Solemnity of St Joseph

My three wedding errands for today were:

1) Remind Tita Merle to send Yuri's and She's dresses, the ceremony veil and the ceremony cord through Tito Flor.

2) Call the musician for the revised Entourage processional music.

3) Contact Fr. JP Villanueva regarding the ceremony on March 15.

The third errand gave me one of the best spiritual revelations I've ever had.

When I called Fr. JP to discuss the details of the ceremony, Fr. JP informed me that March 15 is a day of sorrow, as it is exactly the week before Black Saturday. He asked me if I was sure I want to get married on that day, as it is not very usual for Catholic couples to choose such days. Officially, it does not fall on Holy Week. But it already marks the start of the peak of the Lenten season (the day after, March 16 is Palm Sunday). For celebrations, you can choose any other day, but the days that fall on the week of Christ's suffering.

I reasoned to Fr. JP that we are actually getting married on March 1 anyway, and that the one on March 15 is actually just a renewal of our vows (this is another story worthy of another blog entry). I tried to sound rational rather than fearful, but the fact is that I was already troubled inside. I felt bad about celebrating our love on the day Catholic Christians are supposed to grieve.

I continued to ask Fr. JP about the details of the ceremony. I discovered that the Readings and Gospel on that day were sorrowful, indeed. It made me feel worse.

I thanked Fr. JP (who is very likable and friendly), put the phone down, and prayed to God to say sorry for holding a celebration on a day when we are supposed to do penance. Then I did what I had to do: I fixed things that needed fixing (apparently, the ceremony repertoire had to be altered).

I called our dynamic duet, Mon and Eyps (both my friends from Ateneo), and our musicians to inform them that we have to revise our ceremony repertoire. No more Gloria, no more Alleluia. Those are not being sung during Lent. I had to hold the bad news for a while from Alec. He was stressed enough at work.

At about 8:00PM, I got a text from Fr. JP, "and surprise...March 15 is Solemnity of Saint Joseph." I texted back, "I hope this is not bad news anymore :) ". Fr JP called me up, explaining to me that The Solemnity of St Joseph is a celebration, a feast! Every year, it is usually celebrated on the 19th of March, but this year, the year of 2008 (the first year when it is moved to an earlier date -- wikipedia ), the Solemnity of St Joseph was moved to March 15. Quoting Wikipedia:

"From 2008 onwards, if St Joseph's Day falls during Holy Week, it is moved to the next earlier available date, usually the Saturday before Holy Week. This change was announced by the Congregation for Divine Worship in Notitiae March-April, 2006 (475-476, page 96). The idea was to avoid the "traffic jam" that would occur under the old rules if both St Joseph's Day and the Annunciation had to be moved to the first available date after Easter Week."

And guess what (good news to our guests), "Because March 19 always falls during Lent, St. Joseph's Day feasts often have no meat, even though—because the feast day is classed as a solemnity—abstinence from meat is not required according to Canon law, even if it falls on a Friday."

Can you imagine the happiness I felt when Fr. JP broke the news? I nearly cried. Fr. JP said that this is a great blessing, getting married on The Solemnity of St Joseph. And yes I agree! How much greater could it get to be guided by the graces of the father of Jesus Christ? The ideal husband and father (which I feel, was my dad, and who Alec will become)? What's more, as it is one of the major celebrations of the Catholic traditions, despite it falling on Lent, we can sing Gloria and Alleluia! And celebrate our day of love, one hundred percent. We still have to alter a few things though, now we HAVE to have a misalette (we originally didn't want one -- as my personal advocacy is saving Mother Earth and I personally believe that misalettes are wasted paper) since it is a huge mass celebration, and we now have wonderful wonderful wonderful Readings and Gospel (read the Readings and Gospel on March 15 2008). Changes yes, but WONDERFUL changes! Now our wedding mass/ceremony is much bigger, more beautiful and blessed, and the most important thing of all...is truly a celebration of FAMILY and LOVE.

But the story doesn't end here. Fr. JP and I continued to talk about the celebration, and the blessing of having March 15 as the Solemnity of St. Joseph. He made me realize that oh my, the name of the place where we are getting married, the very serene private chapel of Gourmet Cafe, is called The St. Joseph Sanctuary. And that Fr. JP's name is actually Joseph. And that the parish in Marikina where we are also getting married on March 1 is called the St. Joseph the Worker the Parish. And that my parish in Iloilo is also named St. Joseph the Worker Parish. I don't know about you, but I feel that this is no longer a coincidence. For me, God has shown me a miracle today. I know that He has blessed Alec and I with love, and that this marriage is already blessed by the Grace of God and the great love of St. Joseph. That God has blessed us with Fr. JP..that is, Fr. Joseph, to celebrate this great miracle on March 15 2008.

Thank you Papa, I know that you helped to make this happen (because you lived the life of a good person, alam kong malakas ka kay Lord).

Thank you Fr. JP Villanueva, I know that you will most probably not be able to read this, but if you ever do, I want you to know that you are truly a grace from God.

Thank you, St. Joseph.

Thank you, God.

Our Engagement Photos

Finally! Our engagement photos are here! Our photographer, Mr David Hanson , is extremely talented. We don't look gloomy even though it was raining nonstop that day! Shots were taken inside Alec's house. The beautiful interiors are designed by his very creative dad. Here are some photos from the shoot:

Playful Pogi

Laughter is the best medicine

Interiors by Alec's dad

With Mongo, Yuri's (Alec's sister) uber-cute Labrador