The 10 couples who chose to participate in the sacrament of matrimony at St. Bede the Venerable Parish Oct. 6 are a living witness to the power of love, Father Esequiel Sanchez told them and their families.

“I believe in you,” said Sanchez, the pastor at St. Bede. “I believe you will teach the world what love truly looks like. You will bring God’s love to a world that no longer believes in love. Every time we see you, we see how God loves us.”

The Wedding of Cana program aims to help couples understand the power of love — the love God has for them, and that they have for each other.

The couples, who had either been married in a civil ceremony or have been living together for years, participated in marriage preparation sessions and a weekend retreat to learn about the importance of sacramental marriage before going through the wedding ceremony at an afternoon Mass that started with a procession through the neighborhood and ended with them receiving symbolic gifts, including Bibles, rosaries and crucifixes.

Throughout the Mass, Sanchez reminded them that marriage is a lifelong commitment to offer sacrificial love. The crucifixes, he told them, should be hung above the marriage bed “because that’s what love looks like.”

Before the ceremony, the couples gathered in the church basement to line up for the procession and to greet one another.

Angela and Rodolfo Garcia said they wanted to set a good example for their young daughters, ages 5 and 1, and to get closer to God.

“I’m really happy we did it,” said Angela Garcia, who has been civilly married to Rodolfo for 11 years. “It’s just an experience that’s beyond words.”

Part of that, she said, was getting to know the other couples who were part of the ceremony. “It’s like a family,” she said.

Helen and David Curtis were married in a civil ceremony 12 years ago. They decided to go through with the sacrament of matrimony in order to have a deeper connection with the Catholic Church — Catholics who live together without a sacramental marriage should not take Communion — and to set an example for their two daughters, ages 17 and 20, who were raised Catholic and received all of their sacraments of initiation.

“We were missing something,” David Curtis said. “We were missing God in our lives.”

They didn’t get married in the church years ago because they didn’t think they could afford a church wedding with all the trimmings, Helen Curtis said.

“It was like, you have to have $30,000 to have a wedding,” she said.

After going to the classes, David Curtis said, the couple learned that it was about far more than “what you see on television.”

“It’s a really great thing that they are doing here,” Helen Curtis said.

While none of the couples had to break the bank for the wedding, most of the women appeared in white bridal gowns, carrying flowers, with the men in suits or tuxedos. The church was decorated with flowers, and the music was provided by the parish. Several couples said they had small receptions or family dinners planned for after the ceremony.

Sanchez said that it is right to celebrate.

“We are filled with great joy because we have 10 new families who are in full communion with the church,” he said.

If experience serves as a guide, he said, those 10 families will be active parishioners and faithful participants at Masses from now on.

Many of them have felt the lack of connection with the church, whether by not taking Communion at Mass or by being ineligible to serve as a godparent or confirmation sponsor. Bringing them back to full communion is a joy for the church as well as for the couples, who might have a greater understanding of what they are doing than other couples, who never had the experience of disconnection.

“They made the decision and they know what that decision is,” Sanchez said.

It’s not a decision that is for everybody. Eighteen couples started the program several months ago; eight decided not to pursue it to completion. Some, Sanchez said, were dealing with problems in their marriages already. Others simply did not feel ready to make a permanent commitment to their spouses.

The important thing is not to judge the couples — whether they go through with the sacrament of matrimony or not.

“There is no judgment, no stigma,” Sanchez said. “Quite the opposite. There is a lot of support and a lot of prayer for them. Our focus is not so much to marry people as to educate them about what marriage is. … It’s lifechanging for them.”