Marriage Encounter Sunday Closing Prayer Service

1 Begin with music: THE ROSE

Couple: ______

Scripture: I Corinthians 13:4-8, 13

Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, it does not put on airs, it is not snobbish. Love is never rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not prone to anger; neither does it brood over injury. Love does not rejoice in what is wrong, but rejoices in the truth. There is no limit to love’s forbearance, to its trust, its hope, its power to endure.

There are in the end three thing that last: faith, hope and love, and the greatest of these is love.

Couple: ______

[In order to avoid copyright violation, only a link to the words of the next two poems , rather than the words themselves, is included here.]

LOVE by Roy Croft (also called 'On Friendship'; also called 'To my Friend') http://www.weddingguideuk.com/articles/wordsmusic/poems/lovepoems1a.asp#love (About 2/3 of the way down the drop down menu).

Couple: ______

What is Love? by Susan Polis Schutz Love is the strongest feeling known ... http://www.cyber-loving.com/susan4.shtml

Couple: ______

Music: FROM THIS MOMENT ON

Couple: ______

2 Entering The Vow In a few moments you will given the opportunity to renew your wedding vows, but first let’s consider… What is a vow, but an intention spoken out before the world so that the world, in hearing, might take part in aspirations of the willing heart? As we renew our vows to each other, Let us remember the joy of our wedding day, And the truth of the words we spoke, And the promises we still treasure And the love we felt As we said “I do.”

Couple: ______

Renewal of Vows Now please stand and hold hands for the renewal of your Vows --- please repeat after ______and ______, using your name and your spouses where necessary. Gentlemen I ______, take you ______to be my lawful wedded wife, To have and to hold from this day forward. For better, For worse. For richer, For poorer. In sickness and in health To love and to cherish Till death do us part. Ladies I ______, take you ______to be my lawful wedded husband, To have and to hold from this day forward. For better, for worse. For richer, for poorer. In sickness and in health To love and to cherish Till death do us part.

3 Couple: ______

This Day I Married My Best Friend

This day I married my best friend

...the one I laugh with as we share life's wondrous zest, as we find new enjoyments and experience all that's best.

...the one I live for because the world seems brighter as our happy times are better and our burdens feel much lighter.

...the one I love with every fiber of my soul. We used to feel vaguely incomplete, now together we are whole.

Couple: ______

Blessings For A Marriage by James Dillet Freeman [Permission implied: www.prayer-and-prayers.info/wedding-marriage- anniversary- prayers/blessing-for-a-marriage.htm ]

May your marriage bring you all the exquisite excitements a marriage should bring, and may life grant you also patience, tolerance, and understanding.

May you always need one another; not so much to fill your emptiness as to help you to know your fullness. A mountain needs a valley to be complete; the valley does not make the mountain less, but more; and the valley is more a valley because it has a mountain towering over it. So let it be with you.

May you need one another, but not out of weakness. May you want one another, but not out of lack. May you entice one another, but not compel one another. May you embrace one another, but not restrain one another. May you succeed in all important ways with one another, and not fail in the little graces. May you look for things to praise, often say, "I love you!" and take no notice of small faults.

If you have quarrels that push you apart, may both of you hope to have good sense enough to take the first step back.

May you have happiness, and may you find it making one another happy. May you have love, and may you find it loving one another.

Couple: ______

4 CLOSING PRAYERS: Use optional parts if needed to extend time. Otherwise, skip to the Sign of Peace.

[OPTIONAL] Once we begin seeing love in a full, complete picture, we will begin to find extraordinary examples of that love, from ordinary people.

( INSERT PERSONAL EXAMPLES HERE FROM THE WEEKEND--- IF AVAILABLE.)

We shared these experiences with you, not to enlighten you with the facts of our lives, but to show you that we, like you, are faced with the challenges and struggles that are part of life in this world. It is not the amount of adversity that one faces that proves character, but how one deals with that adversity. As married couples, strengthened by the bond of the sacrament of marriage, you can face those challenges together, and feel secure that, regardless of the outcome, you have each other so see you through to the end.

Couple: ______

[OPTIONAL] Shared prayer:

At this time, we invite you to join us in prayer to our God. This is a time to ask God for those things that are important to us, or to thank God for his blessings, for our families or for those things that are special in our lives.

Sign of peace:

We encourage you to share the peace you have found this weekend with each other with a sign of God’s peace.

Our Father:

We invite you to join us in the prayer taught to us by Our Lord. Our Father…

Couple: ______

At this time, we would like to leave you with one final blessing before we sing our closing song and depart.

5 Apache Benediction

Now you will feel no rain, for each of you will be shelter to the other, Now you will feel no cold, for each of you will be warmth to the other. Now you will feel no loneliness, for each of you will be companion to the other.

Now you are two bodies, but there is only one life before you. Go now to your dwelling place, to enter into the days of your life together. and may your days be good, and long upon the earth. - Author Unknown

Queue Ending music NEW WORLD SOMEWHERE