Deirdre O’Rawe, Regional Director of Accord NI CREDIT: LiamMcArdle.com
To celebrate Saint Valentine’s Day you, or a representative, are invited to a photocall of engaged couples arranged by the Catholic marriage care service, Accord NI. Details:
When 1.30pm on Friday 14 February 2025
Where Saint Mary’s Grotto, Chapel Lane, Belfast
Who Engaged couples; Bishop Michael Router, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Armagh; Deirdre O’Rawe Regional Director of Accord NI
Photos from the photocall, for publication by media, can be sourced on www.liammcardle.com Please credit photographer Liam McArdle
Background
Ahead of the blessing of engaged couples tomorrow, Deirdre O’Rawe said, “It is encouraging to note that over the last two years Accord NI has helped prepare just under 3,500 couples who have chosen sacramental marriage. In addition, this year Accord NI has twenty counsellors and marriage education facilitators in training. Clearly sacramental marriage continues to be deeply valued, and this is good news for couples, families and for society in general.”
Tomorrow, engaged couples, who have recently completed the Accord Marriage Preparation Programme, will gather at Saint Mary’s Grotto, Belfast, tomorrow for the annual Saint Valentine’s Blessing by Bishop Michael Router. The couples receiving the blessing have taken time out from busy wedding preparations to focus on the vows they will exchange when they give their consent and agree to marry. Amongst the couples will be Mario Burns and Clara Hamiliton Orr, who are getting married on 29 March in the Parish of Ballymoney and Derrykeighan. Mario said, “We attended Accord’s marriage preparation course earlier this month and immediately realised it was a vital step in preparing for marriage rooted in our faith. It had a profound effect on us so much so that after completing the programme, Clara had begun looking into becoming an Accord Marriage Preparation Facilitator and helping other couples along the path to Catholic marriage.”
Also in attendance will be Accord Facilitator Ed Doherty, and his wife Catherine, who recently received an Apostolic Blessing from Pope Francis on the occasion of their 50th wedding anniversary. Ed who has been supporting couples preparing for marriage for twenty years said, “It has been an amazing privilege to work with the Accord Marriage Preparation team and with couples preparing for the Sacrament of Marriage. It has benefited our own married life as we reflect with gratitude, on so many precious years together”.
Accord’s Marriage Preparation Programme offers couples an opportunity to consider the key ingredients that can make for a healthy and lasting marriage: good communication, commitment, the ability to manage conflict, and living the vocation of marriage. Couples are also invited to reflect on their family of origin, a very significant area in the preparation for marriage. Much in the new programme is drawn from the Accord counselling service which provides professional counselling for couples experiencing difficulties in their marriage and relationship and dealing with the disappointments of all that had been hoped for when starting out on a committed relationship.
For further information please contact Accord NI at www.accordni.com or call 02890233002.
ENDS
