At this summer's Celebrating Marriage event conducted by the Rhode Island chapter of the the National  Organization for Marriage Scott Spear gives an address on the beauties of Marriage before the crowd of couples that gathered at the Aldrich Mansion in Warwick who are ready to renew their wedding vows.

The "3 to Get and Stay Married" Program is one of a growing number of programs aimed at helping couples to prepare for marriage and to live the vocation of Christian Marriage in fidelity.

The Georgia-based programs, named after the title of a book by the late Archbishop Fulton Sheen of Rochester, New York, aim to offer engaged and married couples a lifeline as they swim against the cultural current.

"Three to Get Married" was founded first, Hanson explained -- by a laywoman who "saw a great need for comprehensive marriage preparation that spanned a weekend [...] and covered very important topics in marriage, such as the faith, communication, children and finances. With the help of priests and many others, she developed the program based on the fact that God has to be the most important component of your marriage -- hence the name 'Three to Get Married.'"

"Three to Stay Married" is a follow up offered to the same couples who participated in the first program and others who join in, "though it is more social, and not as intense at the 'Three to Get Married' weekend," Carter said.

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http://www.catholic.org/national/national_story.php?id=28793&page=1