Catholic Marriage Retreat this weekend - help!

[Jess]

So we have our Catholic Marriage retreat this coming weekend and I'm nervous - I guess because I don't really know what to expect...it is Friday to Sunday (2 days, 2 nights) at this local Mission and I have to share a room with some random girl.

 

My friend told me that 4 of the couples left her retreat because they decided they were not ready to get married...crazy! I mean - how intense is this thing

 

TIA!!

[edna]

Hi Jess

well we haven't taken the Pre-cana or retreat yet... but my FSIL did this retreat here at MTY and she said it was pretty neat, there were several couples sharing experiences from their marriage and giving advice in how to handle certain problems such as communication, sex, kids, etc... she is always saying we should take it!

[Betsy]

Hey Jess - It is pretty intense. And I felt like it was kind of negative but I guess that is because they want to make sure you are prepared for the bad times. We talked a lot and they asked us a bunch of questions which we wrote down in a notebook and then shared with each other (privately). So anyways I guess I was excited for it because I didn't know what to expect. I thought it was going to be a fun couples thing LOL! But it is a very serious retreat. I'm not saying it's horrible or bad, it actually did help us and strengthened our relationship. Hope this helps!!

[Jess]

really? Okay good - yeah hopefully it will be a positive experience - not sure why I'm so nervous

[Jess]

So you don't have to share these deep things with the group Betsy - just your FI?

 

Did you end up staying in touch with any of the couples?

[Betsy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jess So you don't have to share these deep things with the group Betsy - just your FI? Did you end up staying in touch with any of the couples?

NOOOO we didn't have to share anything w/ anyone else - at least not the private things. We had some group sharing things where we all talked about how we divide up household duties/money/etc. Or how we were planning on doing it. Then we all ate dinner together - like I said, I thought it was going to be some fun party-like atmosphere where we would make new friends, but it was totally opposite - you are there to take your relationship to a new level I guess, I hadn't done any research on it before I went, so you are already one step ahead of me! Don't worry - it isn't "bad" at all - like I said it def. brought us closer together too. And no, we didn't stay in touch with any other couples because we didn't really have a chance to make "friendships" with them.

[Jess]

got it - thanks so much Betsy!!

[~Stephanie~]

Oh Jess, that doesn't sound like any fun but it seems like a really smart and responsible step to take. Hope it goes ok, I'm sure it will and with any luck maybe you'll learn something new about FI and come out with some new insights to each other.

[Jess]

haha thanks Steph...yeah its required to get married in the Catholic Church...and while I would be absolutely fine getting married on the beach, it is really important to my parents for me to get married in the Catholic Church - so I get to do all these fun things that go along with it!

[Betsy]

Hey Jess, how did your weekend go (last weekend) with the retreat and everything?