CELEBRATING THE SACRAMENT OF MARRIAGE

IN THE NORTHERN TERRITORY

“If you are engaged to be married, God has a project of love for your future as a couple and as a family.  The couple formed by a man and a woman has its foundation in God’s original plan.  Learning to love each other as a couple is a wonderful journey, yet it requires a demanding ‘apprenticeship’.  Christian matrimony is truly and wholly a vocation in the Church”.                                                                             Pope Benedict XVI

The Catholic Church welcomes couples who intend to marry, and wants to offer support and guidance at this important time.  This information is provided to help couples who are preparing to celebrate their marriage in the Catholic Church.

 NOTIFICATION OF INTENTION TO MARRY

Ideally Catholics are asked to give 12 months notice of their intended marriage.  It needs to be at least three months.  Please contact your Priest early.  This ensures that there is adequate time for calm and thoughtful marriage preparation.

It is necessary to book the Church in which a wedding is to be celebrated; to book the priest who will be the celebrant of the marriage; and to complete the forms for marriage that are required by the Government and the Church.

 DOCUMENTS REQUIRED BY THE GOVERNMENT

A Notice of Intended Marriage form can be completed as early as eighteen months before a wedding and must be signed at least one month prior to the wedding day.  This form is available from your local parish.

You will need to provide your Birth Certificate.  If you no longer have the original, a duplicate will be available from the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages in the capital city of the state in which you were born.  For persons born outside Australia, it will also be necessary to provide an overseas Passport.

DOCUMENTS REQUIRED BY THE CHURCH

A Pre-Nuptial Enquiry form, which will be completed by the priest when he meets with an engaged couple.  This form, with other required documents, is later filed in the marriage records of the parish in which the wedding is celebrated.

You will need to provide a Baptismal Certificate issued in the last six months by the parish where you were baptised.  Contact the parish, providing your full name, date of birth, and date of baptism if known.

If either person has been married before, you will need to also provide the following documents:

Death Certificate of former spouse or                                                                               
Decree Absolute of Divorce and Decree of Nullity / Statement of Freedom issued by the Marriage Tribunal of the Catholic Church.  

DOCUMENTS COMPLETED AT THE TIME OF MARRIAGE

Just prior to a wedding, a couple who are to be married are required to sign a Declaration of Freedom to Marry.  This is a statutory requirement by the Government.  The priest celebrant will ordinarily provide and witness this declaration.

At the conclusion of the wedding liturgy, a couple who have just married, the priest celebrant, and two witnesses will be required to sign the Register of Marriage, a duplicate of this Register, and a Certificate of Marriage.  These are all civil documents, required by the Government.

After the marriage has been solemnized, a record is made in the Marriage Register of the parish in which the wedding has been celebrated.  The parishes in which Catholic spouses were baptised are then advised and a notation made in the Baptism Register.

MIXED MARRIAGE

A mixed marriage occurs when one person is a baptised Catholic and the other is baptised in another Christian denomination, or professes another faith, or does not have any religion.  The Bishop of Darwin can grant permission for a person who is a Catholic to marry someone who is not a Catholic, provided that the Catholic party reaffirms his/her own Catholic faith and promises to do all in his/her power to have the children of the marriage baptised and brought up as Catholic.  The person who is not a Catholic is not asked to make any promises but is informed of the commitment made by the Catholic person.

PLACE OF MARRIAGE

The celebration of the sacrament of marriage takes place within the Catholic liturgy, so the usual and preferred place of marriage is a parish church.

In exceptional circumstances, permission may be given by the Bishop for a marriage to be celebrated in a place other than a church, but this place must be suitable for celebrating the Church’s liturgy, and the reasons must be compelling.  A personal letter to the Bishop and a supporting letter from the priest celebrant are required if such a request is to be considered.

MARRIAGE PREPARATION

Because of vast distances in the Northern Territory, a range of opportunities for marriage preparation is offered.  Because marriage is a deeply personal and significant life-choice, which the Church esteems very highly, couples intending to marry are required to participate in marriage preparation and, where possible, are encouraged to make use of a number of the opportunities provided.  These include:

Sessions with a Priest - Normally the priest who will celebrate a wedding will meet with an engaged couple for a number of sessions prior to the wedding.   These sessions will provide time for discussion of Church teaching about Christian marriage, aspects of married life, family planning, and the liturgy in which the couple will marry.  Some priest  also offer  facilitated  programs such as Prepare  and  FOCCUS, which are  instruments to  assist a  couple to  better understand their relationship as they  prepare to marry.  I f the priest celebrant of  a marriage is unable to meet with a  couple, for  example if t hey  are  marrying interstate,  he will  usually ask  that a local priest meet with a couple on his behalf.  To arrange a meeting with a priest, contact your local Catholic parish.

CatholicCare NT - CatholicCare NT is the social welfare agency of the Catholic Diocese of Darwin, and is accredited under the Australian Governments Family and Relationship Service Program to deliver family relationship training, including pre-marriage education.  CatholicCare is a member of Catholic Social Services Australia and the Catholic Society of Marriage Educators.  CatholicCare NT provides pre-marriage education through individual sessions with couples (FOCCUS) and group programs.  CatholicCare NT also provides relationship enrichment for married couples.

FOCCUS – Facilitating Open Couple Communication, Understanding and Study – FOCCUS is a marriage education program where couples complete an inventory and have sessions with an accredited facilitator, exploring their relationship and affirming their decision to marry.  This usually requires three one hour sessions over a 3 week period.  FOCCU is not a test that a couple can pass or fail and it is not counselling.  Where issues beyond the scope of marriage education arise couples are referred to counselling.  FOCCUS is confidential and on completion a certificate is provided to the coupled.  Cost $150 per couple or $200 per couple for FOCCUS and Pre-Marriage Seminar.  8.30-5.00pm, limited after-hours appointments are available. 

Ph: 89442000.  Email: Darwin@nt.catholiccarent.org.au  Visit: www.catholiccarent.org.au  CatholicCare NT, 17 Hidden Valley Road, Berrimah.

Pre-Marriage Seminar – The seminar series is a pre-marriage educational program that is designed to develop skills and to share information.  Couples are given the opportunity to explore their relationship and to grow in knowledge of themselves and their partners.  Couples will share information with each other (not the whole seminar group) and will be given the opportunity to learn and practice skills that will benefit their relationship.  Topics include:  Roles and expectations, family or origin influence, self-responsibility and commitment.  On completion a certificate is provided to the couple.  Cost $130 per couple or $200 per couple for FOCCUS and Pre-Marriage Seminar.  February, June, October:  Couples attend 1 weekend Friday 7pm – 9pm and Saturday 9am – 3pm.  April, August:  Couples attend 4 consecutive weeks on a Tuesday 7pm – 9pm. 

Ph: 89442000.  Email: Darwin@nt.catholiccarent.org.au  Visit: www.catholiccarent.org.au  CatholicCare NT, 17 Hidden Valley Road, Berrimah.

A Way of Preparation for the Sacrament of Marriage – The Neocatechumenal Way offers a program that is guided and encouraged by Sacred Scripture and follows the teaching of the Church, to help couples discover marriage as the sacrament of the divine gift of life and love given by God to humankind.  The announcement of Jesus Christ victorious over death assures us that love ‘for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, till death do us part’ is possible.  Couples are helped by a priest and two married couples who have experienced the love of Christ in their own lives.  They are witnesses of faithfulness and true love – God’s faithfulness and God’s true love in Christ – and guide engaged couples to open their hearts to God’s project of love for their future together in marriage.  Couples attend 8 – 10 consecutive weeks on a Friday 7.30pm – 8.30pm and 1 weekend Saturday 7pm – Sunday 2pm. 

Ph: 0424 103 321.  Email: sousajames@bigpond.com

Natural Family Planning Council NT – The Catholic Church endorses natural means of family planning.  The Billings Ovulation Method of Natural Family Planning can be used by couples to manage fertility and monitor the reproductive health of the woman, to achieve pregnancy when this is desired and to avoid pregnancy at other times (with a success rate of better than 99%).  By encouraging a couple to respect their fertility and live the Billings Method ‘way of life’ in a spirit of love and generosity, marriages and families are happier and healthier. 

Phone/Fax: (08) 8948 2722.  Phone NT Freecall 1800 812 722.  Email:billingsnt@bigpond.com   Visit: www.woomb.org

 
CELEBRATING A MARRIAGE

Order of Service:  Many couples like to prepare an Order of Service (booklet) which is printed and distributed to guests at their wedding, so that the guests can follow the ceremony and participate at the appropriate times.  Couples should speak with their priest celebrant about preparing and Order of Service.

Music:  Music enhances liturgical celebrations, and it is good to use appropriate sacred music during the celebration of marriage.  Where possible, it is preferable that this music be live, rather than recorded, and parishes can normally provide names and contact details for organists, other musicians, and singers.  Secular and popular love songs are better suited to the wedding reception than to the liturgy.

Rehearsal:  It is a good idea for couples to request of their priest celebrant a rehearsal of their wedding.  Normally this takes place a few days prior to the celebration of the marriage.  The bride and groom and at least their attendants should participate in the wedding rehearsal.

Flowers, photography, confetti, rice, petals:  Parishes will normally have guidelines about flowers, photography, confetti, rice and flower-petals.  Couples should ask their priest celebrant about these guidelines, and where necessary communicate them to guests, so that appropriate arrangements can be made and courtesies observed.

 FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTION

Though the Church-related costs associated with preparing for an celebrating a marriage are modest in comparison with other wedding expenses, it can be helpful to couples who are intending to marry to know about these costs.

Church booking:  Some parishes require a booking fee to be paid to confirm the availability of the church for a wedding and a rehearsal beforehand.  This fee covers related parish costs, and none of this fee is passed on to the priest celebrant of a wedding.

Marriage Preparation Programs:  Facilitated programs such as Prepare and FOCCUS, and marriage preparation seminars and courses, normally require payment of a set fee, which helps cover the costs of providing these programs.  Financial difficulty should never preclude a couple from participating in marriage preparation.  Couples should talk to their priest if costs are a real concern.

Offering to a priest:  Couples often ask about the appropriate offering to be made to a priest who assists a couple to prepare for marriage and/or is the celebrant of their wedding. 
As the Catholic Church does not charge for the celebration of the sacraments, there is no set offering to be made to a priest.  A guide that may be helpful is to consider the time and commitment a priest has given in accompanying a couple through their marriage preparation, in assisting them to prepare their wedding ceremony, in preparing a homily for the wedding, and in being the celebrant of the marriage.  The contribution by a priest to the marriage of a couple might be considered in relation to other wedding expenses, and an offering made which reflects the value of the priest’s contribution, though such an offering ought never to be a financial burden to a couple.  In the Diocese of Darwin offerings made to a priest for preparing and celebrating a marriage assist in supporting priests throughout the Northern Territory.

Musicians:  Often couples book an organist or other musicians and singers for the celebration of their marriage.  In these instances payment for their services is usually made directly to the musicians and singers.