Marriages

Couples seeking to be married at St. Mary's Ukrainian Catholic Church MUST make an appointment with the parish priest at least six to twelve months prior to the proposed date of the wedding. He will discuss the wedding arrangements with you - in person. (Prior to that meeting no reservations may be taken.)

NOTE - All couples wishing to marry in a Ukrainian Catholic or a Roman Catholic Church are REQUIRED to complete a Marriage Preparation Course prior to marriage. Please discuss marriage course preparation options with your priest as soon as possible as classes fill up early and choices become limited!

Couples may also request a guest Ukrainian Catholic priest to officiate at the wedding.  In that case, by church law, the Parish priest must grant delegation to the guest priest for the marriage to be licit.

The Church building cannot be used for a non-Catholic wedding.

The Catholic wedding ceremony must be performed in the Church.

REQUIREMENTS

• At least one of the parties must be Ukrainian Catholic.

• Both parties must be free to marry, both according to Church law and civil law.

• A marriage preparation course is mandatory. NO EXCEPTIONS. The parish priest should arrange for such a course at the time of the couple's first meeting with him.

• If one of the parties is non-Catholic, but Christian, a dispensation is required from the Archbishop before the marriage ceremony can take place.

• If one of the parties is non Christian (not validly baptized) then the marriage will be a valid contract but not a Sacrament of the Church. In this case, a dispensation is required from the Archbishop. (The parish priest will request such dispensation.)
  
  COVID-19 pandemic restrictions - Under current rules, our church cannot physically accommodate more than 20-25 persons/guests for a wedding ceremony due to social distancing requirments. Please keep this in mind when making wedding arrangements.

ABOUT THE MARRIAGE PREPARATION COURSE

Couples planning to marry in the Catholic church are required to complete a Marriage Preparation course. The course offered by St. Mary's is based on the "For Better, For Ever" workbook written by Father Rhunke.Couples should plan to attend 7 classes - 2 hours per class, 1 class per week, on average, but scheduling is flexible. These classes take place in the home of a married SPONSOR COUPLE couple who will be assigned to you. The sessions are confidential. Please see schedule below to determine when you should sign up for your course.

PLEASE contact Father Michael ((204) 729-8056) or your parish priest at least 6 - 12 months BEFORE YOUR WEDDING DATE to allow sufficient time to arrange your marriage preparation classes and to complete administrative paperwork.

Effective April 1, 2018, the marriage course fee is $125 per couple (payable to St. Mary's Ukrainian Catholic Church) which includes two workbooks, a candle and a small gift from our parish to you.

Upon completion of the course, you will be issued a Completion Certificate as proof of your participation in the classes.

MARRIAGE PREPARATION COURSE SCHEDULE

FEES FOR WEDDING SERVICES IN ST. MARY'S:

The following fees (effective 2020) are in ADDITION to Marriage Preparation Course costs.

Priest (Father M. Tkachuk) - $350 (for service and administrative work as set by Archbishop)
Cantor (Brandon) - $75

It is suggested that non-parishioners or inactive parishioners also make an offering to St. Mary's Ukrainian Catholic Church to cover the cost of church maintenance and cleaning.

This page was last updated August 02, 2020
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