By Arnold Namanja
Saints and Paul (Chilobwe) Parish of the Blantyre Archdiocese of the Catholic Church on Saturday witnessed a record of 15 couples walk down the aisle to exchange holy matrimonial vows in a mass wedding event.
Earlier in the day, a couple of senior citizens in their late 70s from St. Theresa Small Christian Community (SCC) led the rest of the couples in taking their vows whereby the two, who were congregating in different churches, agreed to marry in the Catholic Church in their old age, according to Catechist for Chilobwe Parish, Patrick Magombo.
What was unique about the occasion was a couple from St. Paul SCC/ward both of whom have hearing impairment who also walked down the aisle to exchange marriage vows with the aid of a sign language interpreter, a development Magombo described as the first of its kind at the parish.
Speaking after officiating the marriages, Chilobwe Parish Priest, Fr. Davison Salamba who derived his homily from John 15: 12 – 17 advised the newly married partners to love their spouses unconditionally just like Jesus Christ commanded his disciples to love one another.
“Now that we’ve made this important decision to marry someone until death do you apart; you will need to develop an open heart to each other and commit to your vows,” Salamba said, adding that just like Jesus died on the cross with his arms wide open Christian couples need to be transparent and accountable to each other.
Salamba observed that the church has noted with great concern statistics from the country’s conventional courts indicating that the rate of divorce remains very high, noting that some of such filed cases at the courts originate from the Catholic Church.
“These vows, according to the Catholic Church, clearly say that you will stick to your partner in times of good or ill health, in happiness or sorrow. Desist from individualism and behaviours which create suspicion to your spouse and eventually lead to break-up,” he said.
Salamba, therefore, called on the newly married couples to actively participate in church activities now that they are in communion with the church at ward, church and parish levels by joining various groups and associations for the growth and betterment of the church.
Chairperson for Chilobwe Parish, Harris Kachale, commended the leadership of SCCs at the parish for providing guidance to the couples to make a decision to return to life of sacraments as ascribed by the Catholic Church.
“I would like to commend church leaders for leading the flock back to the fold, it is always a good thing when all of us participate in life of sacraments unlike when others are seen as outcasts on account of their poor standing with the church,” Kachale said.
In an interview with Malawi News Agency (MANA), Ernest and Gertrude Mwaungulu, from St. Agnes Ward who were among those who blessed their wedding, expressed happiness to have entered into Holy Matrimony, saying it was a refreshing experience to return to active Catholicism after being suspended from receiving sacraments for a couple years.
“We have been married for some years and we have three children. Now that we have had our marriage blessed we feel to be a complete part of the church because we are now in communion with the universal church,” Mwaungulu said.
