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THE MARRIAGE ENCOUNTER: As I Have Loved You by

THE MARRIAGE ENCOUNTER: As I Have Loved You

By

Pub Date: Oct. 3rd, 1975
Publisher: Doubleday

Father Chuck is the founder of a crash program to bring more vitality to Catholic marriages. Not just another lofty and sentimental ideal espoused by yet another celibate, Marriage Encounter is a discipline of exercises for promoting marital communication involving over 200,000 couples in the U.S. alone. The idea for the book was originated by the publisher and with these many participants, now including non-Catholics too, it's obviously a bankable concept. Still the movement's success called for an authorized version which the book delivers. Though an unpolished writer, Fr. Gallagher is an infectious talker, and his expansive style captures the spirit and substance of the Encounter. Most important is the 44-hour weekend retreat led by a couple and priest team that through a progressive rhythm of talks, private reflection, and husband-wife dialogue brings couples to communicate feelings for each other which rarely, if ever, found expression before. Easy as it is to take potshots at the book's missionary fervor, soggy sentiments and unbridled idealism, the program evidently works for many and converts the two day marathon into an ongoing experience.