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Married couples from across the Diocese journeyed to Christ the Prince of Peace in Weybridge on Saturday, for the diocesan Marriage Anniversaries Mass with Bishop Richard. The Catholic Church views marriage and the family as a sacred unit; as God’s way of providing stability for the family as reflected in the Holy Family.

Now in its 14^th year, Saturday’s Mass, which celebrated 1,190 years of married life and marriages of up to 71 years, offered husbands and wives of all ages the opportunity to reflect on the vocation of marriage and renew their marriage vows.

Rather than mark specific milestones, the Mass offers married couples an opportunity to commemorate anniversaries which are special to them, including people celebrating wedding anniversaries on the actual day of the Mass; one couple celebrated their 50^th anniversary on Saturday, with another couple marking their 20^th anniversary. Speaking during the homily, Bishop Richard said:

“We rejoice today in your response to the wonderful vocation of marriage. Civil law describes marriage as a contract; for the Church it is a covenant which involves God Himself. God has called you to be together, with the sacrament of marriage given not by a priest or a deacon, but by husband to wife and wife to husband. We give thanks for the community of life and love that you are for the Church and for the world.”

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Reflecting after the celebration, which concluded with refreshments and cake in the church hall, Deacon Simon South, our Marriage & Family Life Adviser, added:

"It was wonderful to welcome people from across the Diocese to celebrate the joy, hope and love in their marriage. We were blessed to be joined by couples celebrating 10 years of marriage through to 71 years, and all the numbers in between! Being able to spend time together afterwards, and listen to people share stories of their married journeys, was very special.”Many thanks to all those who helped with the day.

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You can see photos from the celebration on the diocesan Flickr feed, here.