Sacrament of Marriage and Wedding Preparation and Celebration

Congratulations on your engagement and thank you for inviting Pax Christi Catholic Community to be part of this special milestone in your lives. As you read this web page there’s a good chance you just announced your engagement and a million details are flooding through your mind. Most of these often revolve around the wedding. Pax Christi seeks to help you celebrate your wedding AND, more importantly, help you prepare for marriage.  

Before beginning any marriage/wedding preparation, please CLICK HERE to read "Here Comes the Bride (and Groom)" by former Pastor, Father Kennedy. We think it captures a great tone for this process and hope you find it helpful.

Like all sacraments, the preparation for, and celebration of the sacrament of Marriage is grounded in the life and ministry of the parish. As primary ministers of the sacrament, the couple benefits from the experience and support of the community. At the same time, the couple’s love for each other gives the community a glimpse of Christ’s love for the Church, and thus is a blessing and support to the parish. This relationship is also carried into the world around us.

Marriage emulates the relationship that God intends to have with all creation — ever-faithful, life-giving, and eternally loving.

Couples wishing to get married at Pax Christi should be registered members of our parish for at least one year prior to the wedding date. This encourages a couple to practice their faith, share their gifts and participate in the life of the community at Pax Christi before they are married. The actual marriage preparation should begin a minimum of six months before a couple's wedding date.

If a couple lives elsewhere and is “returning home” to Pax Christi to celebrate your wedding, we expect a couple to be registered and active in a parish community wherever they are living. We are happy to work with that parish to coordinate the preparation process.

Pax Christi is also happy to provide marriage/wedding preparation support for weddings taking place elsewhere for our registered members.

Wedding liturgies are typically held on Fridays at 5:00pm or 7:00pm or Saturdays at 11:00am or 2:00pm. Other days/times are possible. Pax Christi tries to provide a two hour window before each wedding liturgy for pictures and other preparation. This is subject to availability based on other parish events and may need to be adjusted. Rehearsals are typically held on Thursdays.

Weddings may take place in the Thomas Merton Chapel (seats 75 people) or the main Sanctuary. The Mother Teresa Room (#245) is the designated Bride’s Room, and St. John the Baptist (#202) is the Groom’s Room. These rooms are available two hours prior to the liturgy and must be cleaned up before the liturgy begins.

Wedding parties may have food and beverages in the Kitchen, Bride’s Room, and Groom’s Room. There is no food or beverages (including water) allowed in the Sanctuary at any time and no alcohol allowed anywhere on the premises.  There is no smoking allowed inside the building. Please have someone in charge of cleaning up the areas you use.

Couples interested in learning more about Marriage preparation and celebration at Pax Christi should contact Sally Bergum, Wedding and Liturgical Coordinator at the parish office, 952-405-7229, or sbergum@paxchristi.com.