Married couples from throughout the Diocese of Peoria are invited to celebrate marriage at a Mass with Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, CSC, followed by a candle-lit night of wine and romance together on St. Valentine’s Day, Saturday, Feb. 14.

Bishop Jenky will celebrate the annual Diocesan Marriage Mass — and lead couples present in a renewal of vows — at 4 p.m. at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Peoria. Following the Mass is a Valentine Date Night featuring a candlelight dinner at the Kickapoo Creek Winery, 6605 N. Smith Road, Edwards. Couples may arrive for the dinner between 5:30 and 6 p.m.

“Married couples can take this opportunity not only to pray, but also to play,” said Tim Roder, director of the Office of Marriage and Family. His office is a part of the diocesan Office of Family Life, which sponsors the Marriage Mass and Valentine Date Night.

The annual event is always scheduled on a date close to World Marriage Day on Feb. 8, but if possible it is also planned to be on or near St. Valentine’s Day.

“That day is recognized even in the secular realm as a day to celebrate love,” Roder observed. “People celebrate this day whether they do it religiously or not.”

The diocese wants to offer married couples “a positive way of celebrating the day” and “to celebrate your love for each other,” he said.

Continuing, Roder explained that while the secular observance tends to detach romantic love from the divine institution of marriage, he hopes married couples will “take the opportunity to come to the Mass and renew the promises and their commitment they made to each other when they were married.”

Attendees will have a chance to do some wine tasting. There also will be prize drawings throughout the evening.

Couples may go either to the Mass or the date night, or to both. While the public is invited to the afternoon Mass, reservations are required for the evening dinner event, which is for married couples only.

The cost is $55 per couple. Checks should be made payable to the Catholic Diocese of Peoria and sent to the Office of Family Life, 419 N.E. Madison Ave., Peoria, IL 61603. The deadline for reservations is Monday, Feb. 9.