World Marriage Day

The concept of family values ​​and the institution of marriage in the modern world are subject to significant deformation This is due to the declining role of the church in the life of society, people’s craving for hedonism and life for their own pleasure, the sexual revolution and other factors The traditions of large families in Europe and America have become a thing of the past, and same-sex couples and transgender people have begun to marry However, in many cultures and national traditions, the unit of society, consisting of a husband and wife, is still its basis and stronghold of moral values On the initiative of Catholic believers, since 1983, World Marriage Day has been celebrated every second Sunday in February The holiday encourages people to return to traditional values ​​- love between a man and a woman, fidelity, mutual respect in the family, willingness to give in and sacrifice their interests for the sake of their partner The need to establish World Marriage Day was first expressed in 1981 by several Catholic couples from the town of Baton Rouge, located in Louisiana They asked the governor, mayor and bishop to support their initiative to celebrate February 14 instead of Valentine's Day with the slogan "We Believe in Marriage" Their request found a response in the hearts of representatives of the Worldwide Marriage Encounter religious program, which was created with the goal of improving the life together of married couples The Catholic Marriage Movement initiated the first celebration of World Marriage Day in 1983 It was decided to celebrate the celebration annually on the second Sunday of February Pope John Paul II gave his blessing for World Marriage Day in 1993 In honor of the holiday, special church services, essay competitions on the topic of family values, renewal of wedding vows, etc are held in Catholic churches Worldwide Marriage Encounter first came up with the idea of ​​promoting marriage back in 1952 on the initiative of the Spanish priest Gabriel Calvo He developed a weekend program for couples from Barcelona, ​​which later became successful throughout the country Thanks to Father Calvo’s speech in 1966 in Caracas at the International Conference of Christian Family Movements, Weekend meetings began to be held by Spanish-speaking couples from the United States and Latin American countries In 1969, a board was created to coordinate and expand the program throughout the United States and Canada In the fall of 1971, the movement began international expansion The idea of ​​the Baton Rouge couple was in tune with the concept of Worldwide Marriage Encounter, which is now offered to Catholics from more than 100 countries Therefore, the organization supported the initiative to celebrate World Marriage Day and continues to popularize it in order to preserve families and traditional religious values