PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Bishop Robert P. Deeley will honor couples marking milestone anniversaries at a Silver and Gold Mass on Saturday, June 23, at 4 p.m. at Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church in Presque Isle.
All are welcome to the Mass, which will celebrate the joy of Christian marriage, but the event will recognize milestone anniversaries — 5th, 10th, 15th, 20th, 25th, 35th, 40th, 50th or beyond.
Last year’s Silver and Gold Mass in Bangor drew more than 70 married couples, including one couple married 73 years.
“The Silver & Gold Mass is not just a gathering to honor the years of marriage that have passed,” said the bishop. “It is also a reminder of the importance of marriage, that relationship of man and woman, husband and wife, which gives rise through its generous love, to new life. It is, as such, the place where family is born, where life is nourished, where love is taught. It is, in addition, the place where God becomes known. In the experience of love, we come to know there is a source of all love, and that is God.”
During the Mass, each husband and wife will turn to each other and hold each other’s hands while the bishop prays over them and invokes the Lord’s blessing on their marriages.
Those celebrating a special anniversary who would like to attend the Silver and Gold Mass in Presque Isle should contact Judy Michaud in the Office of Lifelong Faith Formation at Judy.Michaud@portlanddiocese.org. Register online at www.portlanddiocese.org/olff/silver-gold-mass.
If possible, participants are asked to register by June 15.
