Meeting with Father

Father greeted us at the door of the rectory; it was our second visit there. The first time we scheduled a meeting with him was so I could learn more about the Catholic religion. This time we were meeting to reserve the church for Nick and my wedding and to begin marital counseling. Father Quint is the priest for both the Dyersville basilica and the St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Earlville, where Nick and I want to get married.

                We made our way to his office and Nick and I each had a seat on different sides of his office and Father sat in between us. I was so excited about the whole process of beginning the actual wedding planning that many of the details of the day slipped my mind quickly after the meeting. We started by telling Father Quint how we met, where we met, and the details of the beginning of our relationship. We then moved on to the proposal, Nick and I both put in details of how the proposal went down and where that took place. Father seemed pleased and added in, “Seems like the Mississippi River is a theme so far…you met along the Mississippi River in Guttenburg and Nick, you proposed to her along the Mississippi River in Dubuque.”

                After story time, it was Father’s turn to explain to us what the process entails and sort of a time line of what needs to be done and by when. From there Father retrieved a worksheet filled with questions that needed to be answered by Nick and myself. Questions ranged from how our parent’s relationships are, our relationships with our parents/siblings, communication with one another, trust and honesty with each other, living together before marriage, etc. We covered a broad range of topics and overall Nick and I felt like we could really open up to Father Quint. The last thing Father needed to do was meet individually with each of us, while the other left the room. This dealt with whether we are in any way related, ever been married in the past, ever been divorced, and whether or not we are being forced into this marriage. Results came back positive, of course, and the very last thing was reserving the church for our wedding.

                Nick and I are very pleased with how the meeting turned out. We feel like we can really be open with Father Quint and are excited to start the wedding process now that a date is officially set.