When Habtegebriel and Nezret escaped from Eritrea and made it to Malta four years ago, little did they expect to have a special marriage celebration.
The young couple in their 20s reconfirmed their vows yesterday at the Capuchin church in Floriana in a celebration presided over by Archbishop Paul Cremona.
“I am proud, happy and lucky,” Habtegebriel said after the Mass ended as friends accompanied him and his wife out of the church with traditional song and dance.
Dressed in white with a yellow and purple sash around her neck, Nezret sang with her friends as she stood in the doorway while women in the congregation ululated. It was a celebration that capped a year of catechism lessons the couple had to take in preparation for the day.
Fr Alfred Vella, director at the Emigrants’ Commission, said that the couple had already been married when they arrived in Malta in 2009.
However, he explained that it was “a natural marriage” that was conditioned by the circumstances they found themselves in after escaping their homeland.
“Today’s marriage celebration was a reconfirmation of the vows they had exchanged. It formalised their bond in front of the Church,” Fr Vella said. The couple was one of many others helped by the Emigrants’ Commission, he added.
Speaking in English with the help of their catechist Jessie Sammut, the couple vowed to stand by each other in sickness and in health, in good and bad times and remain faithful for the rest of their lives.
There was a moment of hesitation when Mgr Cremona asked for the rings as Habtegebriel with a worried look on his face signalled there were none. “Don’t worry,” the priest who assisted the Archbishop told him in a reassuring tone.
In a short homily Mgr Cremona said the sacrament of marriage was a commitment the couple made in front of God that they would love each other for the rest of their lives.
He reminded the couple that Jesus’s first miracle was at the Canaan wedding, where he had been invited. “Today you are inviting Christ to be part of your life. May God help you all the days of your life,” he told them.
At one point a boy walked up to the Archbishop as he delivered the homily and handed him a black book, which looked like a Bible. It brought a smile to people’s faces, including Mgr Cremona.
The celebration was accompanied by a fusion of traditional Eritrean singing and electronic music.
Fr Vella said the couple formed part of the refugee Catholic community that regularly met at the Cappuchin church under the spiritual direction of Fr Crispin Tabone.
The Archbishop’s engagement came 24 hours after inaugurating the Cana Movement’s pastoral year during which he stressed the importance of putting marriage at the centre of the Church’s work, especially because it was the only institution that prepared couples for marriage.
Mgr Cremona urged catechists to focus on the beauty of marriage based on unconditional love during marriage preparation courses.
“When the couple keep God at the centre of their marriage they will overcome every challenge because love helps overcome every difficulty,” he said.
ksansone@timesofmalta.com