Love was in the air in St Clare’s on Valentine’s Day
Fr John Dunphy, who celebrated the St Valentine's Day Mass in St Clare's Church in Graiguecullen with his dog Ruby Photos: michaelorourkephotography.ie
LOVE was in the air at St Clare’s Church in Graiguecullen on St Valentine’s Day as couples, from newlyweds to those married for an astonishing 75 years, gathered for the annual blessing of the couples Mass.
The special Mass, which has been held in the Graiguecullen/Killeshin parish for over 20 years, invites couples celebrating all types of different milestone anniversaries to come along on St Valentine’s Day to receive a blessing and to acknowledge the role that St Valentine has in the love life of people.
Parish priest of Graiguecullen/Killeshin, Fr John Dunphy, explained how the Mass, organised by the parish’s liturgy group, is open to all couples at different stages of their relationship; however, special invitations are sent out to those celebrating anniversaries.
“We invite all couples to come along for a special blessing and we also give a special blessing for those who are getting married in our churches this year, where they can get their rings blessed,” Fr Dunphy said.
“We also send specific invites to all couples who are celebrating milestone wedding anniversaries. We had a lot of five-year and ten-year anniversaries present, but also couples celebrating 20 and 40 years’ married,” he added.
There were five couples at the Mass who were celebrating their golden wedding anniversary of 50 years of marriage, while one extraordinary couple celebrated a diamond anniversary of 75 years.
All couples who were married in the parish’s churches last year were also invited to the Mass.
As part of the Mass, symbols representing the different aspects of love and St Valentine were brought to the altar before the different groups received their blessings and renewed their commitment to one another. Each couple also received a gift of chocolate and a reflection card at the end of the Mass.
And while Fr Dunphy delivered spiritual blessings from the altar, his trusty four-legged assistant, 15-month-old-puppy Ruby, worked the aisles offering her own brand of unconditional love and tail-wagging benedictions to delighted parishioners.
*Have a look at this week's for a full gallery of photos
