In a beautiful witness to the sanctity of marriage, a second grade teacher at St. Jude the Apostle School in Atlanta chose to marry the love of her life during a school Mass as a way to highlight the sacrament.
The Georgia Bulletin is reporting on the unusual nuptials of second-grade teacher Beth Anne Ross and William Dempsey III who were united in marriage on April 1 at the morning Mass with the entire school in attendance.
Months ago, the school’s principal Patty Childs, made an off-hand suggestion that the couple marry at a school Mass. To her surprise, Ross thought it was a great idea.
“Most of the bride’s students have been preparing to receive first Communion and first reconciliation this spring, and she didn’t want to be left out of the special sacramental year,” the Bulletin reports. “The school practice is for ‘Spiritual Life’ mothers to come and teach the children about the sacraments.”
The sacrament of matrimony became a focus for the children in the weeks preceeding the wedding and Childs made sure the children were very much a part of the blessed event. In addition to focusing on the sacrament in school, the children were also involved in a surprise shower for the bride-to-be.
On the day of the wedding, each child in Ross’ second grade class was given a white carnation to pin to their uniforms. They also enjoyed front-row seats where they could observe the ritual in all of its glory.
Ross, wearing a beautiful tea-length wedding gown, walked down the aisle on the arm of her father, Lawrence Ross, to the strains of “Morning Has Broken”.
During the homily, Msgr. Joe Corbett, pastor, took advantage of a great teaching opportunity.
“Class, today we’re going to talk about marriage,” he told the congregation. “We are delighted to be able to share in their happiness today.”
Turning to the couple, he said: “The day you met for the first time marked a new beginning in your life” but the wedding is a “new life in Christ.”
“Your wedding lasts only for the next two hours, but your marriage is for the rest of your life,” he said.
“For better or worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, all the days of your life,” are not just words, he said. “It’s a solemn vow in the presence of God and these people.”
He then asked the congregation to do something special for the couple while their hands were being joined in marriage.
“During their ceremony they would like for you to say a little prayer, asking God to bless them this day and all the days of their married life.”
The bride and groom ordered 708 cupcakes to share with the children after the Mass. Teachers spend two months embossing 1,200 napkins for the “cupcake party” and each child received a keepsake program.
Second-graders were also treated to an official wedding photo with the bride and groom.
Their honeymoon took place over spring break, and the new Mrs. Dempsey was back in the classroom April 11.
In this age of rampant cohabitation and divorce, the students in this school received a first-hand lesson on the beauty of this sacrament and how happy and fulfilling it can be when entered in accord with the will of God!
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