2,075 Couples Blessing: Celebrating 39 Years

FFWPU-USA

Happy 39th anniversary to all 2,075 couples who received the Holy Marriage Blessing at Madison Square Garden on July 1, 1982! 

An audience of more than 7,000 people filled the arena of the record-setting ceremony officiated by the late Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon and Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, co-founders of Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU). Today, Madison Square Garden still prominently displays a plaque in the venue commemorating this momentous event.

“Each spouse is a great key to ever expanding and deepening our understanding of the infinite God,” said Rev. Moon. “Heaven is a world of heart, where all may trust and unite with one another in love.”

The 2,075 couples eclipsed the previous record of 1,800 couples wed by Rev. and Dr. Moon in 1975, which the Guinness World Records reference book recorded as the largest wedding ceremony in history. The Marriage Blessing of 705 couples in May 1979, 843 couples in December 1980, and 653 couples in June 1982 led up to the ceremony. 

What’s more, the July 1982 ceremony transformed the demographics of the Unification movement in the U.S. from primarily single people to mostly married couples. More than 60 percent of the couples were also either interracial or cross-cultural representing 70 nations.

“You must all accept your responsibility to work as world citizens,” said Rev. Moon, “so that the legacy you leave your children and grandchildren will be the harmonized world of God’s love. God bless you in all that you undertake, and may He give you the vision and strength you need to realize His kingdom on earth.”

Congratulations to all the couples celebrating nearly 40 years together!

You can learn more about the global Marriage Blessing movement here.