What is a Marriage Encounter?

Marriage Encounter (ME) is designed to give married couples the opportunity to examine their lives together.  Time set specially aside to share their feelings, their hopes, disappointments, joys and frustrations; and to do so openly and honestly with the one person they have chosen to live with for the rest of their lives.

The emphasis of Marriage Encounter is on communication between husband and wife, who spend a weekend together, away from the distractions and the tensions of everyday life, to concentrate on each other.

It is not a retreat, nor a marriage clinic, nor group sensitivity.  It is a unique approach aimed at revitalizing Christian Marriage.

This is a time for you and your spouse to be alone together, to rediscover each other, and together focus on your relationship for an entire weekend.  Every marriage deserves that kind of attention!

Who is Marriage Encounter for?

Marriage Encounter is for any couple that wants to enrich their marriage.  The Weekend is designed to expand and deepen the joys a couple share together, whether they’ve been married for a short time or for many years.  Marriage Encounter is also for priests and religious who want to revitalize their relationship with the people of God and develop an even deeper appreciation of their own vocation.

What Happens at a Marriage Encounter Weekend?

An atmosphere is created during this live-in Weekend in which the couple can concentrate exclusively on each other’s needs.  A team of trained couples and a priest gives a series of talks, each of which gives both husband and wife the opportunity to look at themselves as individuals. They also help the couple examine their relationship with each other, with God, and with others.

Marriage Encounter starts with the love you have for your spouse and helps you build, expand and deepen that relationship.  The Weekend shows you the way to do this and provides you with the means – the rest is up to you!  The only talent you must have to make a Marriage Encounter is the talent to love, and a desire to make a good marriage even better.

Does the Weekend Respect the Couple’s Privacy?

Yes! Marriage Encounter emphasises on communication between husband and wife through a Weekend experience free from everyday distractions and tensions.  You concentrate on your spouse to such an extent that you are hardly aware of the other couples that are participating in the Weekend, too.  The presentations are given to the group as a whole.  After each presentation, the husband and wife have time in the privacy of their room for their own personal sharing using the communication techniques they learn on the Weekend.  There is no group discussion.

How Does a Marriage Encounter Enhance a Marriage?

The fundamental difference between marriages that are good, average or poor is the level of communication between husband and wife.  In all marriages, there are times when we take each other and our relationship for granted.  The Weekend presents us with the opportunity to take a fresh and objective view of our marriage and our priorities.  We learn communication techniques that allow and encourage us to explore the important areas of our life together in a spirit of love and understanding.  The Weekend experience offers every couple the insights, tools and the confidence to enrich their marriage and to strengthen their love for each other.  For many couples, “their Weekend” is one of the most significant experiences of their lives.

Do You Have to Be Catholic?

No! The Weekend is presented by 3 Catholic couples and a Catholic priest.  It is Catholic in its theology of marriage as a Sacrament of the church, but couples of all Faiths can benefit from it and are encouraged to attend.  A certain number of places are reserved each Weekend for people of other Faiths.

How Long Does the Weekend Last?

The Weekend begins on Friday at 8.00 p.m. and ends on Sunday at 6.30 p.m.  Mass will be on Sunday at the conclusion of the Weekend.

What does the Weekend Cost?

A non-refundable registration fee of RM25, submitted with the Application form, confirms your booking.  In addition, couples are asked for a voluntary contribution (in an unmarked envelope) to help meet the expenditure incurred in holding the Weekend.  No one is refused the opportunity to partake of the Weekend because of lack of funds.