The members of Saint Mary Parish wish Maureen and Ken Fricke a happy 25th wedding anniversary, and Rodolfo López y Teresa Ruiz a happy 30th wedding anniversary! At Saint Mary’s, on the Sunday nearest a couple’s wedding anniversary, we celebrate the “Rite of Blessing on the Anniversary of Marriage” during Mass, which allows us all to share in the joy and gratitude of each of our married couples, and allows our young Catholics to witness our living examples of the Sacrament of Matrimony. The text of the ritual follows:
PRIEST: (invitation to renewal)
HUSBAND:
Blessed are you, Lord,
for by your goodness I took N. as my wife.
WIFE:
Blessed are you, Lord,
for by your goodness I took N. as my husband.
HUSBAND AND WIFE:
Blessed are you, Lord,
for in the good and bad times of our life
you have stood lovingly by our side.
Help us, we pray,
to remain faithful in our love for one another,
so that we may be true witnesses
to the covenant you have made with humankind.
PRIEST: (blessing of rings)
“Brothers and sisters:
Let mutual love continue.
Do not neglect hospitality,
for through it some have unknowingly entertained angels.
Be mindful of prisoners as if sharing their imprisonment,
and of the ill-treated as of yourselves.
Let marriage be honored among all
and the marriage bed be kept undefiled.
Let your life be free from love of money
but be content with what you have,
for he has said,
‘I will never forsake you or abandon you’.
Thus we may say with confidence:
‘The Lord is my helper,
and I will not be afraid’.
Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teaching.
For here we have no lasting city,
but we seek the one that is to come.
Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have;
God is pleased by sacrifices of that kind.
Obey your leaders and defer to them,
for they keep watch over you and will have to give an account,
that they may fulfill their task with joy and not with sorrow.
May the God of peace,
who brought up from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep
by the blood of the eternal covenant, Jesus our Lord,
furnish you with all that is good,
that you may do his will.
May he carry out in you what is pleasing to him through Jesus Christ,
to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.”
–From the conclusion of the Letter to the Hebrews