Thursday, August 26, 2010

La Boda

After being partners for over 30 years and raising a family, this Bolivian couple decided finally they wanted to get married in the Catholic Church – a beautiful wedding, unlike any I had ever witnessed. 

Thursday night Mass had just finished and I was making my way back to my room in the parroquía, when I saw a cute baby covered in white lace.  I figured they were getting ready for a baptism, but after I congratulated them they told me the lace and flowers were for the grandmother who was getting married.  At the side of the church the grandmother started dressing herself in a new yellow Quechuian skirt and bright white lacy top (Quechuian language and dress is just one of many indigenous cultures that still exist here in Bolivia.)  I asked if she wanted to use my room to change, but she insisted she was fine.  Her daughter and family friends helped her get dressed as her bashful beaming soon-to-be husband watched from a distance, so sweet!

After inquired if they needed any help and they discovered I had a camera, I soon found myself the photographer for the wedding!  This gave me the privilege of watching their simple ceremony with their few family and friends.  Unable to read, Padre Nestor read them the vows, in which the couple happily repeated as they laughed and smiled at each other.  They received Eucharist and took their first kiss as man and wife – in which their whole family cheered! J

When it came time to sign the marriage contract, the husband for the first time looked a bit confused. Padre soon realized he was unable to write his name, so he patiently explained how to make a mark on the certificate, while his wife wrote a legible “x”.  

The couple smiled at each other, laughed, kissed, held hands as they left the altar and headed out the church – followed by more cheers and plenty of confetti from their imitate family and few close friends.  Despite some difficulties, rarely have I seen such excitement and love between two newlyweds!

"Marriage is an act of will that signifies and involves a mutual gift, which unites the spouses and binds them to their eventual souls, with whom they make up a sole family - a domestic church." - Pope John Paul II