Mother Moon celebrates her birthday by officiating at mass wedding
About 8,000 couples from 150 countries took part in a mass wedding where they received the Marriage Blessing on Sunday 7th May 2023 at events organized simultaneously around the world by the Family Federation. Mother Moon officiated at the main ceremony in Hyojeong Global Arts Center in Gapyeong, South Korea, where 1,300 couples from 56 nations took part.
In Europe, ceremonies were held in Tirana, Stuttgart, Geneve, Lisbon, Kyiv and Moscow. According to a spokesperson for the organizers, 44 Europeans took part in Korea; altogether there were 141 from our part of the world receiving the Blessing on their marriage.
At the main venue in South Korea, Mother Moon first sprinkled holy water on representative couples on the stage. She then read the Affirmation of the Blessing Vow, to which everyone shouted a loud yes, promising to do their best to establish an ideal family, that would strive to build a Kingdom of Heaven here on the earth.
In her Blessing prayer, she prayed for God’s guidance for the couples so they would fulfil their responsibility and grow in accordance with God’s will as couples the Creator could take pride in. She asked that they would gain wisdom in everything they do. The couples then exchanged wedding rings. 14 couples came up on the stage to receive rings from Mother Moon. Finally, she proclaimed the couples taking part in the ceremonies to be truly married and blessed. Flowers and gifts were presented to her by representative couples on behalf of all the couples.
Congratulatory performances followed by a girls’ and boys’ choir from Chiba, Japan, the famous South Korean baritone Kim Dong-gyu, trot singer and entertainer Hong Jin-young, soprano Sangeun Lee and many others.
Text: Knut Holdhus
Featured image above: Some of the couples at the large wedding in Gapyeong, South Korea 7th May 2023. Photo: Screenshot from live transmission via PeaceLink TV.
