Formation Ministry

Funerals in the Dardanup-Boyanup Parish are arranged by contacting the Parish Priest / Priest in Charge. It is customary to make an offering for the use of the Church on the occasion of a funeral. The customary donation is in the range of $200. The stipend for the priest who performs the funeral is also by donation and is normally in the range of $200 also.

At the death of a Christian, we as the Church pray on behalf of the deceased in the knowledge that death is not the end, and that we can be supported in coming to be with God through the prayers made for us after our death.

The Eucharistic Celebration, commemorates Christ’s own death and resurrection, and is central focus of the Christian Funeral. this brings hope and consolation to the living, and helps remind us of the eternal life that awaits us, where we will re reunited with the deceased.

Every year we celebrate many weddings in the Dardanup-Boyanup Catholic Churches.  We know that this is often due to the strength of our faith community, but we also realise that we are blessed with two of the most beautiful churches in the the South West.  Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception in Dardanup, is perfect for wedding celebrations of up to 250.  St Louis in Boyanup is a much more intimate venue and is ideal for smaller weddings, with a true pioneering Australian feel to it.

The decision to marry is one of the most important decisions you will ever make, and by being married within the Catholic Church you will be making a solemn and sacred public commitment to each other before your family, friends and God.

For this reason the Church asks you to deepen your awareness and understanding of what it means to be married and how best you can prepare for a happy life-giving marriage.

This  page has been prepared to assist you in understanding what is required of you to be married in the Catholic Church.
[learn_more state=”open” caption=”MARRIAGE PREPARATION”]
Preparation for your marriage is as important as any other preparation you may have experienced in your life. The Catholic Church has always seen the need for a couple, planning for their marriage, to have time to reflect on and prepare themselves for this important step and therefore the Parish of Dardanup/Boyanup has made it mandatory for couples to participate in an acceptable preparation course.

This action is supported by the Western Australian Government, which strongly advises all couples to undergo preparation for their marriage.

There are three programs available to you as follows:

PARISH PROGRAM

This involves five evenings spread across five weeks, where a parish team encourages you to explore such topics as family of origin, communications, expressions of feelings, intimacy etc. and to share difficult questions with your partner, so that you might learn to be completely open with each other.

The Parish based courses are run on demand a few times a year and there is no charge for your participation.

TOGETHER FOREVER

This is a one day course run by the Catholic Marriage Education Service in Perth and available on approximately 40 weekends of the year. The course is generally run on a Sunday with some Saturdays.

This course provides you with the opportunity to share your ideas and expectations about marriage, consider your long term commitment, and appreciate the strengths of your relationship. You will also learn some new skills to build on your relationship and identify areas in your relationship to work on together.

This course costs $110 per couple.

Bookings can be made by calling the Catholic Marriage Education Service in Perth on 9325 1859 between 9:30AM and 4:30 PM on a Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

ENGAGED ENCOUNTERS WEEKEND

This course provides you both, through a series of talks, the opportunity to discuss openly and honestly with each other, your future lives together; your desires, ambitions, goals, attitudes about money, children, sex, and understanding of marriage as a couples special relationship with God.

You will be presented with a series of topics designed to give you a deeper insight into marriage – the highs and lows – and to provide you with the skills needed to work through it all together.

The cost of the course is $195 per couple, which includes accommodation, all meals, tea and coffee etc. Courses are conducted  approximately six times a year and are always on a weekend.

Bookings can be made by calling the booking couple on 9481 1873
[/learn_more]

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

[learn_more state=”open” caption=”Documentation”]
Marriage Papers will be prepared by the Priest at least one-month prior to the wedding date. He will need to sight both your birth and baptism certificates, and will require the full names of both your father and mother (including her maiden name).[/learn_more]
[learn_more state=”open” caption=”FLOWERS”]
You will need to supply your own flowers for the Marriage Ceremony.[/learn_more]
[learn_more state=”open” caption=”PHOTOGRAPHERS”]
One Photographer is welcome to record the service provided that this is done in an unobtrusive way. Please arrange for this person to make contact with the priest prior to the wedding day to arrange an appropriate position that will not detract from the sacredness of the wedding ceremony.

The same requirements apply to a video photographer.[/learn_more]
[learn_more state=”open” caption=”CONFETTI”]
We do not allow confetti, rice or other such things to be used in the grounds of the Dardanup Catholic Church as the cleanup effort that is required following the departure of the wedding party poses a significant problem.[/learn_more]
[learn_more state=”open” caption=”PUNCTUALITY”]
Catholic Priests perform a wide range of jobs within the community and as such are often very busy people. Please be sensitive to this and help us by avoiding any unnecessary delays.[/learn_more]
[learn_more state=”open” caption=”MARRIAGE FEE”]
A fee of $250 is requested to offset the expenses involved in your wedding. This may be greater if the priest is bought in from another parish due to travel and accommodation expenses.

Please attend to this payment when you meet with the priest after the completion of your preparation course. If you have any difficulties in this regard please do not hesitate to mention this to them.[/learn_more]

ON THE DAY

[learn_more state=”open” caption=”THE WEDDING CEREMONY”]
At the Ceremony you will be asked to select Scripture Passages, prayers, blessings etc to personalize your service. The priest will assist you in this selection. Many couples find the selection of family and friends to proclaim (read) the Scriptures and participate in other parts of the ceremony a beautiful way of involving both families in this celebration.[/learn_more]
[learn_more state=”open” caption=”MUSIC”]
In choosing music for your wedding, we advise that it must be sacred music (i.e. composed for use in a church) or popular music which speaks of the Christian dimension of love, provided that it is used at an appropriate time within the ceremony.

Popular music which refers only to the physical or emotional dimensions of love are inappropriate for the wedding service and are best reserved for the wedding reception. Your selection will need to be referred to the Priest for approval before the ceremony.[/learn_more]
[learn_more state=”open” caption=”MUSICIANS”]
It is necessary for you to make your own arrangements for an organist, musicians and/or vocalists prior to the wedding ceremony. Should you require advice in this regard the parish office can provide a list of local musicians available for hire.[/learn_more]
[learn_more state=”open” caption=”REHEARSAL”]
In the week leading up to the wedding you will be expected to attend a rehearsal at the Church along with the Bridal Party and the priest. This is an important event and your participation is essential.[/learn_more]

The Sacrament of Confirmation confers special graces of the Holy Spirit upon the candidate being confirmed, in the same way as graces were granted to the Apostles on Pentecost. As with Baptism, it can only be performed once, and Confirmation increases and deepens all of the graces granted at Baptism.

As St. Thomas says:

Confirmation is to baptism what growth is to generation. Now it is clear that a man cannot advance to a perfect age unless he has first been born; in like manner, unless he has first been baptized he cannot receive the Sacrament of Confirmation (Summa Theologiæ III.72.6).

There is a great deal more to a child’s first communion than a pretty white dress and a family party. While it is a cause for celebration, that’s not what the occasion is about. The event means that the children have learned and understood, the mystery of transubstantiation, the changing of the substance of ordinary bread and wine into the substance of Christ’s body and blood.

Within both our school and after school programs we seek to impart the understanding of this mystery, such that the children will appreciate for their lifetime the incredible gift which Christ himself offers us at every Eucharistic celebration.

The Sacrament of Reconciliation, often known simply as “confession” is God’s Ocean of Mercy, Forgiveness and Healing, the grace of which is little understood in our time. Many people are often afraid of it, do not understand it, neglect it, see it as of no consequence, have had negative experiences of it, do not know how to go about it or have hardly matured in the practice of it since their childhood “First Confession”.

Often the same list of sins is hurriedly rattled off and people find themselves living no differently after their confession than they were before. Going to Confession helps us to ensure that we are not being lazy in our relationship with God. It is a time to be really honest with God. This is an invitation to us to think again and to return to the Sacrament more frequently with a renewed understanding of it.nbsp;

[learn_more caption=”Why do we need Confession?”]
God loves us and longs to heal us and set us free. This He does when we turn to Him and tell Him of our sins. The awareness of personal sin is our starting point. “Yes, I am disordered; there is sin in my life, but other factors have affected me.:

Forgiveness

God forgave each one of us through His Son Jesus, when He suffered and died in expiation for our sins, from the Cross. He invites us to come to Him and acknowledge our sinfulness, thereby making the blood of Jesus our healing remedy and our source of salvation. Confession is the means of receiving this forgiveness, by the direct touch of Jesus through His body the Church.

Healing

What is healed? Our guilt and sin are forgiven. We hope for healing of the wound caused by our own sins and those of others. The wounds of sin are wounds we carry within, and their pain is often crushing and crippling. They can lead us into sinful, compulsive actions and behaviours, hurtful to others and to ourselves. Confession provides an opportunity to ask for help and healing in these areas.

…”Just as the wounds of sin are varied and multiple in the life of the individual and the community, so too the healing which penance provides is varied…” (New Rite of Penance no 7.)[/learn_more]

[learn_more caption=”What is involved in making a confession?”]

Preparation through prayer, examination of conscience and sorrow for sin.

What is a sin?

Sin is any wilful, desire, word, action or omission forbidden by the law of God. It inflicts a wound not only on the sinner but also on one’s neighbour and the whole Church. There are two kinds of sin, original sin (forgiven through Baptism) and actual sin (forgiven through genuine sorrow, often with Confession).

Actual sin is every sin which we ourselves commit. actual sin is either:

• Mortal sin, involving a serious matter to which we give full, free, deliberate consent which deprives us of the Life of Christ and which, unrepented, would mean hell; or
• Venial sin involving serious matters to which we consent without full deliberation, or the everyday compromise, unloving deeds, decisions and attitudes we have made. How often do we hear Jesus say to us, “Why have you persecuted me?” Venial sin is the gateway to mortal sin. We are bound to confess to a priest each and every mortal sin of which we are aware, in order to receive forgiveness. This is the teaching of the Church. St. Paul tells us to, “Be very careful about the sort of lives you lead…” (Eph 5:15)

Sorrow

Expression of sorrow and contrition are an essential part of the path towards reconciliation with God, our neighbour and the Church. It is here we may change our lives and repair the damage, scandal, pain and hurt we have caused. Often confession only touches the surface of our lives, whilst our souls are sick due to lack of truth about ourselves and the effects our sins have on others. Superficial healing follows superficial sorrow, focused on how our sin hurt us rather than how it hurt Christ in others. True sorrow and consequent determination to change deepens healing.

“…Frequent confession helps us grow in genuine self-knowledge, humility, bad habits are corrected, spiritual neglect and tepidity are resisted, attained…”

(Pius XII Mystici Corporis. 1945).[/learn_more]

As a parish community we  welcome, support and assist families preparing for the baptism of their child. Please contact the Parish Office on 9728 1145 or visit our contact us page.

[learn_more caption=”What does it mean to be a God parent?”]

• To accompany the godchildren on their way,
• To discover the wonders of the world together with them,
• To be their friend whenever they need a person who has got time to play, to talk or just to be there.
• To be father or mother if parents are missing or don’t understand,
• To be father or mother if they fail or cannot cope with their task as parent or as Christians.
• To intervene between parents and children if there are conflicts when communication becomes difficult
• To bear witness of what it means to live a Christian life
• To bear witness of the reliability and the insecurity of faith,
• To bear witness of the endeavour to be good,
• To bear witness of how to deal with weakness, failure and guilt,
• To bear witness of forgiveness offered and received.
• And to pray for them and together with them  as a friend for a lifetime

[learn_more caption=”What do Godparents have to do at the celebration of baptism?”]

• Sign their godchildren with the cross,
• Declare their readiness to help with the Christian education of their godchildren
• Confess the faith of the church[/learn_more]

[learn_more caption=”What do Godparents have to do during the early years?”]

• To keep contact with the parents,
• To build up a relationship with the godchild,
• To pray for their godchild,
• Occasionally to baby-sit if need be,
• To remember the birthdays of their godchildren,
• To join in the celebration of their name-feast,
• To tell their godchild the story of their patron saint (their godparents in heaven)[/learn_more]

[learn_more caption=”What do Godparents have to pass on the faith?”]

• Pass on the faith by choosing presents (a bible, a prayer book a hymn book, a cross, a holy water bowl, a rosary)
• Pass on the faith by talking with the child on matters of faith,
• Pass on the faith by showing interest in their preparation for First communion, first Reconciliation, Confirmation,
• Pass on the faith by participating in worship together.[/learn_more]