Every year, National Marriage Week is February 7-14 and World Marriage Day is the second Sunday of February. In 2025, our Diocese of Orange is undertaking a special project, inspired by the California Bishops’ Radiate Love Initiative and the Vatican document “Catechumenal Pathways for Married Life.”
Diocesan Marriage Catechumenate summit
Saturday, February 15, 2025
About our summit
This day-long event is an opportunity to discuss ways to usher in the new catechumenal model of marriage preparation as proposed by the Vatican Dicastery for Laity, Family, and Life in their document “Catechumenal Pathways for Married Life.”
We are gathering priests, deacons, laypeople; marriage ministry coordinators and presenters, young adults, faith formation leaders, and others from a representative cross section of our diocese to discuss effective ways for bringing this new vision to fulfillment for marriages in the Church here in our Diocese of Orange.
This is a collaborative working event in which everyone will be asked to contribute. The commitment we are asking of summit participants is to:
- pray with and read the Vatican document “Catechumenal Pathways for Married Life”,
- reflect on it in the context of your ministry,
- prepare to work at the summit on Feb. 15, 2025,
- represent your peers at the summit, and
- bring the summit outcomes to your peers/ministry after the event.
Summit Process Timeline
November-December 2024
Confirm participation
January 2025
Read and reflect on the document
February 7, 2025
6 pm Opening Mass & Novena start
February 15, 2025
9 am to 9 pm Summit Event
The Dicastery for the Laity, Family, and Life has prepared a new document “that offers pastors, spouses, and all those who work in the pastoral care of the family, a vision and a renewed methodology of preparation for the sacrament of marriage and for all married life, in all the stages of the sacramental journey: the times of preparation for marriage, its celebration and subsequent years, especially when the spouses could go through crises and moments of discouragement.”
“The concern of the Dicastery,” according to Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Prefect, “is to transmit to bishops, family pastoral workers and formators, the Holy Father’s invitation to seriously rethink marriage preparation as a continuous accompaniment before and after the sacramental rite [with] competent and concrete closeness, made up of bonds between families that support each other.”
The document “Catechumenal Pathways for Married Life” is available digitally in various languages, published by Libreria Editrice Vaticana.
Following the national summits held in 2023 and 2024, the Diocese of Orange will host our own summit on Saturday, February 15, 2025.
The goals for our diocesan summit are
1) to foster understanding of the marriage catechumenal model and how it is similar or different from marriage formation currently; and
2) to develop concrete ways to implement aspects of this model of formation in our Diocese of Orange.
To spiritually prepare, summit participants are invited to a special Mass on Friday, February 7 in our new St. Callistus Chapel. We will start a Novena for our summit and National Marriage Week that day.
- The document “Catechumenal Pathways for Married Life” is available digitally in various languages, published by Libreria Editrice Vaticana.
- The Diocese of Orange Office for Family Life drafted this preview summary of the Vatican document for our local leaders and summit participants.
- Watch Fr. Tim Donovan’s video about the catechumenate model of formation in general – link here
- Watch this presentation on the document by Gabriella Gambino (Under-Secretary for the Dicastery of Laity, Family, and Life) at the World Meeting of Families 2022 – link here
- Gabriella Gambino has also provided this article which summarizes and explains the inspiration for the writing of the Vatican document.
- What is the Marriage Catechumenate?: Dr. Elizabeth Reichert STD, St. John’s Seminary
- Part 1 on Pre-catechumenal “Remote” Preparation: Fr. Tim Donovan, Faith & Family Life Catholic Ministries
- Part 2 on Pre-catechumenal “Proximate” Preparation: Cecilia Phan and Mayra Encinas, Diocese of Orange
- Part 3 on Catechumenal “Immediate” Preparation: Tony Nguyen LMFT
- Part 4 on Mystagogy: Fr. Juan Bernardo Navarro, Christ Cathedral Parish
Presenter bios and further information forthcoming.
About Radiate Love
Over the last two years, the National Eucharistic Revival has ushered the Catholic faithful into a greater faith and appreciation for the amazing sacramental gift of our Lord, who draws us to himself through our communion in his Body and Blood. As a practical way to incarnate the grace of the Revival into our families and communities, the bishops of California are dedicating the 2024-2025 pastoral year to helping the Catholic faithful renew and deepen our lived experience of the Sacrament of Marriage – which is modeled on the irrevocable covenantal love of God for his people expressed in the Eucharist.
Under the title Radiate Love, every Catholic community is invited to participate in this initiative, which officially launched on July 28, 2024.
With the Radiate Love Initiative, parishes are encouraged to celebrate National Marriage Week and World Marriage Day 2025 in a special way locally while the Diocese undertakes the Marriage Catechumenate Summit project this February. See CCC’s resource kit for World Marriage Day 2025.
About National Marriage Week and World Marriage Day
Every year, National Marriage Week is February 7-14 and World Marriage Day is the second Sunday of February.
National Marriage Week coincides with the week leading up to Valentine’s Day, making it the perfect time to celebrate the joys and virtues that marriage brings into our lives. Research consistently demonstrates that married couples experience great health, financial stability, and personal happiness. Moreover, it provides the best environment for raising children, offering them a better chance at life.
Join National Marriage Week in celebrating love beyond words and creating a lasting impact on the institution of marriage. For more information and to get involved, visit www.MarriageWeek.org. The US Bishops also provide Catholic resources for marriage and National Marriage Week at foryourmarriage.org.
"Our Story of Love" - share your story ❤
With the “Our Story of Love” initiative, we invite married couples to share your stories to your children and loved ones. You can fill out the below online form with answers to our inspiring questions or use your own ideas to tell your stories. Once submitted, the form sends your stories via email to up to 5 recipients of your choosing.
This is a great way for families to discover stories they never knew about their parents. It’s also an opportunity for couples to reconnect with important people from their wedding with whom they may have lost touch. The hope is that married couples will share about your experiences of sacramental marriage as faithful witnesses, conveying the love of Christ to your children and loved ones.
There are 5 optional questions provided, but feel free to skip the ones you don’t want to answer by clicking ‘Next.’ You are also able to upload an image to go with your stories!
Para español – Cuéntanos tu Cuento de Amor
Here are more ways couples can observe National Marriage Week (Feb. 7-14) and World Marriage Sunday (2nd Sunday of February):
- Celebrate National Marriage Week At Home! (PDF Flyer with tips and ideas)
- At-Home National Marriage Week Daily Retreat Guide (from the USCCB)
- Novenas for Married Couples (PDF Flyer with links)
- World Marriage Sunday/Valentine’s Day Date Night In Kit
The Diocese of Orange Office for Family Life offers many resources for married couples to help enrich and strengthen your marriage. Please check out our marriage enrichment webpage to see what is available. You can also sign up for our Diocese of Orange Marriage Formation Newsletter delivered quarterly to your email!