For your Valentine: Marriage
Mass, Date Night set Feb. 19

OK, married folks, admit it. Valentine’s Day is coming and you’ve yet to give much thought about what to give or do for your spouse.

The Diocese of Peoria has two timely suggestions, both of which take place on Saturday, Feb. 19.

Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, CSC, invites all married couples to join him for a Diocesan Marriage Mass scheduled for 4 p.m. at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Peoria. The liturgy will include Bishop Jenky leading the couples in a renewal of marriage vows.

But the evening doesn’t have to end there.

A “Valentine Date Night,” featuring a candlelight dinner and the one-man comedy play “Bidding You a Fond ‘I Do,'” will follow the Mass at the nearby Spalding Pastoral Center.

Attending the Mass is not necessary to attend the date night.

The play features comedian Rex Havens, author of “Everything I Needed to Know I Learned from My Wife.” It is a “pro-marriage” routine performed with “affection and respect for the different worlds men and women inhabit,” according to the diocesan Office of Family Life, which is sponsoring the evening.

Both events “celebrate marriage and will encourage people in the vocation of this great sacrament,” said Tim Roder, director of the Office of Marriage and Family.

The Valentine Date Night, which begins at 5:15 p.m., features a dinner catered by Kickapoo Creek Winery and will conclude with prize drawings.
Cost is $75 per couple and seating is limited. Reservations should be made by Feb. 11 by sending a check payable to “Catholic Diocese of Peoria” to the Office of Family Life, 419 N.E. Madison Ave., Peoria, IL, 61603. For more information, call (309) 671-1550.