Celebrating 54 Years: 13 Couples Blessing Anniversary

Congratulations to the 13 American couples celebrating their 54th blessing anniversary on February 28! True Parents officiated the 13 Couples Holy Marriage Blessing in 1969 at the historic Upshur House in Washington, DC. This was the first blessing ceremony held outside of Korea at the time, and the first of three ceremonies that together came to be known as the 43 Couples Blessing. 

True Parents celebrated the 13 Couples Blessing on the 20th day of their visit to the U.S. as part of their 1969 World Tour. The blessed couples, who True Father said represented the nation’s 13 founding colonies, included: Edwin and Marie Ang, Philip and Vivian Burley, George and Diane Fernsler, George and Sylvia Norton, Robert and Vivian Oswald, Vernon and Maxine Pearson, Carl and Linna Rapkins, Ken and Orah Pope, Galen and Patty Pumphrey, Wesley and Gladys Samuels, John and Marie Schmidli, Jon and Sandra Schuhart, and Fred and Jacque Stock.  

True Parents later held a blessing ceremony of eight couples in Essen, Germany, on March 28, 1969, and a ceremony of 22 couples in Tokyo on May 1, 1969, which became part of the 43 Couple Blessing conducted on the foundation of the 430 Couple Holy Blessing held the previous year in Korea.