Stop wasting time! Get to know the person you are dating in a quick and efficient manner with these "101 Simple Questions." Finding the right spouse is very important for happiness, marriage stability, and ultimately, your quest for Eternal Life. But finding that “one” or just the right person seems to be getting harder and harder today. Whether dating in person or online, it’s very important to know what to talk about, and what questions to ask, to get to the heart of the matter. This very useful booklet will greatly help single Catholics in their quest for the perfect spouse. Save time, money, and mental and emotional anguish by using these insightful questions.
Some questions include:
- How is your relationship with your father? Your mother? Your siblings? Extended family? Grandparents?
- How is your mental health? Worried about a lot of things? Anxious? Depressed? Self-loathing? Confident? Problems from the past? Therapy?
- Is it important to “dress up” for Mass? To tithe 10% to the Church? Veil or no veil? Skirts or pants? Front of Church or back? Sing during Mass? Sign of peace? Kneeling/Standing for Communion? On the tongue/hand? Who holds children in Mass? Snacks or religious books for kids during Mass? Crawling under the pews? Holding hands together? Singing during Mass?
- And 98 more!
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Asking the Right Questions Before “I Do”: A Catholic Guide to DiscernmentIn a culture that often treats dating casually and marriage as optional or provisional, A Catholic’s Guide to Finding the Perfect Spouse …with 101 Simple Questions by Thomas L. McFadden, Jr. offers a clear-eyed and unapologetically Catholic approach to discernment. Rather than relying on emotion or chemistry alone, McFadden insists that marriage—because it is a sacrament and a lifelong vocation—demands intentional preparation and honest conversation.
That urgency is captured in the foreword by Patrick Madrid, who observes that many struggling spouses share the same regret: “If only we had talked about these things before we got married.” McFadden’s book exists to prevent that outcome. As Madrid writes, “Tom McFadden has done something invaluable here, by giving couples a roadmap, a practical guide filled with the kinds of questions that need to be asked before stepping up to the altar.” These are not superficial prompts, but “real, substantial, life-altering questions” that shape marriages for better or worse.
McFadden frames dating candidly as “interviewing your date for the position of spouse.” Though unromantic in phrasing, the approach reflects a serious respect for the gravity of marriage. Every dating relationship ends either in marriage or in a breakup; wisdom lies in discerning which outcome is appropriate before emotion obscures judgment.
The questions begin with foundational issues—“What is marriage? What is its purpose?”—and move into family background, habits, finances, faith, and openness to children. These areas, often avoided in early relationships, are precisely where misunderstandings later cause conflict.
Jason Evert aptly compares courtship to a job interview, noting that without clarity about what one is seeking, poor decisions are likely. McFadden’s questions, he writes, help couples discover not only who their partner is, but “what matters most to you as well.”
The book’s Catholic vision is unmistakable. Cardinal Raymond Burke praises it as “a down-to-earth and faith-inspired help” for discerning marriage as a “faithful, lifelong, and procreative union.” Importantly, McFadden treats both marriage and breakup as successful outcomes when they arise from honest discernment.
Ultimately, this guide takes marriage seriously because it takes holiness seriously—offering couples a practical way to prepare well before promising forever.
