Married couples are invited to come together to grow in their Catholic faith by joining the Teams of Our Lady initiative.

Fr Jeremy Milne, who leads the Archdiocesan Marriage & Family Life Commission, said: "In our diocese there is currently one group meeting in Edinburgh. In this Amoris Laetitia Family Year I would like to encourage more couples to come together in this way to share the spirituality of marriage."

Fr Jeremy added: "So couples come together in small groups, ideally with a priest spiritual counsellor, to support and encourage each other in living out their call to Christian marriage."

Teams of Our Lady, is an international movement which has recently re-established in Scotland. Pope Francis has dedicated a year to marriage and family life and highlights the beauty of Christian Marriage in his prayer intention for June.

Connect

One couple who take part said: "Teams gives us the chance to connect with other couples at various stages of the marriage and faith journey, from other parishes, from other cultures.

"It's a great place to learn and reflect on our marriage. The simple format of the meetings helps each couple and our accompanying priest give their news: what goes well for them, what goes less well and what helps each of us in our lives and spiritual journey.'

"As a couple, there are things we've done spontaneously, like sitting down to listen to each other's experience of the last week, that being part of Teams has shown the value of - so much so, that now we do these things more intentionally, as well as spontaneously.

"We're grateful to Teams for confirming the value of sharing in this way, as well as for the fun of meeting to eat together, sing, pray and share news.

Walking together

During the course of this Amoris Laetitia Family Year, there will be 10 videos featuring Pope Francis discussing an aspect of his Apostolic Exhortation on the joy of love in marriage and family life (Amoris Laetitia - The Joy of Love).

Each video includes testimonies from married couples and families and includes a guide to help couples, families and groups reflect on the message.

To find out more about Team of Our Lady email vemarriage@staned.org.uk or visit https://teamsgb.org.uk/