{"id":2211,"date":"2008-01-08T16:36:00","date_gmt":"2008-01-08T16:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/deaconsbench\/2008\/01\/i-do-i-do-i-do-i-do-i-do.html"},"modified":"2008-01-08T16:36:00","modified_gmt":"2008-01-08T16:36:00","slug":"i-do-i-do-i-do-i-do-i-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/01\/i-do-i-do-i-do-i-do-i-do.html","title":{"rendered":"I do. I do. I do. I do. I do…"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s not exactly the wedding season, but that didn’t stop a Catholic church in Georgia from hosting a mass marriage ceremony<\/a> with a whopping 31 couples: <\/p>\n

<\/a> More than 500 parishioners were in attendance at St. Joseph Church on Dec. 22 for a unique event\u2014one that married 31 couples in one Mass.<\/p>\n

The Mass was celebrated in Spanish, the native tongue for most present, by the pastor, Father Jes\u00fas-David Trujillo, known to his congregation as Father J.D.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the first time I celebrated a multiple-couple marriage,\u201d the pastor wrote by e-mail afterward. \u201cI know, in Dalton, on May 5, 2001, Father Abel Guerrero celebrated 11 weddings. This year I celebrated 31.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Mass brought the couples, who were either civilly married or not yet married, into communion with the Catholic Church.<\/p>\n

The couples processed into the standing-room-only nave that was decorated for the Christmas season. A nearly life-size Nativity scene stood prominently in the sanctuary, which was also decorated with poinsettias and three trimmed Christmas trees.<\/p>\n

The couples took their seats at the front of the church as the Mass began. The readings, which came from Genesis and the Gospel of Matthew, highlighted the importance and necessity of the relationship between a man and a woman. Following the readings, the pastor welcomed the couples and thanked the attendees for being a part of this unique event.<\/p>\n

In his homily, Father J.D. explained how this Mass was a combination of new and old traditions. He also expanded on the Gospel\u2019s message, speaking of marriage as special, definitive and lasting forever. The pastor then expressed his joy that this event was taking place during this particular season of the church, a sense he reiterated when he reflected on it later.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll these couples were able to receive the sacrament of Communion now because they are married,\u201d he said. \u201cEspecially at Christmas, they were able to celebrate Jesus born in them.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the homily, all of the couples stood as Father J.D. blessed them. Then each couple proceeded to the altar to exchange vows and rings. The best man and maid of honor for each couple also approached the altar and provided the rings accordingly.<\/p>\n

Following the blessing, a large knotted rope or rosary was placed over each of the couples\u2019 heads, showing how the sacrament of marriage connects human families with God\u2019s family.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe large knotted rope is a Mexican tradition that symbolizes the union of the couple,\u201d commented Father J.D. \u201cExternally, they symbolize what they do when they say the vows.\u201d<\/p>\n

The congregation was treated to a special surprise when Father J.D. blessed a arried couple also present and celebrating their 25th anniversary.<\/p>\n

One-year-old Karen Garcia attends a reception in the social hall following the multiple-couple wedding ceremony. She joined her two brothers as they witnessed the sacramental marriage of their parents Sigifredo and Teresa. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was told that they were celebrating their 25th anniversary,\u201d he said later. \u201cFor that reason, I asked them to stand in front of the congregation and in front of the new couples as an example for them. This couple, Fredy and Edith Manzanares, didn\u2019t know about this surprise for them; they received a blessing on this occasion.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the pastor, planning a Mass such as this is no easy task. More than 40 couples were originally scheduled to receive the sacrament, but 31 fully completed the necessary preparation. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s not exactly the wedding season, but that didn’t stop a Catholic church in Georgia from hosting a mass marriage ceremony with a whopping 31 couples: More than 500 parishioners were in attendance at St. Joseph Church on Dec. 22 for a unique event\u2014one that married 31 couples in one Mass. The Mass was celebrated…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":365,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-this-and-that"],"yoast_head":"\nI do. I do. I do. I do. I do... - The Deacon's Bench<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/01\/i-do-i-do-i-do-i-do-i-do.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"I do. I do. I do. I do. I do... - The Deacon's Bench\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It’s not exactly the wedding season, but that didn’t stop a Catholic church in Georgia from hosting a mass marriage ceremony with a whopping 31 couples: More than 500 parishioners were in attendance at St. Joseph Church on Dec. 22 for a unique event\u2014one that married 31 couples in one Mass. The Mass was celebrated…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/01\/i-do-i-do-i-do-i-do-i-do.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Deacon's Bench\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-01-08T16:36:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/_0DySLTT4PWo\/R4Pt0YmEDXI\/AAAAAAAAByk\/0BZ2ESXyM7s\/s320\/20080103-01%5B1%5D.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"deacon greg kandra\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"I do. I do. I do. I do. I do... - The Deacon's Bench","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/01\/i-do-i-do-i-do-i-do-i-do.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"I do. I do. I do. I do. I do... - The Deacon's Bench","og_description":"It’s not exactly the wedding season, but that didn’t stop a Catholic church in Georgia from hosting a mass marriage ceremony with a whopping 31 couples: More than 500 parishioners were in attendance at St. Joseph Church on Dec. 22 for a unique event\u2014one that married 31 couples in one Mass. The Mass was celebrated…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/01\/i-do-i-do-i-do-i-do-i-do.html","og_site_name":"The Deacon's Bench","article_published_time":"2008-01-08T16:36:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/_0DySLTT4PWo\/R4Pt0YmEDXI\/AAAAAAAAByk\/0BZ2ESXyM7s\/s320\/20080103-01%5B1%5D.jpg"}],"author":"deacon greg kandra","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/01\/i-do-i-do-i-do-i-do-i-do.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/01\/i-do-i-do-i-do-i-do-i-do.html","name":"I do. I do. I do. I do. I do... - The Deacon's Bench","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/01\/i-do-i-do-i-do-i-do-i-do.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/01\/i-do-i-do-i-do-i-do-i-do.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/_0DySLTT4PWo\/R4Pt0YmEDXI\/AAAAAAAAByk\/0BZ2ESXyM7s\/s320\/20080103-01%5B1%5D.jpg","datePublished":"2008-01-08T16:36:00+00:00","dateModified":"2008-01-08T16:36:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/052b8cd86cc713feaccdc8282b03cf10"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/01\/i-do-i-do-i-do-i-do-i-do.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/01\/i-do-i-do-i-do-i-do-i-do.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/01\/i-do-i-do-i-do-i-do-i-do.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/_0DySLTT4PWo\/R4Pt0YmEDXI\/AAAAAAAAByk\/0BZ2ESXyM7s\/s320\/20080103-01%5B1%5D.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/_0DySLTT4PWo\/R4Pt0YmEDXI\/AAAAAAAAByk\/0BZ2ESXyM7s\/s320\/20080103-01%5B1%5D.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/01\/i-do-i-do-i-do-i-do-i-do.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"I do. I do. I do. I do. I do…"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/","name":"The Deacon's Bench","description":"Where a Roman Catholic Deacon Ponders the World","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/052b8cd86cc713feaccdc8282b03cf10","name":"deacon greg kandra","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/a4e\/a4e07ce6fde3f10d4d9753243fd48d45x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/a4e\/a4e07ce6fde3f10d4d9753243fd48d45x96.jpg","caption":"deacon greg kandra"},"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/author\/deacon-greg-kandra"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/365"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2211"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2211\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}