•  Home 
•  Welcome 
  About Us Parish Office Hours Mass Times Driving Directions Map of Parish Campus Meet the Staff Pastoral Services Register in the Parish Update my Registration Info Welcoming Becoming Catholic Catholics Returning Home Contact Us
•  Sacraments 
  Overview of Sacraments Baptism Reconciliation Eucharist Confirmation Marriage Anointing of the Sick Holy Orders
•  Faith Formation 
  -----General----- Attending Mass Catechism of the Catholic Church Catholic Prayers Catholic Social Teaching Devotional Prayer Holy Days of Obligation Sacraments Seasons of Liturgical Year -----YOUTH----- Religious Education Saint Hubert School Youth Ministry GIFT Program Children's Ministry of Initiation Children's Liturgy of the Word -----ADULT----- Small Church Communities GIFT Program Retreats Education/Enrichment Becoming Catholic/RCIA
•  Ministries 
  -----ALL MINISTRIES----- Alphabetical Listing -----HUMAN CONCERNS----- Annulment Support Alcoholics Anonymous Bereavement Community Life Elizabeth Ministry Funeral Luncheon Helping Hands Job & Networking Ministry of Care New Beginnings PADS Peace & Justice/Respect Life Prayer Shawl Ministry Sharing Parish -----EDUCATION & SPIRITUAL FORMATION----- Baptism Preparation Catholics Returning Home GIFT Marriage Ministry RCIA and CMI Religious Education Saint Hubert School Small Church Communities Youth Ministry -----WORSHIP & PRAYER----- Altar Servers Art & Environment Children's Liturgy of the Word Eucharistic Ministers Lectors Liturgy Board Liturgy Planning Mass Coordinators Music Ministry Petition Writers Rosary Sacristans Ushers Wedding Coordinators -----PARISH LIFE----- Cub Scouts Boy Scouts Girl Scouts Knights of Columbus Parish Pastoral Council St. Hubert Bayanihan Assn. St. Hubert Family and School Assn. Welcoming Young Adults Young at Heart Seniors -----ADMINISTRATIVE----- Adopt a Garden Communications Stewards for St. Hubert
•  Resources 
  Bulletin Schedules Forms/Documents Calendar/Major Events Donate Helpful Links
• Our School 

print

Getting Married at St. Hubert
Marriage Enrichment
Marriage Resources Outside of the Parish
Joining the Marriage Ministry Team

SACRAMENT OF MATRIMONY
Sacraments are always signs of God’s presence with us, God’s abiding love for us.
The sacrament of Matrimony is the couple’s vocation—their call to holiness, in which they bring each other to know and understand God more fully.

The sign of the sacrament of Matrimony is the couple—the beauty of how they love one another speaks, not only to bride and the groom (husband and wife), but to the whole world of God’s great love. This sacrament begins on the wedding day with their consent and vows, but doesn’t end there. Married couples continue to live out their sacrament by saying, “I do” to each other each day of their married life together.

The love of our marriage partner can be a visible sign of God’s great love for all people. In marriage we want our partner to know:

• I have chosen you. You are special and unique and valued beyond measure.
• I promise to love you forever, no matter what.
• I will be there for you—to encourage you; to walk with you through good times and bad, sickness and health, for richer or poorer—anything.
• You can trust me with your deepest thoughts and feelings. I will be your confidant and best supporter. I want to understand and know you—even the parts you must choose to share with me. It’s all right—I love you, warts and all.
• I will forgive you…we can work things out.
• I want our relationship to become deeper and deeper over the years.

Can you see how these things mirror the way our God loves all people? This covenant relationship—loving no matter what—is the way God loves and calls couples to love in marriage. What a special gift it is for married couples to be a sign of God’s love and presence in the world by their loving each other!

Of course, living out this sacrament is not always easy. A good marriage doesn’t just happen; the couple needs to work to make it happen. Sometimes it takes a decision to love, especially when we don’t feel like it. It may mean putting our partner’s needs above our own. Both sacrifice and support are important elements of a good marriage. We can look to Jesus for the model of true love, which is all about self-giving, reaching out and forgiveness. When we marry, we think we know what love is, but through the course of our life together, we come to learn more deeply what love entails, as we strive to live out our sacrament together. Whenever we witness true loving, we can get a taste of God’s love in a very real and tangible way; we can “touch” God. As married couples, we can be that “sign” of God’s love for our partner, for our family, and for anyone whose life we touch.

FYI: View this video about Marriage (Matrimony), which has been prepared by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. It gives a clear explanation of the theology and ritual of the sacrament.

GETTING MARRIED AT ST. HUBERT
Congratulations on your engagement! The links below are provided to help you get started in planning your wedding at St. Hubert. We are dedicated to helping you prepare well not only for your wedding day, but more importantly for your life together.

• Questions frequently asked by engaged couples

• FAQs about Getting Married in the Catholic Church

NOTE: Please do not reserve your banquet hall before confirming the date with the church.

Wedding Guidelines at St. Hubert These guidelines will give you a good idea of all the details involved in preparing for your wedding liturgy and your marriage. After setting your wedding date, you will be contacted by one of our deacons to arrange your first appointment. This deacon will walk with you throughout the marriage preparation process and answer any questions you may have along the way. After this first interview, you will need to begin taking steps to complete the following preparation well in advance of your wedding date. You may attend a Wedding Workshop at any time to learn about choosing music for your wedding liturgy.

Step 1: FOCCUS Premarital Inventory FOCCUS is a premarital inventory and follow-up session that measures your communication strengths and areas where you may need to grow. It should be completed as soon as possible after setting your wedding date.

To register for FOCCUS, print out this form and complete it. FOCCUS Registration Form
Call us at 847-885-7700 or drop it off at the parish office. We will register you with FOCCUS and then you will receive an email with a link to begin taking the inventory. After finishing the FOCCUS inventory online, you will be contacted by a St. Hubert FOCCUS facilitator to arrange a time to get together for discussion.

Step 2: Marriage Preparation Program (Should be completed several months before your wedding date:

• St. Hubert Parish Marriage Preparation Program is offered 3 times a year—in September, January and April. We are able to offer it at a much lower cost than any other program because it is right at our own parish. It is a one day program on a Saturday. You can print and complete this registration form and drop it off at the Parish Office. Registration Form for Marriage Preparation Day

If you cannot make the dates of the St. Hubert Marriage Preparation Program, the following programs could fulfill the Marriage Preparation Program requirement following completion of FOCCUS:

• Pre-Cana or Discovery Weekend (Archdiocese of Chicago/Family Ministries Office) - offered various dates and locations throughout the Archdiocese. Can register online or by calling. You may also look into Natural Family Planning Classes or Sexuality Workshops on this website. Register early, since dates sometimes do fill up.
• Engaged Encounter Weekend is another program that would be an acceptable alternative.

For the best benefit, complete your marriage preparation progam several months before your wedding date.

MARRIAGE ENRICHMENT FOR MARRIED COUPLES
The church is a great support for couples in marriage. The St. Hubert Marriage Ministry Team works to provide programs and speakers to encourage couples to take time to nurture their relationship. Getting away from everyday responsibilities to focus on their relationship enables a couple to continue to grow together in marriage. This kind of re-connection breathes life into the marriage as the couple shares their thoughts, hopes and dreams together. This not only enhances understanding on various issues, but also creates a feeling of closeness in the relationship.

In 2011, we hosted a program called "Our Marriage Is a Treasure To Be Cherished." Although our program was a series of evenings, the retreat pictured in this video is based on the same program and will give you a sense of what the program was like. Click on the arrow to view. Watch for new marriage enrichment programs planned throughout the year.

During Lent 2013, we will be having another marriage video series, created by John Bosio. Experiencing
"The Beatitudes, A Couple's Path to Greater Joy" is a great way for a couple to deepen their Lenten journey and enrich their marriage at the same time. Each video presentation is about 15 minutes, and then couples are sent off to enjoy a date together with lots of food for conversation! Watch our Sunday bulletin or our website homepage for more details as Lent approaches. More...

The Marriage Team also hosts our annual “Celebration of Marriage” for the parish, which is a special 6:00pm Saturday Mass for Marriages in February near Valentines Day (World Marriage Day). Couples renew their wedding vows and celebrate at a potluck dinner party reception with DJ and dancing afterward. It’s a wonderful way to recommit yourselves to one another and celebrate all of our collective anniversaries at the same time!

Marriage Resources Outside of the Parish

• Worldwide Marriage Encounter
  Marriage Encounter is a weekend experience to make your good marriage even better. It provides the couple with time away from the everyday distractions of life to focus on their relationship. For more information, go to their website or call 800-442-3554.
  
  
• Retrouvaille
  The word Retrouvaille™ (pronounced rě-trō-vī) is a French word meaning rediscovery. Retrouvaille is a program for marriages that are struggling and hurting. This program gives the couple tools to work through difficult issues they are facing, healing and renewing the marriage.
  800-470-2230

JOIN THE MARRIAGE MINISTRY TEAM
To work in Marriage Ministry, the only prerequisite is that you are a couple who is striving to live a sacramental marriage. Your experience of marriage—both the times you did it right and the times you messed up—can open an engaged or married couple’s eyes to the realities of marriage. None of us are perfect people with perfect marriages…but we are committed to working to make our marriages the best possible! Some couples choose to work with marriage preparation, while others help with marriage enrichment, or both! Think about it. Talk about it. Contact us if you want to find out more.

To find out more about any of these topics, please feel free to contact Dick & Sandy Lawson.