Across 35 countries, more than 2000 couples choose to live this Lenten journey “as a couple” with CANA. They make their journey at their own pace and form a small domestic church in their own way.

All over the world, couples are on their journey

From now on, many proposals to walk towards the Resurrection are available to everyone: this is excellent news. Each one can choose what suits him/her… Thanks to its experience on the net, CANA France innovates and encourages couples to live this special time together! CANA International has joined the project.

More than 2000 couples registered from all over the world, in 35 countries; all continents are represented. Six countries from North and South America, 14 from French-speaking and 4 from English-speaking Africa, 18 from Europe and 3 from Asia. In their own way, they already form a small community. We encourage them to pray for each other.

Live on 6 March, launching from the couch

Impressive! Here we go! Couples from 17 countries were connected on Sunday 6 March at around 9pm (Paris time) for the launch evening of the Lenten journey to be lived as a couple.  Comfortably seated on their sofa, armed with all their faith and dynamism, Guillaume and Sandrine HAUDEBOURG, leaders of CANA France, invited the couples to make space for what is essential during the weeks to come.

“It’s a great way to make love grow in your couple,” says Guillaume. “It’s a good time to prepare together for Easter,” confirms Sandrine. “We see signs of the light of spring, which is not yet really here,” she adds. Making an analogy with the garden, she invites couples to prepare themselves to “pick up the dead leaves and welcome new growth”. And to choose to take time, as Pope Francis invites us to do in the Joy of Love:

Love needs time and space; everything else is secondary. Time is needed to talk things over, to embrace leisurely, to share plans, to listen to one other and gaze in each other’s eyes, to appreciate one another and to build a stronger relationship. AL 224.

Guillaume encourages us to be silent. “We are invited to the desert, not for its aridity, but to hear the Word of God. The Lord will come to speak to each of our couples.”

Luc de RAVEL, priest of the Chemin Neuf Community serving in a parish, reminded us of the importance and meaning of Lent, the place of fasting, prayer and almsgiving. Marlène and Nicolas testified how personal prayer and prayer as a couple help them concretely to love each other better in their daily lives.

Finally, the time of personal and couple meditation was followed by a presentation of the practicalities of the course.

A 3-step process

Every Sunday evening, couples receive the proposals to live each week by email or WhatsApp. Three stages are proposed:

It is up to each person and each couple to find the way that best suits them for personal prayer, for meeting together and sharing in truth. The most important thing at the beginning of each week is to make an appointment and stick to it!

The themes of each week progressively lead each couple towards the Resurrection. For Week 1: At the source of our love. Then the following weeks will have the following themes: listening, forgiveness, caring, moving forward as a couple, living the Holy Week.

During the whole of Lent, you can find the proposals for this journey on the home page of the website: cana.fr

A technical challenge!

CANA International is joining the project and testing the formula in English. We are betting that the automatic translations of the videos will be of fairly good quality! Fortunately, these videos are only a part of the proposals which are completed by precisely translated texts sent directly to the couples, who have registered online, by email.