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Joyful Ever After: Getting the Marriage You Want from the Marriage You Have


A collaboration between San Pedro Center and Marriage and Family Life Ministry, Secretariat for Laity, Family, and Life


From the beginning, God created marriage to perfect us in life, love, and joy! It was created to transfer His deepest mystery into the visible reality of our world. So, why is marriage so hard? Every stage of married life seems to carry its own challenges to our intimacy, faithfulness, finances, communication, prayer-even our dignity and identity.

We all start our marriage journey with such hope, joy, friendship, and confidence in our future life together. But the everyday weight of life can bring doubt, fear frustration, and loneliness. Every couple needs an annual renewal and refreshment in order to get the marriage they want from the marriage they have! This renewal begins first with you as a husband or wife, then as a couple, and finally in community with other couples.

You can restore your wedding-day joy, and as we are discovering, grow it into something even greater than you can imagine. Let's enrich, strengthen, and encourage each other, learning together how to live joyfully ever after!

Meet Our Speakers

Married 32 years, Damon and Melanie Owens are founders of Joyful Ever After (www.joyfuleverafter.org), hosts of

The Catholic Marriage Summit (www.CatholicMarriageSummit.com), and authors of EPIC Intimacy (www.epic-intimacy.com). Melanie, full-time homeschooling mother of eight, and Damon, first executive director of the Theology of the Body Institute, have trained over 20,000 couples in marriage, Natural Family Planning, and Theology of the Body.

Melanie earned her BA in Sociology at U.C. Santa Barbara, and her MSW at the University of California at Berkeley. Damon earned his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Brown University, and his M.S. at the University of California at Berkeley.

Presenters at the 2024 National Eucharistic Congress, 2022 & 2015 World Meeting of Families and the 2017 USCCB Convocation of Catholic Leaders, Damon and Melanie keep a full international speaking schedule at conferences, seminars, universities, seminaries, and parishes on the good news of marriage, sexuality, Theology of the Body, Theology of the Family, adoption, and NFP.

Damon is a widely published marriage expert who appears regularly on many radio and television programs (EWTN, Catholic Answers, Ave Maria, Relevant Radio, Immaculate Heart Radio, ABC World News Tonight, CBS News, NPR), and has hosted and produced three 13-part television series for EWTN. He is also an accomplished gospel singer honored with a solo during the 1995 NJ Papal Mass at Giants Stadium presided by Pope St. John Paul II.

In 2018, Pope Francis honored Damon with the papal Benemerenti Medal in recognition for his service to the Church in support of marriage and family.

Damon and Melanie have eight children, three grandchildren, and currently live outside Philadelphia.


**Please Note: A $50 non-refundable deposit per-person is needed to secure your registration. You will not be registered for the event until this deposit is made. Full payment should be made in full two weeks prior to event**

Pricing

$275 Private Room

$195 Commuter

Cancellation Policy: Cancellation Policy: Two weeks before the event, a full refund can be made. If the cancellation is requested within 2 weeks of the event a refund can be given, less the $50 nonrefundable deposit per-person. Please call or email as soon as a cancellation is needed.

Earlier Event: December 22
Stations of the Crib: Advent Prayer Service