Hi all!
I've recently started planning for my wedding next summer (God willing), and have realized there's a possible snag in doing marriage prep/pre-Cana/what have you. It appears that the usual marriage prep classes in our diocese are held only on Saturdays (there's also Engaged Encounter, but that's over the weekend too). The catch? I'm going to have a class this next semester that meets on Saturday mornings.
While doing marriage preparation is obviously more important in the big scheme of things than going to class, I also really don't want to miss class. I do have an obligation to my professor and fellow students to be there, and I'll miss a lot if I skip a meeting.
My mom mentioned that when she and my dad were married (also in New York, in the 80s), they arranged to have private meetings with a priest they knew instead of going to classes. Aside from not having to go on Saturdays, I also rather like the idea because it would presumably deal more with us specifically than a generic class. We're both pretty well informed about the Church's teaching on marriage (my fiancé is actually working towards a PhD in theology!) and so it'd be nice to have a bit more in-depth discussion than is probably possible with a large group.
So, has anyone here done this? Do dioceses usually allow engaged couples to take private instruction, how easy is it to set up something like that, and how much would one expect to compensate the priest for his time?
-- July, 2011. --