Did you know that today is World Marriage Day? I felt so dramatically unprepared for the arrival of this day when I read it in my news alerts a little while ago. Now I admit, I’ve been feeling pretty rotten today. Because I haven’t felt good at all, I’ve not done much in the way of work or even scanning my news stories.
So what is World Marriage Day? That’s a really good question!
World Marriage Day
In 1981, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, couples encourages the Mayor, the Governor and even the local Bishop to proclaim February 14 as a day to celebrate “We Believe in Marriage Day.” Apparently, the event was so successful that the Worldwide Marriage Encounter decided to adopt the tradition. In 1982, over 40 governors proclaimed the event officially in their states and the ideas spread from there to U.S. Military bases and to bases overseas and finally to foreign countries as well.
In 1983, the event became know officially as World Marriage Day and it is celebrated on the second Sunday of February. Pope John Paul II offered Apostolic Blessings on World Marriage Day in 1993. The goal, from 1981 to this day remains to celebrate and honor the husband and wife as the paired head of the family – our most basic unit within society.
Saluting the Beauty of Marriage
As most married couples will tell you – marriage is work and it requires vigilance, patience, and faith and above all else, love and trust. World Marriage Day honors all of these and more. It is a tribute to the sacrifice and the joy that we all experience in the day-to-day life of our marriages.
I wish I’d known about this a little further ahead of time, you can be sure that next year I’ll be a bit more on top of it. So if you haven’t taken a moment today to do so – bid your spouse and other married couples that you know a Happy World Marriage Day and remember to honor one another and support one another and salute one another. Express your pride in your spouse and your affection – and to all of you out there, I wish you a Happy World Marriage Day as well.
Related Articles:
What are You Doing for New Year’s Eve?
A Time to All Things – Recommitting to your Marriage