Sacrament of Marriage ‘A Witness to Covenant Love’

“Witness” was the word of the day at this year’s Diocesan Wedding Anniversary Mass, celebrated by Bishop Alfred Schlert at the Cathedral of St. Catharine of Siena, Allentown, on Sept. 20. The annual Mass coincided with the observance of Catechetical Sunday, the day the Church rededicates itself to the witness of the Gospel message.

Addressing the more than 200 married couples present, plus those viewing the livestream of the Mass, the Bishop said, “Your living out of the Sacrament of Marriage is so important. We like to celebrate it because it’s a witness to covenant love.

“You stood at that altar, asking God’s grace through the Sacrament of Matrimony to hold your bond together, and we are witnesses of what God has done in your lives.”

Couples from the five counties of the Diocese renewed their marriage vows and received a special blessing from Bishop Schlert, as well as a Wedding Anniversary Certificate. The Bishop said that, as he signed the certificates, “I prayed for each couple by name, so that we might be connected in prayer.”

In his homily, the Bishop contrasted covenant love with “scorekeeping,” a tallying of hurts and grievances that is “an existential threat to married living.”

“Scorekeeping makes our lives smaller,” he said, as it keeps us “looking laterally” at others while perceiving ourselves as somehow disadvantaged.

By comparison, “God’s love is covenant love, which means there are no limits to His forgiveness, to His patience, and to His mercy. We experience that every time we go to the Sacrament of Penance, and ideally, that’s the model for marriage.”

Recognized as the longest-married couple were Dominic DeBona, age 101, and his wife, Margaret, age 97. Parishioners of St. Anthony of Padua, Easton, they have been married for 77 years.

At this year’s Anniversary Mass, the total number of married years represented by the registered couples was 7,848. “And no one looks any worse for the wear,” said Bishop Schlert.

Also marking an anniversary was the Diocese of Allentown itself, instituted 65 years ago by Pope St. John XXIII. During this milestone year, which Bishop Schlert declared a Eucharistic and Marian Year of Grace, the faithful have been asked to redouble their prayers for vocations to the Priesthood and the consecrated religious life.

Michael and Allison Civitella, parents of Fr. Dominic Civitella, who was ordained a priest of the Diocese in June, are celebrating 36 years of marriage. Parishioners of St. Jane Frances de Chantal, Easton, the Civitellas said that they “started attending the Diocesan Wedding Anniversary Mass a few years back because it’s a beautiful setting to renew our wedding vows.”

As the parents of a priest, the Civitellas are especially cognizant of the domestic church as the seedbed of vocations and of spousal prayer as a powerful means to an end.

“We pray as a couple,” said Allison. “We start our day by going to 6:30 a.m. weekday Mass at St. Jane and of course Mass together on Saturday and Sunday.

“We also pray the Rosary together every night. Our dog Roscoe loves to be [there] with us.”

The Civitellas espouse the perspective of the recently beatified Blessed Fulton Sheen, who used to say that a good marriage involves three entities: a man, a woman, and God.

The most important thing, said Allison, is “removing the marriage from secular life to holy life” by “staying focused on getting ourselves and our family to Heaven.”

The Diocesan Wedding Anniversary Mass may be viewed on the Diocese of Allentown YouTube channel.

Couples and Diocese Celebrating 65 Years

In honor of the 65th Anniversary of the Diocese of Allentown, special recognition was given to couples celebrating 65 years of marriage. Married in 1961, these couples would have been among the first to be wed in the newly formed Diocese: