Dawn and Clayton MacArthur of Brooks, Alta., received more blessings than they ever expected through the Diocese of Calgary’s Sacred Grace - Church Wedding for Civilly Married Couples program.

Consider that a primary reason why Dawn, a convert to Catholicism from Anglicanism, enrolled in this diocesan initiative was that she wanted to continue receiving and serving the Eucharist. According to the Code of Canon Law, a Catholic spouse must have their marriage blessed and sacramentally validated by the Church to receive Holy Communion.

Ultimately, Sacred Grace provided much more than just a seal of convalidation. Admitting that her and Clayton’s marriage of over nine-and-a-half years “did feel kind of stagnant,” Dawn credited the program for “rekindling their relationship and lighting a new spark.”

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Leading up to the Dec. 20 sacred celebration of matrimony alongside seven other couples at St. Mary’s Parish, Clayton, who works in the oil and gas sector, and Dawn, a teacher at St. Joseph’s Collegiate, discovered new aspects about each other through the marriage prep classes.

“(We were asked) to think about the goals we have for ourselves, as a couple and our family,” said Dawn, the mother of two sons with Clayton and an adult son from a previous marriage. “It just kind of made us re-evaluate where we are and where we want to be.”

Clayton added he “enjoyed the takes” from the Couples for Christ (CFC) marriage preparation leaders, along with completing personality questionnaires and goal-setting exercises.

“Even though you're married for a while, you don't always talk about where you see yourself in 10 years,” said Clayton, a member of the United Church.

Fr. Eli Cañete, the pastor of St. Mary’s since 2023, spoke warmly about his close relationship with the MacArthurs and their two sons, who both greet the pastor with a hug when they see him. He lauded the couple for their decision to root their family “in the sacramentality of God’s grace,” and for their recognition that Christ must “be at the centre of their marriage to ensure it is long-lasting as the Church envisions marriage.”

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As for the kids’ reaction, Dawn said they were initially confused.

“My 22-year-old son from a previous marriage said it was cool we were doing this, but our six- and eight-year-olds together asked, ‘aren’t you already married,' “ said Dawn. “We explained to them that now we are going to have a Catholic marriage. Our six-year-old was then like, ‘that's pretty cool. I might do that too one day.’ And our eight-year-old said, ‘well, okay,’ He was chill about it.”

In the end, both “thought it was pretty cool to see their parents get married.”

Much like her sons, Dawn’s students at St. Joseph’s Collegiate — she teaches the foods class — also thought “it was cool” that their teacher and her husband celebrated a group wedding.

Cañete suggested that Dawn modelling a desire to draw closer to the Lord could prove inspirational for her students.

“One of the slogans for teachers is ‘walk the talk,’ ” said Cañete. “One of the inspirations for Dawn and Clayton is that students and the Catholic community will see that nothing is impossible for those who want to be a living witness couple for others who desire to have their marriage in the Church.”

Following the wedding, Cañete encouraged Clayton to consider joining the Catholic faith so “they would be one as a Catholic family.” Clayton said “it is possible,” and suggested he could potentially enrol in Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) classes while his youngest son completes his First Reconciliation and First Communion.

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With Sacred Grace - Church Weddings set to return in 2026, Dawn encourages civilly married couples to seriously consider participating.

“It allows you to get to know your partner again,” said Dawn. “We had a couple in this group with us who had (already) been married for 35 years. To think that at 35 years, they're going to complete a Sacrament of Marriage.”