Marriage event will include presentations, Mass with Bishop Solis, dinner date night
Friday, Jan. 17, 2025
By Laura Vallejo
Intermountain Catholic
HOLLADAY — The theme for this year’s National Marriage Week, which will be celebrated Feb. 7–14, is “Pursue a Lasting Love.”
This initiative “started a celebration,” said Crystal Painter, director of the diocesan Office of Family Life.
Locally, that celebration includes the annual Diocesan Marriage Celebration, which will be based on the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ “Marriage: Source of Hope, Spring of Renewal, Pursue a Lasting Love.”
“This is to honor both the 2025 Jubilee of Hope as well as the third and final year of the Eucharistic Revival: The Year of Mission,” Painter said.
The celebration will offer simultaneous presentations in English and Spanish. Following the presentations will be a bilingual Mass, and a dinner with live music and dancing.
“We must prioritize this sacred celebration of love and emphasize the beauty of building a strong and dedicated life together,” Painter said, adding that the institution of marriage is important to society, and “in the Catholic Church it is so valued that it is a sacrament.”
Marriage is the vocation through which vocations to the priesthood or consecrated life are born, she said. It also encourages others to pursue the vocation of marriage.
“This is how our Church grows and thrives,” she said. “Married couples are a large and instrumental part of parish communities and ministries. Much like celebrating ordination anniversaries, where we honor and thank clergy and religious for their ‘yes’ to their vocation, we should also celebrate the vocation of marriage.”
The Feb. 15 celebration will help married couples reflect on and recognize their own covenantal “yes” and celebrate the gifts and graces bestowed on them, she said.
“The fruits of their marriage not only flow to their family, but to their community and to society as a whole,” Painter said. “For marriages to thrive, they need to be supported and accompanied by our society and the Church,” and married couples need to be reminded of “the covenant that they have made with each other and with God. This is why the annual diocesan celebration includes an enrichment, Mass and a dinner date night.”
Deacon Tom and Maria Devereux will offer the enrichment presentation in English; Deacon Guillermo and Socorro Méndez will give the enrichment presentation in Spanish.
“We have amazing people in our diocese who are true stewards and are willing to share their time and talents with others; Deacon Tom and Maria Devereux and Deacon Guillermo and Socorro Mendez are wonderful examples of this,” Painter said.
Both deacons and their wives work tirelessly not only in their own parish communities “but throughout the diocese, and they have a passion for marriage and family life. ... They are married and understand the beauty but also the challenges of marriage,” Painter said
The presenters have helped other couples prepare for marriage, and counsel couples who need support and guidance, she added. “These two deacons and their wives are wonderful examples of living out their calling and are a great local resource for the married couples of the diocese.”
WHAT: Annual Diocesan Marriage Celebration
WHEN: Saturday, Feb. 15, beginning at 3 p.m. with check-in
WHERE: St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church, 1375 Spring Lane, Holladay
The Marriage Enrichment presentations will begin at 3:30 p.m. A bilingual Mass will follow at 5 p.m. with Bishop Oscar A. Solis presiding; it will include a blessing of marriage and renewal of vows.
Early registration is $50 per couple; on Feb. 1 the cost increases to $65 per couple. Registration ends Feb. 8 or when the event is full. Visit https://bit.ly/2025MarriageCelebration to register. For information, contact crystal.painter@dioslc.org at the Office of Family Life.
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