Enrichment event will celebrate marriage

Friday, Jan. 19, 2024

SALT LAKE CITY — The Diocese of Salt Lake City will hold its annual Marriage Celebration Mass and Enrichment Feb.  9 at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church in Holladay.

The theme of this event is “Love Beyond Words,” the same as that for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ National Marriage Week. The diocesan event will continue last year’s “Banquet of Love, The Eucharist as Weekly Marriage Enrichment” online classes, which are led by James and Maureen Otremba.

The Feb. 9 event will open with a Mass at which Bishop Oscar A. Solis will preside. The Mass will include a blessing of marriage and renewal of vows. It will be followed by a dinner with entertainment by a jazz band and then enrichment at Holy Family Hall. The Otrembas will provide a wrap-up by Zoom of the online course they have been offering to the diocese this past year. Those in attendance will be able to interact with the presenters. 

At the end of the evening, couples celebrating milestone wedding anniversaries such as their 25th or 50th will be recognized, followed by a champagne toast and the marriage prayer.

Also at the event Crystal Painter, director of the Office of Marriage & Family, will announce online virtual date night opportunities being provided by the Utah Marriage Commission.

“I want couples to look at this as an opportunity for them to reconnect in their marriage,” Painter said of the event. “People are so busy and sometimes we forget that marriage is our primary vocation, and we neglect our marriages. Studies have shown that at minimum at least once a year we should be finding opportunities to enrich our marriage and find ways to reconnect. That’s why the diocese makes an effort every year to do this. I really hope couples will make time to do that for their marriage.”

The observances of National Marriage Week, which is Feb. 7 to 14 each year, and the Feb. 12 World Marriage Day are opportunities to focus on building a culture of life and love that begins with supporting and promoting marriage and the family. To learn more about National Marriage Week, visit https://www.nationalmarriageweekusa.org/