MADISON — “It was very uplifting and gave us renewed hope. It opened our eyes on how to have joy in our marriage and our relationship with Christ.”

These words from an attendee couple refer to a successful one-day marriage enrichment retreat that was held at Holy Name Heights in Madison on January 31.

Fifty-two couples attended, representing many different ages and stages of marriage, and hailing from 18 different parishes and pastorates in the diocese, as far southwest as Lancaster and as far northeast as Princeton.

The theme was “Building a Eucharistic Marriage.”

The keynote speaker was Greg Schutte, director of Marriage Works! Ohio, who is a licensed therapist with decades of experience who has also done research on Theology of the Body, St. John Paul II’s landmark teachings on God’s plan for human love and marriage.

His talks connected seven areas for therapeutically strengthening your marriage with seven ways to strengthen your relationship with Christ through the Eucharist.

His talks were based on a course that is also available online at eucharisticmarriage.org

The sessions focused on themes like reconciliation, listening with intentionality, and investing in your spouse.

Time was given for couples to reflect and discuss after each session, digging into the material in order to start building new habits.

As one attendee put it, “This retreat opened a door for conversation with my husband. Greg gave practical tips along with relating marriage to the Eucharist.”

Another couple shared, “This retreat will make our marriage even better . . . We have been married 33 years, and it would have been very beneficial if we knew the concepts learned in this retreat [sooner].”

The event also allowed time for Adoration and Confession, with five priests hearing Confessions throughout the day.

Couples clearly felt that this retreat was a gift:

“It provided us a day away to focus only on us and how to improve our togetherness. It was great to see so many other couples there, also focused on making their marriages a priority. The examples Greg provided helped us to feel like we are not so different after all.”

“We have been more gentle with each other in the following days.”

“I had the goal of 2026 being the year to rebuild from my brokenness, and one of the places that felt broken or cracked was my marriage. I’m really grateful for the opportunity and that my spouse was willing to go with me, because it really helped to reset the foundation for what we can build our marriage in this year, with Jesus as the foreman.”

The next marriage enrichment event being offered by the diocese is aimed at couples 50 and older, called “This Old Spouse.” It will be led by Don and Lorrie Gramer, executive directors of Marriage Building USA.

There will be two opportunities to attend this event, the first on Thursday, April 30, and the other on Saturday, May 2.