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Prayer request
Please pray for a woman friend of mine in Rome who is finally getting married!
I couldn’t be happier for this good outcome.
Also, they have chosen to keep things rather low key, which emphasizes that the SACRAMENT, not the photos, is the most important thing.
I wish I could be there. I would be able to observe my anniversary back in Roma Eternal as well.
A huge donation …. but I digress.
Great news! The Sacrament of Marriage is one of….the Seven Sacraments.
I might digress, but my Sacrament might raise some eyebrows, so I’ll tell my story very briefly:
I traveled to Jamaica with my now wife while I was still an atheist (agnostic), we decide to get married after a few Red Stripes, found a preacher to marry us by the water, traveled back to the states, I was confirmed in the Catholic Church, the Priest said I could receive communion unless my marriage was “regularized,” the Archbishop “regularized” my marriage in Canon Law, and now I’m typing away pretending like I’m a great, faithful Catholic! LOL!
Actually, I am a very faithful Catholic now, I hope, and love to be admonished when I’m wrong!
Comment by Malta — 19 May 2008 @ 11:42 pmPraying.
Comment by Vincenzo — 20 May 2008 @ 1:34 amMalta, we were even more irregular, I think. We got married in the Catholic Church, with a very nice nuptual Mass, on a Saturday night in Cincinnati. Immediately after the wedding, the priest left town on vacation. I had my visa appointment for Tuesday morning at the British consolate in Chicago. We spent Saturday and Sunday nights in a Cincinnati hotel, and we were going to take the signed marriage license to the courthouse to get our marriage certificate on Monday morning, then drive up to Chicago for the appointment and the rest of our honeymoon.
But, I left the marriage license on the bed and the hotel maid threw it away while we at church on Sunday morning. We were able to get another copy of our marriage license on Monday, but we couldn’t get anybody to sign it as the priest was out of town for two weeks. (Only the priest who did the marriage may sign it and no, they won’t re-do it real quick.) I was told that I would just have to wait until he came back. That would have meant losing the hundreds of dollars in visa application, losing my airline flight, and having to stay behind in the States by myself to handle everything on my own while my husband flew to the UK. I asked if it would be OK to get a Justice of the Peace to marry us, again, and the priest we talked to said yes, and that some countries acually require this.
So, we ran to the Yellow Pages and called the first guy listed. He met us in an office downtown about twenty minutes later. He married us in about two minutes flat (talking very, very fast….”Daviddoyoutakethiswomantobeyourlawfullyweddedwife…”), charged us $75, and signed the paper.
He was not a Justice of the Peace, though, as there weren’t any available on such short notice. He was one of those guys “ordained” by the Universal Life Church and I do feel a bit guilty about having gone that route. But, I do know we were sacramentally married in the Church, so I’m not worried about it.
Comment by Kradcliffe — 20 May 2008 @ 1:49 amI’ll keep her in my prayers.
Anti-spam word: “Thank you Holy Fathe”
Comment by Drunken Monkey — 20 May 2008 @ 5:59 amWhat ‘r’ you thinking spam word?
Hello Fr. Z,
I was struck by your comment that
“they have chosen to keep things rather low key, which emphasizes that the SACRAMENT, not the photos, is the most important thing.”
I am only too happy to hear this sentiment echoed by someone else. I must confess to being rather irritated at First Communion Masses, as the digital and video cameras, not Christ in the Eucharist, seem to be the focus of many parent’s attentions. Here is Little Billy, receiving Jesus for the very first time in the Blessed Sacrament, but people are too busy to notice because they are too busy setting the f-stop on their camera equipment so they can get that all-important action shot.
Maybe I’m just getting old …
Comment by Jeff Ferguson — 20 May 2008 @ 6:39 amJeff, I know how you feel. I really don’t like the big to-do over infant baptisms. I figure, just do it during a regular Sunday Mass. (Personally, I’d be happy if a hospital chaplain just came around and did it after you gave birth, but I can understand why that’s not really practical for registry purposes.) When people start talking about trying to line up the right weekend for various relatives to come from other countries and ordering a special cake and giving expensive gifts I am sorely tempted to just take the kid to the kitchen sink and do it, myself. (J/K)
Comment by Kradcliffe — 20 May 2008 @ 7:12 amThis is a version I found after a quick google search. I think it comes from Ralph Mcinerny’s fun romp, “Let’s Read Latin”.
Miserere nobis, Je