Marriage preparation

It would be preferable for engaged couples to attend marriage preparation courses two years before their marriage rather than in the last year as is the trend at present, the Cana Movement said.

"In this way, they will have more opportunity to practise what they hear and discuss during the course. This should help them take a wise decision about their future," it said.

The movement recenty revised the contents of its marriage preparation courses. As from October of this year, the eight-session course has been revised to be more relevant to the needs of engaged couples.

A set of handouts are used, one for each session, which include notes about the topic being discussed and relevant exercises. These handouts help the couples to understand the topic and make it their own, and also stimulate discussion in the group about the topic.

The engaged couples who attend the course are divided into groups of about six couples each and each group is facilitated by a married couple.

At present there are 250 couple facilitators in 47 parishes in Malta.

The movement is at present organising in-service courses for the facilitating couples. The courses are being held in various parishes and all the facilitating couples are attending them.