The spirit of Valentine’s Day

February is National Wedding Month, and San Diego’s Catholic Diocese is hosting a vow renewal ceremony and weekly classes

It’s February, the month of love: Florists and sweet shops are gearing up for Valentine’s Day on Feb. 14, and engaged couples are deep in the throes of final wedding plans for spring nuptials.

It’s also National Wedding Month, an annual event sponsored by the National Association of Bridal Consultants.

In recognition and support of marriage and married couples, the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego is offering a wide variety of programs and events, including a special 11 a.m. Mass and reception on Feb. 18, during which couples can renew their wedding vows in English, Spanish or Vietnamese.

The event, celebrated by the Rev. Efrain Bautista, takes place at Corpus Christi Catholic Church, 450 Corral Canyon Road in Bonita. For more information, contact Belen M. Olivero-barnett at (858) 490-8299 or visit corpuschristicatholic.org.

“It’s a great time to focus on marriage because love is in the air,” says John Prust, director of the diocesan Office for Family Life and Spirituality. “In mid-month, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops marks National Marriage Week, so this is the perfect time for different initiatives supporting marriage.”

A series of six evening programs designed for marriage enrichment and fellowship, titled “Building a Better Marriage,” kicked off in early January, Prust notes, with couples invited to participate in one or all sessions. The series is free of charge and takes place at 7 p.m. each Wednesday through Feb. 15 at the Diocese of San Diego Pastoral Center at 3888 Paducah Drive, San Diego. More information is available from Prust at jprust@sdcatholic.org, or call (858) 490-8256.

“The Catholic view of marriage is that it is a sacrament,” Prust says. “We understand that it is free, total, faithful and fruitful; it’s a calling from God and a sign of God’s love in the world — a living sign and symbol that reflects God’s love for us.”

Covering subjects such as healthy communication, rebuilding trust, developing intimacy and expecting the unexpected, this year’s marriage series is designed to support newlywed and longmarried couples with information, camaraderie and information, Prust said.

“We believe that marriage is a commitment for life,” he said. “Specifically in the Catholic Church, we have two sacraments of vocation — holy orders and marriage — and rather than thinking of vocation as a career or training; we evoke the Latin ‘vocatio,’ which means a sacramental purpose of being or a calling.”

Both the diocese’s third annual vow renewal event and its marriage enrichment series stem from a 2016 report compiled by a task force of parishioners throughout the diocese that recommended the diocese implement “Witness to Love.” The program of mentoring and support for married couples shares best practices for developing healthy, resilient and spiritual relationships gleaned from experts in marriage preparation, psychology, theology, and evangelization, said Aida Bustos, director of the diocesan media office.

“The diocese wants to encourage healthy, lasting marriages,” Bustos said.

The overall goal, Prust says, is for couples to grow in their faith, and “it’s most effective when they are ‘walking the walk’ along with others.”

“There’s always room for improvement and growth, whether couples are newly married or older,” he said. “We all have the opportunity to grow. We compare working on our marriages with growing our relationships with God. There is always more to learn. We are never done being awakened to the ways we can do marriage better.”

The Diocese of San Diego wants to promote the idea that the chief way married couples show their love for each other is to emphasize the power of a loving relationship.

“It becomes a rock, the powerful center of our lives, simply through the love that we share with one another and how powerful it reverberates through the community,” Prust said. “What a beautiful calling.”

Making one’s marital relationship a top priority is important for all couples, notes the diocese’s Janelle Peregoy, associate director of the Office of Family Life and Spirituality.

“It is easy to go on autopilot and go through the motions, and our culture sets us up to do that,” Peregoy said. “So much of success is the intentionality of saying, ‘No, I’m going to make my relationship a priority,’ and choosing that on a daily basis. We must say, ‘This is my partner, the love I have chosen, and there are ways I can honor and respect them.’ ”

As beautiful as this time of Valentine’s Day celebrations is, Peregoy said, it needn’t be the only time couples focus on improving, deepening and refocusing on their marriages.

“Too many couples wait for conflict to work on their marriages.”

The Mass, vow renewal, and reception on Feb. 18 is the capstone event for the diocese’s celebration of Marriage Month.

“Couples share an informal renewal of their vows, from newlyweds to those who’ve been married for up to 70 years,” Peregoy said. “It’s a beautiful event. They even have a wedding cake at the end.”

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