George confided to friends at his 50th wedding anniversary that his father-in-law gave him a watch on his wedding day.
Across the watch’s face, where he could see it a dozen times a day, were written the words, “Say something nice to Mary Lou today.”
DANE — Married couples are invited to an evening of fun and romance designed to celebrate their relationship by reminiscing about the early stages of their romance.
Couples will be served a full course romantic candlelight dinner for two. In between courses, the evening’s host and hostess will lead couples on their personal journey down memory lane.CROSS PLAINS — […]
 |
|
Editor’s note: George Weigel is in Rome reporting on the General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the Family.
Since Pope Francis announced that two synods would examine the contemporary crisis of marriage and the family and work to devise more evangelically dynamic responses to that crisis, a lot of attention has focused on issues of Catholic discipline.
How does the Church determine that a marriage never existed and thus grant a decree of nullity? What is to be done about the sacramental situation of divorced and civilly remarried Catholics? How does the Church best prepare its sons and daughters for marriage?
STOUGHTON — All married couples are invited to a Roundup Square Dance sponsored by Worldwide Marriage Encounter in the Madison community on Saturday, May 9, at 6:30 p.m. in the St. Ann gym, 323 N. Van Buren St.
There is a 5:15 p.m. Mass for those who wish to attend beforehand. A potluck dinner and drinks will be followed by two hours of square dancing guided by an official caller.
CROSS PLAINS — […]
 |
|
| Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Ky., president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, talks with Jeff and Alice Heinzen of Menomonie, Wis., as they leave the morning session of the extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family at the Vatican October 13. The couple are auditors at the synod. (CNS photo/Paul Haring) |
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Catholic couples who ignore Church teaching on contraception “don’t know what they are missing,” said a U.S. couple invited to address the extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family.
Alice and Jeff Heinzen, family life leaders in the Diocese of La Crosse, spoke at the synod October 7, urging efforts to find new ways to share its teaching about the beauty of family life.
Although the couple has practiced Natural Family Planning (NFP) for 27 years and taught NFP — Alice is a member of the NFP advisory board for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops — they did not speak specifically about family planning in their presentation to the synod.
In cleaning my office, I came across an article I saved from a magazine published in 2007. I admit I’m a packrat, but sometimes I’m glad that I keep things that give me a historical perspective on important issues.
This article was part of a series in the AFA Journal of the American Family Association. Its title is “End of Marria%e? Indicators All Point Down.” The percentage sign (%) in the title is not a mistake, because the story points to a key fact: In October of 2006, for the first time in the history of the United States, the percentage of American households that includes a married couple had slipped into the minority.
That discouraging fact was revealed by the American Community Service, released by the U.S. Census Bureau. It showed that 49.7 percent of more than 111 million households contained a married couple. That percentage was down from the 52 percent of households with a married couple in the year 2000.
A small church once had an inspiring wedding tradition. After the wedding, the pastor would invite the newly married couple to pull on the rope that rang the church bells and share the good news of their wedding with the town.
First the bride pulled on the rope with her beautiful hands, but the bell did not ring. Next the muscular groom tugged mightily, but the bell did not ring. Then the bride and groom pulled together and, lo and behold, the bells rang out the good news of their marriage.
 |
| Andy and Mary Fabian |
This story begins in 1992, when one man married one woman the old-fashioned, non-destination way with eight bridesmaids, a wedding march, a dollar dance, and a DJ.
Cradle Catholic married Purely Protestant and the first issue up for debate was how to postpone pregnancy (the arguments about in-laws and money came much later).
