Pre-cana question...

I know the point of it, but what do you actually do?

Pre-cana question...

Basicly you explore various topics together. We attended the one day session. The format consisted of two couples that would introduce a topic, a short video on the topic, some perspectives and discussion led by the two couples and then a written expercise & discussion between the the two of you. There are variations on the format but basicly its designed to prompt discussion and exploration on some core relationship topics.

Pre-cana question...

I have friends who said it was a wonderful experience. You really learn a lot about your future husband/wife. I know that there are a lot of private written exercises to help us learn how to discuss problems and situations. So many people get married and never even discuss having or not having children or what they would want to do if during the pregnancy a test showed positive for MS or Downs etc.. And there are financial discussions. It is to basically help us prepare for marriage. I think you have to be very open to listening, learning and sharing with your partner.

Here's what ours did

We just finished our class sessions in October. I think that you'll find that each parish does it a little different. We hade the choice of in-home sessions (a total of 5 classes, each 2 hours)or a weeknd retreat (Friday night to Sunday afternoon). We did the in-home sessions (they were cheaper too!). They took all the couples and broke them out into groups. Our 'group' had 5 engaged couples, including us. We had two sets of host couples, and we alternated which of their houses we would meet at. We met once a week for 2 hours. The topics we discussed were: 1. Communication 2. Spirituality 3. Decision-making 4. Sexuality/family planning issues Basically, the host couples led our group in discussion, and then gave us exercises to do alone, and then we shared our results with our FH's. It was a way to get you to think and discuss the various issues. I think our sessions were really tame. I've heard friends of mine say their sexuality class was the host couples getting really personal and telling them about 'sex' and all the family planning stuff, but our classes was just about love and how to express it, what makes someone male and female and what it means when we take our vows and say 'for better or for worse'. It was very thought provoking to say the least. We also had a session in the Church to discuss planning the Mass (i.e., music and readings) and our last 'class' was a Mass as a whole group. I think after all was over, we enjoyed it and really had a nice time through it all.

Mine was interfaith pre-cana

I'm Jewish, and my now-husband is Catholic. So, we went to an interfaith pre-Cana, which is run by both a priest and a rabbi together. It was a day and a half long, and was really fun, actually. They talked a lot about how we have to communicate, etc., and then we had some exercises to do and then compare our answers with our intended. I have to say that we felt really strong when we left, because we didn't discover anything new in those sessions, and we knew exactly how the other felt, whereas a lot of the other couples were suprised at their fiance's answers, on some pretty important, fundamental issues. We were suprised at how little they knew about each other, and felt great at how much we knew about each other. All in all, it was a nice experience.

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interfaith pre-cana

We went through the Rockville Centre diocese. I don't know exactly what the name of the parish was, but the church we went to was on the Southern State Parkway, exit 17N.

interfaith pre-cana

By the way, they were also helpful in that they suggested ways of having the ceremony to incorporate both aspects of the religions involved. The focus was not on what you CAN'T do (as most relatives will gladly offer), but what you can STILL do, religiously. It was a positive experience.

interfaith pre-cana

It was St. Thomas of the Apostle; I agree with Lauren it was a very positive experience. I know we learned so much from it. If anyone needs the number feel free to email me. [email protected]

thanks for the info! *NM*