By Agnes Lira-Jundos

The La Castellana community of Hacienda Asuncion-Taburda, located in the town’s Barangay Robles, recently celebrated a mass wedding where 17 couples tied the knot, coinciding with the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

The Kasanag Study Center, a local center for women and young girls, collaborated with the couples for the special day. While a group of catechists, headed by Susing Gelecania, convinced each couple to have a church service. They also facilitated the acquisition of local government licenses and personal documents, conducted pre-marriage counseling and Pre-Cana sessions, among other traditions and customs.

Marriage rites were celebrated by Msgr. Ariel Gregorio, parish priest for the municipality’s Shrine of St. Vincent Ferrer.

“In your wife or husband, you shall find a friend, sister or brother, mother or father, lover, than a husband or a wife,” he said during the service.

Soriano-Vargas, the sugar farm where some of the couples are employed, shouldered the costs for suit and gown rentals, custom-made wedding rings, flowers, giveaways, and food for the reception; the Hacienda Asuncion-Taburda Multipurpose Cooperative paid for wedding sponsor fees and donated homegrown coconuts for the “salu-salo;” and Manang Linda, a local dressmaker, sewed the veil and cord for the couples.

The Shrine of St. Vincent Ferrer Commission on Family and Life will be conducting regular bi-weekly activities called “Panimbahon” for the newlyweds, comprised of afternoon readings of Sunday scripture, prayer, and worship./WDJ