Next ME Weekend Dates Confirmed: 10~12 October 2014!

Mark your calendars for the next CNMI Marriage Encounter Weekend... October 10~12, 2014 at the Kanoa Resort Saipan. A $100 non-refundable application fee includes 2 nights' accommodation, 5 meals and all materials.

Give the gift of love to your spouse by joining this special event that will not only enhance your marriage but your family's relationships as well.  If you've been married 2 years, 20 years or 50 years, the Marriage Encounter Weekend is for you!

For more information, contact Fall 2014 Weekend Coordinators, Russ & Kanae Quinn at 285-1168.

M.E. T-shirt Design Preview

Hello Lovers!

Please see some of the M.E. T-shirt designs. Let us know which one you like best by taking the poll below.

Thank you!

Wayne & Boni

Russ & Kanae

The Myths about the Marriage Encounter Weekend

For those who have not been "encountered", the idea of participating in the upcoming ME Weekend may appear to be a bit threatening. Why? Some people think that if you attend the Weekend, you're automatically admitting that something is wrong with your marriage and that can be either shameful or embarrassing. Family and friends who haven't attended may tease you about it. Others may think that because their marriage is fine, there's no need to attend a "marriage seminar". And still others believe that at the "Weekend", you will have to expose your private lives to strangers. These are the most common excuses for not wanting to attend.

Unfortunately, all of these excuses are just that...excuses and not based on reality or fact. The CNMI Marriage Encounter is a warm, family-oriented organization that not only promotes strong marriages, it also enhances love and communication among couples. If you know of anyone who has been encountered, ask them about their experience!

We've met many couples along the years whose marriages were saved due to the communication techniques they learned in ME. We've also heard from other couples who are back in that "romance" stage of their relationship with their spouse since they can openly share their feelings with each other. ME is for EVERYONE! It doesn't matter if your marriage is good or great, the Weekend will help you reconnect with your best friend and partner for life.

An attractive feature of the Weekend is that the Worldwide Marriage Encounter organization helps make our Saipan Weekend completely affordable: $50 per couple for two nights' stay at the Saipan Grand Hotel, including meals. If you are interested in joining, please contact John & Carol Hosono, the Fall Weekend Coordinators at 286-4997 or johnhosono@gmail.com.

Diocese of Chalan Kanoa: Year of the Priest

Year of the Priest: St. John Vianney

O Jesus, I pray for Your faithful and fervent priests;
for Your unfaithful and tepid priests;
for Your priests laboring at home or abroad in distant mission fields;
for Your tempted priests;
for Your lonely and desolate priest;
for Your young priests;
for Your dying priests;
for the souls of Your priests in purgatory.
But above all I recommend to You the priests dearest to me;
the priest who baptized me;
the priests at whose Masses I assisted and who gave me our Body and Blood in Holy communion;
the priests who taught and instructed me;
all the priests to whom I am indebted in any other way.
O Jesus, keep them all close to Your heart, and bless them abundantly in time and in eternity.
Amen.
St. John Vianney, pray for us; obtain for us many and holy priests.

Dear ME Lovers ~

Pope Benedict XVI proclaimed this year from June 19, 2009 as the Year of the Priest. For the ME community, it's an opportunity for us to show our love and appreciation to our local priests and pastors. More information will be available soon.

Valentine's Sweethearts Ball on Feb 14th!

Jenni & Mark Aguon are organizing this year's Valentine's Sweethearts Ball on February 14, 2009 at the Fiesta Resort's Hibiscus Hall from 6-10 pm. Tickets are $40 per couple and available for sale through Jenni at apakaaguon@yahoo.com and Carol Demapan at cdemapan@yahoo.com.

We look forward to a fun evening of reuniting with the ME Community as well as inviting new prospective couples to this special event.

Steps Along the Journey

Congratulations to all the couples who signed up for Steps Along the Journey, a 10 session course designated to reinforce and strengthen the concepts learned on the ME Weekend. Steps is essentially the graduate program as it allows couples to delve more deeply into the basic ME principles and apply them to their daily lives. Steps also builds close, new relationships among couples in the ME community which only enhances the experience. You discover that many couples face the same challenges and pressures in life and that connection builds a magical bond, unlike any other.

Some former Steps Couples include Dave & Maggie Attao, Jay & Juanette Atalig, Perry & Leona Sablan. Steps is not limited to newly encountered couples. Anyone who has experienced the ME Weekend, whether last year or twenty years ago, are highly encouraged to participate.

Steps enhances the relationship not only between the couples but resonates to other family members, co-workers and friends. Developing better communication skills is crucial for everyone.


If you are interested in joining the next program, please contact the numbers below ASAP:

Steps Along the Journey
Sign-Ups and Scheduling is handled by
Coordinators: Rex & Clarie Kosack
Telephone No. 322-8800
E-Mail: clarie.kosack@saipan.com or rex.kosack@saipan.com

CNMI Marriage Encounter

The CNMI Marriage Encounter Community is pleased to introduce its newest members to the M.E. Community. Seventeen happy couples completed the Weekend on Sunday, November 16, 2008.

Don & Jeanette Boltz from California, Charlie & Esther Keone from Guam, Charles & Cathy Cepeda and Father Ike Ayuyu formed the presenting team for the Weekend.

Worldwide Marriage Encounter offers a weekend experience designed to give married couples the opportunity to learn a technique of loving communication that they can use for the rest of their lives. It's a chance to look deeply into their relationship with each other and with God. It's a time to share their feelings, hopes and dreams with each other.

The emphasis of the Marriage Encounter weekend is on the communication between husbands and wives. The weekend provides a conducive environment for couples to spend time together, away from the distractions and tensions of everyday life, while encouraging them to focus on each other and their relationship.

It's not a retreat, marriage clinic, group sensitivity, or a substitute for counseling. It's a unique approach aimed at revitalizing Marriage.

This is a time for you and your spouse to be alone together, to rediscover each other and together focus on your relationship for an entire weekend. Every marriage deserves that kind of attention!

For information on the upcoming Weekend scheduled for March 27-29, 2009, please contact John & Vicky Mafnas at 285-8454.