by clicking the button below and entering the password: uZ96r+LJ

FOCCUS Webinar

The PDFs linked below will orient you to the FOCCUS website as you prepare couples for marriage.

Facilitator Summary Form

Editing couples and resending login information

Transfer Inventory Sessions

Toggle Between Orgs on your accounts

Find Couple Login Info

Find Couple Report

View all couple sessions

Witness to Love is a virtues-based, Catechumenate model of marriage formation that integrates life-skills and the virtues to help couples facilitate an authentic dialogue. It's mission is to build and sustain communities of evangelizing spouses to be light in our world. Couples choose their mentor couple (which meets certain criteria) and it's goal is to continue that friendship and support after the wedding. A free parish retreat called "Be More" (with videos) can used to supplement sacramental catechesis.

The Brochure linked below can be printed and shared with couples to easily provide them with all of the links and resources they will need to meet the Archdiocesan requirements for marriage.

Marriage Preparation Brochure

The Celebration of Matrimony Workbook is now available as a PDF, which you may print and give to couples to assist them in planning their wedding liturgy.

Celebration of Matrimony Workbook