Marriage Rediscovery Ministry Resources for Church Partners

Rediscovery Retrouvaille Weekend Retreats

Essential Marriage Help Program for Couples in Crisis or in Need of Reconnection

Rediscovery Retrouvaille communities offer retreat weekends in metropolitan areas throughout the country, however, there are other options if there is not a community group in your area.

Diocese and parish partners can offer to host Rediscovery Weekend Retreats - live in person overnight weekends, where three presenting teams and a priest travel to your retreat center or hotel to present the program. Or, choose to participate by offering a day program with in-person presenters in a conference room or parish hall.

If traveling in a presenting team is out of budget, consider participating with a day program offered in a live webinar format - offered several times per year in both English and Spanish. You simply need a volunteer couple willing to assist with set up.

Rediscovery Retrouvaille: Essential Marriage Help

A Pastoral Imperative for the Church

The crisis is silent, but it's happening in your pews right now.

Across your diocese, couples are sitting in Sunday Mass—appearing fine on the surface—while their marriages are quietly dying. Statistics reveal that most couples suffer in the misery of a disconnected marriage for an average of six years before seeking help. By that time, many have lost hope. Some pursue counseling with little success. Others divorce, devastating families and weakening the fabric of parish life. Still others remain married in name only, living as strangers under the same roof for the sake of children or out of religious obligation.

The Church has always upheld the sanctity of marriage. Now more than ever, we must actively provide marriage help that works.

Why Your Diocese Needs Rediscovery Retrouvaille?

Protecting the Sacrament of Marriage

Marriage is not just a contract—it is a sacrament, a sacred covenant reflecting Christ's love for His Church. When marriages fail or languish in misery, the witness of this sacrament is diminished. Rediscovery Retrouvaille provides the marriage help that prevents the dissolution of sacramental marriages and restores them to their intended beauty and purpose.

Meeting Families Where They Are
Your parishes are filled with couples who are:

Too ashamed to ask for marriage help
Too proud to admit they're struggling
Too hopeless to believe things can change
Too isolated to know where to turn or unsure where to seek help

Rediscovery Retrouvaille creates a safe, confidential, hope-filled pathway for these couples to find the marriage help they desperately need without the stigma often associated with "needing help." It meets them in their crisis with practical tools and the transforming power of God's grace.

Strengthening the Foundation of Parish Life

Strong marriages create strong families. Strong families create vibrant parishes. When you invest in marriage help ministry, you're not just helping individual couples—you're strengthening the entire foundation of parish life and evangelization.

Children raised in healthy, loving marriages are more likely to:

Remain active in their faith
Understand God's love through their parents' witness
Choose sacramental marriage themselves
Serve their parishes and communities

What Makes Rediscovery Retrouvaille Uniquely Effective Marriage Help?

Rooted in Catholic Teaching, Accessible to All

Rediscovery Retrouvaille is a Catholic ministry and grounded in Christian principles, making it an authentic expression of the Church's marriage help ministry to married couples. At the same time, couples of all faith backgrounds—or no faith background—are welcomed, allowing your diocese to extend pastoral care beyond practicing Catholics and serve as a witness to the broader community.

Peer Ministry That Transforms

The program's power lies in its presenters: a priest and three couples who have themselves walked through the valley of marital crisis and emerged stronger. This peer-to-peer model of marriage help offers hope that resonates uniquely—when struggling couples see others who've survived and thrived, they believe transformation is possible for them too.

The Weekend Retreats provide:

A proven communication process that helps couples reconnect
Real stories of redemption that inspire hope
Practical marriage help tools couples can implement immediately
A confidential, non-judgmental environment
Follow-up Marriage Blueprint Talk Series after the weekend to ensure lasting change and support

Removing Financial Barriers to Marriage Help

No couple will be denied marriage help due to financial challenges. Scholarships are available, ensuring that every struggling marriage in your diocese—regardless of economic circumstances—has access to this life-changing ministry. This reflects the Church's preferential option for those in need and ensures your pastoral care reaches all socioeconomic levels.

The Diocesan Impact: More Than Individual Marriages

When your diocese offers or supports Rediscovery Retrouvaille, you are:

1. Fulfilling Your Pastoral Mission

The Church is called to heal the brokenhearted and bind up wounds. Marriage help ministry is not optional—it's essential pastoral care for the domestic church.

2. Preventing Spiritual Casualties

Divorce doesn't just end marriages—it often ends families' relationships with the Church. Children of divorce are statistically less likely to practice their faith. Providing marriage help saves marriages.

3. Providing an Alternative to Secular Solutions

Many couples turn to secular counseling or simply give up when marriage gets hard. Rediscovery Retrouvaille offers Christ-centered marriage help that addresses not just communication techniques but the spiritual foundation of marriage.

4. Building a Culture of Hope

When word spreads in your diocese that real marriage help is available—that marriages can be saved—it changes the culture. Couples seek help sooner. Parishes become communities of healing. Hope replaces despair.

5. Supporting Your Priests' Ministry

Pastors are overwhelmed with pastoral needs and often lack specialized training in marriage counseling. Rediscovery Retrouvaille provides effective, peer-led marriage help that complements your priests' sacramental ministry.

6. Evangelizing Through Witness

Few things evangelize more powerfully than transformed marriages. When couples experience radical healing through marriage help and renewed love, they become living testimonies to God's power. Their witness draws others to Christ and to His Church.

The Cost of Doing Nothing

Consider what is lost when the diocese does not actively provide marriage help to struggling couples:

Families drift from the Church after the trauma of divorce
Children lose faith when their family foundation crumbles
The sacrament of marriage is devalued when there's no visible marriage help system
Parish communities weaken as families fragment

The question is not whether your diocese can afford to offer Rediscovery Retrouvaille marriage help. The question is whether you can afford not to.

Implementation: Bringing Rediscovery Retrouvaille to Your Diocese

Establishing Rediscovery Retrouvaille in your diocese demonstrates:

Strategic pastoral planning that provides real marriage help addressing root causes, not just symptoms
Commitment to the domestic church as the foundation of parish life
Proactive ministry that offers marriage help before crisis becomes catastrophe
Collaboration with a proven, established global marriage help ministry
Stewardship of families as the Church's most precious resource

The Weekend Retreats can be hosted in person with live presenters or webinar presentations in hotels, retreat centers, or virtually in parish halls or conference centers. The program can be operated with overnight accommodations or daily attendance where participants go back home in the evening. The virtual webinar option helps to make marriage help accessible to couples in urban, suburban, and rural parishes. The program's structure is already established—your diocese simply needs to embrace it, promote it, and support it as essential pastoral care.

A Call to Action for Diocesan Leaders

This is not just another program. This is a pastoral necessity.

In every parish across your diocese, there are couples sitting in pews, participating in ministries, raising children in the faith—while their marriages are slowly dying. They need help. They need hope. They need to know the Church stands with them not just on their wedding day, but in the hard years that follow.

By offering Rediscovery Retrouvaille in your diocese, you send a clear message: Marriage matters. Families matter. And the Church will walk with you through the hardest seasons of married life, providing real marriage help when you need it most.

The Return on Investment

While some diocesan programs measure success in numbers, Rediscovery Retrouvaille measures success in:

Marriages saved from divorce
Children spared the trauma of family breakdown
Families retained in the Church
Witnesses created to God's redemptive power
Communities strengthened by stable families
Parishes enriched by reconnected couples

Every marriage saved through Rediscovery Retrouvaille marriage help has a multiplier effect that extends through generations. The children of that saved marriage will learn what covenant love looks like. The couples will mentor others and share how marriage help transformed their relationship. The parish will be strengthened. The Kingdom of God will advance.

Rediscovery Retrouvaille is more than a marriage help program. It is the Church living out her mission to heal, restore, and sanctify the sacrament of marriage. It is pastoral care at its most essential. It is marriage help that works. It is the Gospel made tangible for couples in crisis.

Your diocese has the opportunity—and the responsibility—to offer this lifeline of marriage help to struggling couples. The question is not whether there's a need. The need is undeniable. The question is whether your diocese will rise to meet it.

For information on bringing Rediscovery Retrouvaille to your diocese, or for couples seeking help, visit www.MarriageLifeline.org or call 1-866-470-2230.

"What God has joined together, let no one separate." — Mark 10:9

The Church said these words at their wedding. Now let the Church walk with them through Rediscovery Retrouvaille marriage help to make those words a living reality.

Frequently Asked Questions About Rediscovery Retrouvaille Marriage Help

Q: How is Rediscovery Retrouvaille marriage help different from counseling?

A: Rediscovery Retrouvaille is a peer-to-peer marriage help ministry, not professional counseling. Couples learn from other couples who have survived marital crisis, making hope tangible and transformation believable.

Q: What if couples can't afford the Weekend Retreat?

A: No couple is denied marriage help due to finances. Scholarships are available to ensure accessibility for all. Virtual webinars make the weekend affordable for those that are unable to attend in an overnight retreat.

Q: Is this only for Catholic couples?

A: While a Catholic ministry, Rediscovery Retrouvaille welcomes couples of all faiths or no faith. The focus is on providing effective marriage help, not religious requirements.

Q: What if a couple is already considering divorce?

A: Rediscovery Retrouvaille has helped countless couples on the brink of divorce. As long as both spouses are willing to attend the Weekend Retreat, there is hope and real marriage help available.

Q: How can our diocese support this ministry?

A: By sponsoring and hosting Weekend Retreats - either overnight, day programs, or virtually through a live webinar format; promoting the ministry in parishes if you have an existing community; providing scholarship support; and recognizing marriage help as essential pastoral care.

Every diocese needs a comprehensive strategy for providing marriage help. Rediscovery Retrouvaille is that strategy—proven, effective, and ready to serve your couples today.

Contact Us

Have a question or a suggestion? We're always here to help. Contact us today and we'll get back to you as soon as possible. Call 1-866-470-2243 and press option 2 for church/parish partners.

Rediscovery Retrouvaille Bulletin Announcements

Seven Weeks of Bulletin Announcements

WEEK 1: When Hope Feels Distant

THERE'S A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A MARRIAGE THAT'S STRUGGLING AND ONE THAT'S LOST.

If you're reading this, your marriage isn't lost. Even if hope feels distant. Even if you've tried everything. Even if you're not sure you can make it.

Rediscovery Retrouvaille has helped thousands of couples find their way back from the brink. Marriages that seemed beyond repair have been restored. Love that felt dead has been rekindled. Hope that was gone has returned.

This weekend retreat offers:

A proven process that helps deeply disconnected couples reconnect
Stories from couples who've survived what you're facing
Practical tools you can use immediately
A completely confidential, judgment-free environment
Follow-up support to ensure lasting healing

Next Weekend: [DATES] | [LOCATION]
Scholarships available—no couple denied due to finances

Led by couples who understand because they've been where you are. If both of you are willing to attend, there is hope.

Learn more: www.MarriageLifeline.org | 866-470-2243

"Hope begins when you take the first step. Take it together."

WEEK 2: You Don't Have to Pretend Anymore

SITTING IN CHURCH PRETENDING EVERYTHING'S FINE. SMILING WHEN YOUR HEART IS BREAKING.

The loneliness of a dying marriage is profound. You can't talk to family—they wouldn't understand. Friends don't know how bad it really is. Even talking to each other has become impossible.

What if there was a place where you didn't have to pretend?

Rediscovery Retrouvaille is a weekend where you can finally be honest. Where other couples understand because they've lived it. Where peer couples—who've walked through marital crisis themselves—offer hope, not judgment.

You'll learn communication tools that work even when you're deeply hurt. You'll hear stories of redemption that make hope tangible again. You'll find a path forward you couldn't see before.

Weekend Retreat: [DATES] | [LOCATION]
Completely confidential. No group sharing required.

This isn't counseling. This is couples helping couples. Real people who've survived real crisis showing you how they did it.

Your marriage deserves this chance. You both deserve this chance.

www.MarriageLifeline.org | 866-470-2243

"Healing begins in a place of safety. This is that place."

WEEK 3: It's Not Too Late

AS LONG AS BOTH OF YOU ARE WILLING TO TRY, IT'S NOT TOO LATE.

Maybe you've been thinking about divorce. Maybe you've already talked to lawyers. Maybe you're only staying for the kids. Maybe you've lost hope that things could ever change.

What if they could?

Rediscovery Retrouvaille has helped countless couples on the very edge of divorce find their way back. Not to what was—but to something better. Stronger. Healed.

This weekend retreat provides:

A communication process designed for deeply wounded couples
Proof that transformation is possible (you'll meet couples who are living proof)
Tools that work even when trust is broken
Hope when hope seemed impossible
A path forward you can walk together

Next Weekend: [DATES] | [LOCATION]
Financial assistance available. Virtual options for those who prefer.

The couples leading this weekend have been where you are. They know the pain. They also know the way through it.

As long as both of you attend, there is hope.

www.MarriageLifeline.org | 866-470-2243

"Redemption is real. Restoration is possible. Take the first step."

WEEK 4: When You've Tried Everything

YOU'VE TRIED TALKING. YOU'VE TRIED COUNSELING. YOU'VE TRIED IGNORING IT.

Nothing has worked. You're exhausted. Hurt. Maybe angry. Maybe numb. The thought of "trying one more thing" feels overwhelming.

But what if this time was different?

Rediscovery Retrouvaille isn't another failed attempt—it's a proven program that has saved marriages for over 50 years. Not by giving advice, but by teaching a communication process that works even in crisis. Not by experts who've studied marriage, but by couples who've saved their own.

What makes this different:

Peer-led by couples who've survived marital crisis (not therapists)
A structured process, not just "talk about your feelings"
Focus on skills you can practice immediately
Complete confidentiality—your privacy is protected
Weekend format gives you focused time away from daily stress

Weekend Retreat: [DATES] | [LOCATION]
Overnight or day attendance, as well as virtual options available.

When couples who've been where you are tell you, "We made it—and so can you," suddenly hope doesn't seem so impossible.

One weekend. Real tools. Genuine hope.

www.MarriageLifeline.org | 866-470-2243

"Sometimes the hardest step—showing up—is the one that saves everything."

WEEK 5: The Marriage You Save May Save Your Family

YOUR CHILDREN KNOW. MAYBE NOT THE DETAILS, BUT THEY FEEL IT.

The tension. The distance. The pain. When a marriage struggles, the whole family struggles. When a marriage heals, everyone heals.

Rediscovery Retrouvaille isn't just about saving your marriage—it's about restoring your family. About showing your children that love perseveres. That commitment matters. That healing is possible even after deep hurt.

Thousands of couples have found healing through this weekend retreat:

Learning to communicate when everything is broken
Discovering hope through others' stories of redemption
Receiving practical tools for rebuilding trust
Experiencing the possibility of genuine forgiveness
Finding a path forward together

Next Weekend Retreat: [DATES] | [LOCATION]
All faiths welcome. Scholarships available. The couples presenting this weekend have children who witnessed their parents' crisis and their parents' healing. Those children learned that love fights for itself. That marriage is worth saving. That God can restore what seemed dead.

Your marriage matters. Your family is worth fighting for.

www.MarriageLifeline.org | 866-470-2243

"What you heal in your marriage, you heal in your family."

WEEK 6: Love Can Rise From the Ashes

MAYBE YOUR MARRIAGE FEELS DEAD. MAYBE YOU CAN'T IMAGINE LOVING EACH OTHER AGAIN.

The hurt goes too deep. The words said can't be unsaid. The betrayals—of trust, of intimacy, of promises—feel unforgivable. How could love possibly rise from these ashes?

And yet—it does.

Not through pretending the hurt didn't happen. Not through just "moving on." But through a process of genuine healing, honest communication, and—for many couples—grace that feels like a miracle.

Rediscovery Retrouvaille has witnessed thousands of resurrections. Marriages that seemed dead have come back to life. Not instantly. Not magically. But really. Truly. Beautifully.

This weekend retreat offers:

A proven communication process for deeply wounded marriages
Real couples sharing how they found healing after devastation
Tools for rebuilding from the ground up
A confidential, safe environment to begin again
Follow-up support to sustain your healing

LAST CHANCE TO REGISTER for weekend starting [DATES]
[LOCATION] | Financial assistance available | Virtual options offered

If both of you are willing to attend—even if one of you barely wants to try—there is hope. Come hear from couples who've been in your shoes and found their way through.

You have the power to change your marriage. Hope starts here.

www.MarriageLifeline.org | 866-470-2243

"Where there is life, there is hope. Your marriage still has life."

BONUS WEEK 7: Real Couples, Real Redemption

"WE WERE DAYS FROM SIGNING DIVORCE PAPERS."

"I'd already talked to a lawyer. We were done. A friend begged us to try Rediscovery Retrouvaille first. We went with zero hope—just to say we tried everything. That weekend changed everything. We learned to communicate in ways we never had in 18 years of marriage. We heard stories from couples who'd survived worse than us and were thriving. Three years later, our marriage is better than it's ever been. We lead Retrouvaille weekends now, showing other couples the hope we found." — Tom & Lisa, married 21 years

"I DIDN'T THINK I COULD FORGIVE. I DIDN'T THINK I WANTED TO."

"The betrayal was devastating. I was staying only for our kids. Retrouvaille didn't magically fix everything, but it gave us tools to talk about the hardest things. It showed us we weren't alone—other couples had survived infidelity and rebuilt. The peer couples didn't judge us; they understood. Slowly, painfully, beautifully—we healed. Our marriage now is built on honesty we never had before. I didn't think forgiveness was possible. I was wrong." — Michelle & James, married 14 years

"WE WERE JUST... DONE."

"No huge betrayal. No dramatic fight. Just years of disconnection, resentment, and exhaustion. We were roommates who couldn't stand each other. Retrouvaille taught us how to listen—really listen—for the first time in years. How to express hurt without attacking. How to rebuild intimacy we thought was gone forever. Our kids said, 'Mom and Dad are happy again.' We didn't think that was possible." — Rob & Chris, married 27 years

THESE ARE REAL COUPLES. REAL STORIES. REAL HOPE.

Next Rediscovery Retrouvaille Weekend: [DATES] | [LOCATION]

If you're in crisis, there is hope. If you're considering separation or divorce, there is hope.

www.MarriageLifeline.org | 866-470-2243

"Your redemption story could be next."

Contact Us

Have a question or want to get in touch? We'd love to hear from you. Contact us today and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.