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Pastor’s Letter: July 12, 2026

Dear St. Philomena Parish Family,

I hope everyone is well this week! A couple of weeks ago now, Bishop Lou celebrated a special Mass for our area celebrating the 150^th anniversary of our Diocese. During his homily, Bishop shared about the many great things he sees going on in our Diocese, highlighting especially the preparations for the Beatification of Archbishop Fulton Sheen. Bishop Lou also talked about his recent trip to the US Bishops’ meeting where other bishops commented on the good things going on here in the Peoria Diocese. In addition to the excitement over soon to be “Blessed Fulton Sheen,” one bishop mentioned to Bishop Lou that he has heard some great things about our new/revamped marriage preparation program here in Peoria and asked if his Diocese could get a copy of what we are doing. Bishop responded that we are very happy to share to good fruits happening here in our Diocese.

As we continue our review of the Sacrament of Marriage, it is fitting to take a look at what we do for preparation with couples, and how that preparation is geared toward helping them live a fruitful married life. Typically, in our Diocese, we begin meeting with couples 8 to 12 months before the proposed date of the ceremony. While each priest might have some variation in the order, a normal marriage prep would likely include: an initial meeting with an overview of the preparation process, an online questionnaire that is used as a conversation starter (no grades or scores are given!), some follow-up conversations, the planning of the liturgy ceremony, and the gathering/completion of needed paperwork (verification of baptism and freedom to marry with the right intention—more on that below), including securing the civil license from the local county. Nestled within this marriage preparation with the priest is our Diocesan Genesis Retreat for couples.

The result of a great team effort between the Office of Mission at..