The Unification Faith Marriage Blessing Tradition


Our Heavenly Parent’s original design is that children grow in the love of their parents, develop their identity, value and character, and learn to love in the context of family relationships. This is the foundation for healthy and lasting marriages. Finding an eternal partner should also be guided by the love and wisdom of supportive parents. True Parents established the tradition of the Marriage Blessing in 1960, and took this original parental role to guide the partner selection process for members of the Unification faith. Through the matching and Marriage Blessing, they sought to establish a new tradition of God-centered, rather than self-centered love.

True Parents have counseled and matched literally tens of thousands of couples in the years following their own Blessed marriage. In this new era to establish the tradition of God's Kingdom on earth, they have passed on the responsibility of guiding the matching for the children of Blessed families to their own parents. For those who join the Unification Movement as adults, church elders and pastors have inherited the role of suggesting matches and supporting couples.



Guidance from Reverend Moon

The Meaning of the Blessing

The international Blessing developed by the Unification Church is not a wedding which is limited only to Unification Church members. This is the official course that all human beings must pass through. We should clearly understand this fact. Then what is the ultimate reason we need to do it? It is because our human ancestors fell. If our first ancestors had not fallen, it would not be necessary for us to receive the Blessing. But we have to reverse the fallen process. We have no other way to return to God’s realm of authority than through a course that restores the fall. That is why human beings until now have pursued religion, for this is the direction and purpose of human history.

What is the ultimate goal? It is to realize a true family. This is the highest purpose that fallen human beings have been seeking.  In order to establish a true family, a true person should come first. A true man comes first, so that he can find a true woman and establish a holy wedding centered upon on God, leading to a true family in the end. We can never establish God’s original ideal of a kingdom without beginning with a true family through marriage. The reason that the Unification Church emphasizes the Blessing for all men and women is to make the ideal of God’s kingdom a reality. It is not only single people, but married couples as well who should join the Blessing, making the proper conditions. Everyone should ultimately receive the Blessing to return to the original world of God’s ideal of creation. The original Principle is that the ideal world should be established through the Blessing of true men and women. However, in the history of love throughout the world, it has never been realized due to the fall.

The Blessing Ceremony of the Unification Church is not simply a wedding through which a man and a woman come together and form a family. Until now, all weddings were solely for the sake of the people getting married. But our wedding ceremony is significant and necessary to set a condition to indemnify the past and return joy to God. Therefore, we conduct our ceremonies in a sacred and splendid manner. Divine Principle clearly explains to us that our wedding ceremony alleviates God’s bitter grief that was caused by the Fall of Adam and Eve. It goes beyond the standard of husband and wife, which Jesus was unable to attain.

Why do we get married? Marriage allows us to go to the Kingdom of Heav­en. Without marrying, we cannot go to the Kingdom of Heaven. So we have to get married in order to be qualified to go to the heavenly kingdom. What is the qualification to go to the heavenly king­dom? It is to resemble God.

What do we have to do to resemble God? We have to be people who practice God’s word. We will pass if we can make God’s love my love, and make God’s word my word. This is why I am saying to the world on behalf of God, “Humankind, you have to go to the Kingdom of Heav­en!” Next, we will pass if we can say, “In order to go to the heavenly kingdom, I will love humankind like God and take them there with me.”

We can conclude that we are people on the heavenly side and candidates to go to the Kingdom of Heaven. On the day we become like this, we will have the qualification to get married. Now, why do we get married? The answer is in order to go to the Kingdom of Heaven and for the sake of humankind.

A man should know that the woman standing in front of him is God’s daugh­ter and humankind’s daughter. If you can love her as a woman who is loved by humankind and love her as God’s beloved daughter, you are qualified to be her husband. But otherwise you are not.

Women are the opposite. Do not think, “He is my man.” Before saying that he is your man, think of him as God’s son and a man representing the masculinity of humankind. You will pass if you are a woman who can love him more than humankind does and more than God does.

When you marry, you should think that as a man you will be the right foot and as a woman you will be the left foot, taking steps through the family to live for the sake of humankind and God. (88 316, 1976. 10.3)

When God’s beloved woman lives in a man’s heart and God’s beloved man lives in a woman’s heart as well, these two become his object partners, and when they love each other, God will be delighted to see this love and all things will rejoice. Heaven and earth will rejoice to see a man and woman with these val­ues embrace. When man and woman embrace each other in mutual fondness, this mutual fondness becomes the point where the universe unifies. This is how the original image unfolds in God’s ide­al. (Blessed Family - 334)

The Value of the Blessing

“In the entire life of True Father, do you know what the most valuable thing I can imagine is? It is the Blessing. For all of you, the ultimate gift in human history is the Blessing. The value of the Blessing cannot be exchanged even for the world. The Blessing is one man and one woman, centering on God’s will, becoming true father and true mother, producing true love.”

 “The perfection of a man and woman’s love is the perfection of the universe. The day this love was broken, the universal order was destroyed and the vertical world was broken. Therefore, you must know how important marriage is from the providential viewpoint. Through true love, man and woman gradually get closer to the center of the eternal world. Man and woman centering on God will unite into one in the center. Man and woman centering on God, giving and receiving love, will become one and will give birth to sons and daughters. Sons and daughters who are born as the fruit of love, through give and take action centering on parents who are one with God, will produce the four position foundation.”

Who is supposed to carry out the conversion of the lineage? It cannot be performed by just anyone. You must know that in order to become the one who can perform it, I walked the tearful path of the cross. Because I set such a standard, you are able to become a part of the tradition of the Blessing without having to do anything for it. It took thousands of years of hard work on God’s part and my substantial life course, which was filled with hardships and suffering, to establish the victorious realm of the conversion of lineage. You are now standing on the foundation thus laid down. To receive the Blessing is to completely cut off the evil lineage and to engraft a new lineage. By engrafting, the lineage is completely changed.

God wants everyone reborn. From His position, He is trying to bring all of humanity, which is still in the realm of Satan’s false love, to His side through His greater love. Since all humankind was born through the parents, ancestors and lineage of false love, they need to be reborn through the parents, ancestors and lineage of true love. In this way, they can become the children of God and the people of God’s Kingdom.

For human beings love is eternal. It is one and never divided. Once a man and a woman are joined in love they are to live together for a lifetime and then eternally even after death. They are two bodies that become one body by uniting and revolving together. When the two bodies become one, they revolve as God does and form a four-position founda­tion of love, the expression of the ideal world of love. Only true love dwells there and false love cannot invade. When man and woman become blessed by God and achieve perfection, God comes to them freely. When they form a four-posi­tion foundation of love, they will come to love each other’s mind through each other’s body, and when they come to love the mind their body will follow. (Blessed Family - 344)

 “A man should know that the woman standing in front of him is God’s daugh­ter and humankind’s daughter. If you can love her as a woman who is loved by humankind and love her as God’s beloved daughter, you are qualified to be her husband. But otherwise you are not.”

“It is the same for women. Do not think, “He is my man.” Before saying that he is your man, think of him as God’s son and a man representing the masculinity of humankind. You will pass if you are a woman who can love him more than humankind does and more than God does.”

“You should have a creed that you get married not for your own sake but for the sake of your partner. It is wrong to expect to receive a talented person or a pretty person for your spouse. Once human beings understand the princi­ple of living for the sake of others, they should embrace the idea that they will also get married for the sake of their partners. By our marriage standards, a husband should have the conviction that no matter how dull his partner may be, he will love her more than a beauty.”

“Unless you decide that you will love your partner like God, like humankind, and more than anyone else in the world, you cannot be restored to the heavenly kingdom. If you, as a man, do not know how to love a woman, you cannot love God and humankind.”

You get married for the sake of humankind. It is for the sake of the com­mon benefit of humankind. It is some­thing that represents the world. The man is a man representing the world and the woman is a woman representing the world. (75-278, 1975.1.12)

 “In the mineral, plant and animal kingdoms masculinity and fem­ininity – that is, the sexual organs – are reserved for the sake of one’s partner of love. Adam and Eve did not know this. Then why do the sexual organs exist? For love. Thus male and female exist in order to find love.”

“If all men and women admit that their sexual organ belongs to their spouse, we all would bow our heads and become humble when we receive our spouse’s love. Love comes to you only through your partner. There is no love other than love for the sake of others. We must remember that we can find abso­lute love wherever we absolutely live for the sake of others.”

“When a man and a woman become husband and wife, the important thing is how to achieve unchanging unity between them. When they sing of eter­nal happiness in such unchanging unity, this is eternal happiness. The standard of an ideal heart of love can only be established with an unchanging subject.”

“You should not defile your purity dur­ing your adolescence, the precious time when you can overcome and indemnify the bitter failure of Adam and Eve who lost their purity during their youth. In preserving that purity, which is pristine and of great value, you should have the mind and determination that even if you had to live alone for a thousand or ten thousand years, your love would never be misused.”

God exists with dual characteristics. Therefore, when the time comes for matured Adam and Eve to form the connection of love with each other, God’s masculinity can reside in Adam and His femininity can reside in Eve. By residing in our minds and bodies, God Himself can also be a part of the marriage. Adam’s mind is like the holy of holies, his body is like the most holy place, and God is residing in him, both in mind and body. If this had come to pass, Adam and Eve would both have become the body of God. Adam would resemble the male characteristics of God, and Eve the female characteristics. When they come together in holy matrimony, that wedding ceremony would be where the kingship of the universe is established. What is that kingship? It is the kingship of love.

Can you imagine how happy God will be on this day? On the day every evil disappears and we usher in a new era with the bright rays of the rising sun, nature will rejoice, everything in the universe will dance with joy, and we will finally celebrate the dawn of victory.

True Father’s Words on Matching

“The ideal partner (ideal mate) in Father’s mind is completely different from the ideal partner we imagine. The ideal partner that True Father thinks of is a match of completely opposite types, such as spring and fall types, summer and winter types, etc. True Father says, “When a North-pole type person is matched with a South-pole type person, then out of such a couple a child will be born who has a huge capacity to embrace the entire globe."

“In order for a spring-like woman to pass through summer and winter, she has to meet an autumnal man. A woman who corresponds to spring has to pass through summer in order to meet an autumnal man, and the autumnal man has to pass through winter in order to meet the spring-like woman. Therefore both ultimately pass through all four seasons.

 

 “More than anything, one’s love partner should establish an ideal harmony and balance. You should think that the person who appears as your beloved spouse is a son or daughter of God, whom He truly loves, and that therefore He may come disguised as the ugliest person. If you love your husband or wife with those eyes, it has the same significance as loving God’s son and daughter."

Candidate’s Attitude and Heart in the Matching Process

“The term “ideal spouse” is very good, is it not? Until now, you have thought that an ideal spouse is like this or like that. No matter how good your partner is, you will not find his or her value unless you have within you the quality to do so. Do you understand what I am saying? Where is your capacity to discover whether or not your spouse is excellent? Without you yourself being the best, you cannot find the very essence of your spouse’s excellence."

“It is through the merit of investing myself that my partner is moved and comes to appear as an object with value. God created heaven and earth not just to see them as they are. He created in order to love, with heart as the basis. In the same way the only thing that matters in re-creation is acting with the heart as the guide. Even though Adam and Eve are small, in the world they are not seen as small but big."

"Until now, wives have put themselves at the center, and husbands have put themselves at the center, with both want­ing to be served. This has been destroying relationships. Since the basis of love does not come from me, but from my spouse, if I am to possess that love, I must sac­rifice myself for that love. Love requires patience and absolutely demands sacrifice."

 “Men naturally pursue women, but for what purpose – to receive love or to give love? That is the most important question. It is a serious problem that American people have not understood how universal law works. You should never think, “I’m so glad I’m getting married because now my life will be easier. I will have someone to… serve me.” But all of a sudden, that is not what happens and you start to complain, “Hey, what’s happening here?” Your first concept was wrong; you are not supposed to get married in order to make your life easier. You should think that your life will get tougher, but you should be willing to do it in order to give love."

“Love cannot be realized by oneself. Where does love come from? Love does not come from me but from my spouse. Since love comes from my spouse, I must bow my head and serve her. This is where the heavenly principle of living for the sake of others originates. When some­thing highly noble comes to me, I must honor and serve it in order to receive it. We must live the philosophy of living for the sake of others."

“Why do you marry? It is to inherit the foundation of thousands of years and of ten thousand generations of chosen people; it is for the future generations.  If you marry for the sake of yourselves, you will destroy everything.  That kind of decadent trend is sweeping over the world, and all of it has to be cut off. 

 

"Let’s say there is a good looking person among the blessing candidates. He or she might look splendid on the outside. But what is important is whether or not that person has the value to exist in the future in front of the will of God. That is the primary question for the partner whom that person meets."

“Therefore, our marriages are for the sake of our descendants. Thus, even though candidates might appear unsuitable in some way, the problem is how to match people so that their children inherit only their parent’s good points.”

 

Guidance from True Mother

“The first responsibility is for one to become the master of True Love, truly free and thanking God for the freedom of love and knowing how to cultivate and control oneself. This responsibility for a love relationship should not be taken merely because of law or social convention. Instead, a person should establish responsibility through his own self-control and self-determination within the life-committing vertical relationship with God. 

 “Second is one's responsibility toward the object of love. By nature, people do not want their spouse's love to be shared with others. Horizontal conjugal love, which differs from the vertical love between parents and children, loses its potential for perfection the moment it is divided. This is because the Principle of Creation requires husband and wife to become one in absolute love. Each spouse has the responsibility given by love to live absolutely for the sake of the other.

“The third responsibility of love is toward children. The love of parents is the basis for children's pride and happiness. They would wish to be born through the total and harmonious unity of their parents in True Love, and they would wish to be raised in that kind of love. The most precious responsibility of parents is not only to rear their children externally, but also to offer them life elements of True Love that can perfect their spirituality. This is why the family is so valuable. The daily experience of the heart of true children, true brothers and sisters, true spouses, and true parents cannot be acquired in any place other than the true family.”

“True Parents and True Family”
September 21, 1996

“Where does true love start? It starts from true parents. This is the Gospel of Gospels. No matter how many good words exist in this world, and no matter how wonderful the term "husband and wife" is, there is nothing better than the words "true parents." After all, if true parents do not emerge in the fallen world, true husband and wife cannot come about.

“When we bear the fruit of true love and enter the eternal spirit world as a loving couple, we will be embraced by God's eternal love. We then truly become one with God.

“Even though the physical body grows old, as long as we live as husband and wife centering on true love, our spiritual body will actually become younger! This means that the longer we live, the more handsome or beautiful our spiritual body becomes.

“Why then do we get married? Very simply, we marry in order to resemble God. God exists as a being of dual characteristics. In God, the dual characteristics are completely harmonized as One. When God's dual characteristics manifest in our world, they do so as man and woman.. Accordingly, at the proper time, a man and a woman are like a seed. They unite to become one. Thus, husband and wife return to God. Together, we are a reflection of our Heavenly Parent’s original nature.

“We need marriage because it is the true way to develop our love. In marriage, we ripen as a seed of God. Our entire life should be centered on true love. We should be born in true love; we should grow in true love; we should live centered on true love, and we should return to true love when we die.

“The way of true love is life for the sake of others. This is the purpose of a holy marriage. If we take any other path, we are taking the wrong direction for eternal life.”

 

“Blessed Marriage and Eternal Life”
Mother's Speaking Tour- April 1-16, 1998



Blessing and Ideal Family
by Reverend Sun Myung Moon

THE MEANING AND VALUE OF THE BLESSING

1. THE MEANING OF THE BLESSING

The meaning of the Blessing is that the True Parents and the True Children are fulfilling the purpose of creation.

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God exists as the dual characteristics of plus and minus. When this is divided into the plus which is the man and the minus which is the woman, then when Adam and Eve are reunified, the resultant form is their children. In this way, centering on God, the first, second and third generations are formed. Then among these three generations, the problem happened in the second generation, Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve could not become one centering on God's love. Since God could be their spiritual connection, God is determined and the relationship with God will be connected to their children through the standard of love. That is what we call the Blessing.

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God's hope is that through creating, rearing and Blessing humankind, they multiply through having many children. Jesus' hope also was to receive a bride when he came to the earth. Christianity has been shedding blood for two thousand years, waiting to become the bride. Likewise, God has worked through the way of the providence in order to find one man and one woman to whom to give the Blessing. When God looks at you, you should be a true man and woman; in other words, true sons and daughters. You must know you were to be the sons and daughters of God.

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The Blessing is the opening of Heaven's door. You enter with your children.

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In this world, there are countless numbers of people, but we can divide them into two: men and women. It is our core purpose to seek the way to unite them. Until now, there was not one family origin, but we are searching for it. If an origin is found and spreads seeds, they will become the new trees. This is the Unification Church's Blessing.

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In our Unification Church. we express marriage as the Blessing.

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What is the Unification Church's Blessing? Not like a man and woman meeting each other and just getting married, but centering on God and the True Father, they meet and receive the Blessing. Because man and woman met wrongly and were chased out, man and woman must do well and must work to restore everything. You must know that the Unification Church Blessing is making the foundation for this.

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The perfection of a man and woman's love is the perfection of the universe. The day this love was broken, the universal order was destroyed and the vertical world was broken. Therefore, from the providential viewpoint, you must know how important marriage is. The Blessing centering on God is the place of meeting of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth and Kingdom of Heaven in heaven. Horizontally, it is the place of meeting in the external and temporal world. Through true love, man and woman gradually get closer to the center of the eternal world. Man and woman centering on God will unite into one in the center. Man and woman centering on God, giving and receiving love, will become one and will give birth to sons and daughters. Sons and daughters who are born as the fruit of love, through give and take action centering on parents who are one with God, will produce the four position foundation.

The religions which have been leading the human race do not know about the Blessing. A majority of religions emphasize an ascetic life and are prepared to be the bride. The difference between the Unification Church and the other religions is that the Unification Church has the Blessing in the name of the True Parents. From God's providential point of view, this is a surprising fact. Also, it is surprising that the Blessing candidates include representatives of all humanity on the earth. That is possible with true love. The Blessing is the beginning of the new world.

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What religion is the Unification Church? The word "unification" is used because this church is to start one world from the will of God. Centering on the unchanging love of God, a true man and woman become one horizontally with each other and vertically with God.

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In the Unification Church, we restore fallen man and woman centering on true love by giving the Blessing. God's primary will is that this be accomplished. In the future this will expand, as the work of making one world will remain. Now, through holding several Blessings for people worldwide, the new tradition of love is established as the road of tradition.

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The Unification Church is the place to educate people to enter the heavenly world by bearing the cross of the teenage problem and all the satanic crosses, and putting on white robes. By doing this, we restore them as righteous people and make of them new men and women. The Unification Church mass weddings gather from the world young people who have made the condition to represent thousands of generations as men and women, and make of them a new family.

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The Unification Church mass wedding ceremony is not just a wedding ceremony of a man and a woman to make a family. Until now, marriage was centered on the individual self, but our wedding ceremony is holy and has the content to make God happy and the condition to indemnify history. Our marriage ceremony is to liberate God's grief caused by Adam and Eve's fall and fulfill what Jesus could not, which is to pass through the standard of the bridegroom and bride. This is explained clearly in the Divine Principle.

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Today, you have not yet made the absolute connection with the True Parents. In order to make that connection, there is the Unification Church Blessing.

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Teacher has been making effort and fighting for this day. Through the Blessing you inherit the True Parents' connection. Therefore, the Parents' Blessing is the banner for the battle against the satanic world.

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For those who are Blessed, Teacher (Father) will take responsibility even in the spirit world. Teacher will manage and guide. In this way, the Blessing means making an eternal relationship with the Teacher (Father).

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The human ancestors fell and a man and a woman were chased out of the Garden of Eden, therefore the husband and wife must triumph over that situation. That is the Blessing.

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Now, time has passed the formation and the growth period and is entering the completion stage. The vertical history of thousands of years is passing horizontally. In other words, this time is such that the six thousand years of history are passing at once. Therefore, we must be outside of Satan's zone of attack. Then what is the Blessing? The historical satanic sovereignty until today is being overcome completely by the Blessing.

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To receive the Blessing is to become one with God. If you are one with God, you can become whole. Everything of God, whatever the subject has, can be received. God has eternal life. From eternal life He has universal love -- as ideal subject He has the world view. Everything is being bequeathed. That is why receiving the Blessing is the same as inheriting everything. You received God's love previously. By the Blessing we can receive God's substantiality and God's substance. Furthermore, it is not all just God's but it becomes yours. That is why marriage means to inherit everything. The most valuable part of God's love is being bequeathed, God Himself is being bequeathed and everything is being bequeathed. In these contexts we use the word "Blessing." Receiving the Blessing means receiving good fortune.

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By the formation of a three-generation family with God's love, God can dwell on the family level and the eternally existing family ideal form is completed. Through the family we can have God, receive God's love, exhibit God's character and inherit the subjectivity of God. There is nothing more a human being desires. That is why the heavenly world is mine and God's everything becomes mine. Originally, this was the hope of humankind. All people desire the best because this standard has remained. You must know this hope and desire. It is possible to accomplish this by receiving the Blessing. Can you understand how surprising the event of the Blessing is?

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God's love is absolute, unchanging and unique because God is absolute and eternal. You must reach that heart of God. Those who come to the Unification Church and move in and out of the church are not trustworthy. God's love can abide in the absolute, unchanging heart. Under conditions other than this, God's love will not abide. In order to make God abide in you forever, you must make Satan surrender and you must become the eternal and unchanging self. You have not reached that level yet. In order to be in that position, you must inherit the standard and victory the Teacher accomplished. In Japan, are there skyscrapers? No matter who built the building, the person whose name is recorded on the deed is the owner. According to a piece of paper, that building belongs to that person. Inheriting everything of the Teacher's is the same as this. Get the victory through universal restoration and make the highest skyscraper in the world and make the deed and transfer ownership to yourself. If there is a person who pollutes this, then we fight, risking our lives. Each person here is an owner. Now all members are lined up on the starting line in the same stadium. Please see that you run fast. Absolutely, you will be the center of the Japanese race.

We ourselves do not have any value other than the ability to proclaim the Principle and spread principled opinions. Then, Satan cannot do anything. The entire Principle instructs that the Blessing is the ceremony of initiation for this path. The Blessing is the eternal jewel. It is the one form of promise by which we start now on the path of ten thousand descendants. If someone stains it, all the generations are affected. When Jesus was crucified, the whole nation was affected; in the same way, all the generations are affected.

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In the entire life of Teacher, do you know what is the most valuable thing I can imagine? It is the Blessing. For all of you, the ultimate gift in human history is the Blessing.

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Giving the Blessing means transferring the heavenly authority.

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The Unification Church members must know that receiving the Blessing is the principled way. And you must know that receiving the Blessing is happiness. If you obtained the entire satanic world, you would own a sorrowful world. That is why you must receive the Blessing with joy and thankfulness and never exchange it for anything. How are you feeling? You are receiving without correctly knowing the value.

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You Unification Church members must not think as you do about the Blessing. This Blessing is the condition for restoration by indemnity. The condition for restoration by indemnity means you are taking responsibility for your family's destiny. Therefore, families must be restored one by one, making the worldwide Satan surrender and pioneering the road for the world. You must think like that, not that you want to receive the Blessing selfishly. You must think you exist in order to give. If you think centered on yourself, that is self- centered and that thinking will destroy you. This is a very serious problem. Good and evil divide here. The Blessing is very valuable and if you receive it in the wrong way you will be ruined.

2. THE VALUE OF THE BLESSING

From the Principle point of view, you must know how important marriage is. The Blessing centering on God is the meeting place of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth and in heaven. Horizontally, it is the meeting place of the eternal world and the temporal world.

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The 66 books of the Bible are not scattered. They are organized by the word Blessing. If you study these 66 books, you will find that they harmonize reasonably with the victorious Blessed couple.

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The fact that you came to the Unification Church and received the Blessing means that God, after four thousand years of the providence, sent Jesus and he restored the family centering on the will of God and he stands on the victorious foundation. That is why, even if your descendants may not gain merit in the providence of restoration from your victory base, you can inherit merit from your ancestors who made effort during four thousand years of providential restoration.

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Jesus came, consummating four thousand years of history, and what did he do? Because he did not have the family, he was destroyed. If he had the family horizontally representing the same length of time, the tribe could have been indemnified within history. If that had happened, Jesus' clan, tribe and nation could have been established. In order to win that family, Jesus suffered for 33 years. He could not get the Blessing even after he suffered 33 years -- and you think you know the value of the Blessing? The Blessing is the door which opens upon the solution to thousands of years of searching.

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What is Jesus' wish after two thousand years of effort? It is for the Marriage of the Lamb. What is the Marriage of the Lamb? It is the Blessing! Jesus' wish for two thousand years has been the Blessing, that is, the Marriage of the Lamb. In order to have the marriage feast, the bride must come in front of the bridegroom. That is the consummation of Christianity. Therefore, without passing through Christianity, you cannot enter heaven.

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Between Jesus and you, who received the Blessing first? You are in Abel's position and you must restore the elder sonship, that glorious position which you can inherit first. Spiritually, Jesus is in the father position to you, but on the physical level. you have made relations with Teacher. After receiving this enormous Blessing, you do not know the value of the Blessing. You are like a prince born to a royal family, who does not know his value when he is a baby. Since you have grown up, you must recognize yourself as the prince of heaven and heavenly people, and you must have the proper manners for all situations and fulfill your responsibility based upon your own position.

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The meaning of the Blessing is that it is the starting time of the Messiah, who has made a foundation on the earth for two thousand years centering on the chosen nation and religious organizations, now having the name of the bridegroom and bride. Can you be the Tribal Messiah? Because you made the relationship of father and son with the Teacher, Satan cannot do anything. As you can see, the Blessing is incredible.

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What position do you have through the Blessing? The Blessing grants you the best position in the world. In the position of Blessing, with whom will you make relations? You cannot become perfect by yourself. You are perfected by the love of parents entirely. When a son is born from parents, whether he is handsome or not, he resembles his parents. In the same way, the Unification Church teaches about the True Parents' mission. That is the blessing of all blessings.

The value of the Blessing cannot be exchanged even for the world. Sometimes I regret that I gave the Blessing. The Blessing is one man and one woman, centering on God's will, becoming true father and true mother, producing true love.

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Because of a problem relating to eating and clothing, will you forget your mission and sell your Blessing for money? Are you intending to do this? God's Blessing cannot be exchanged for heaven and earth.

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Death is the same for the king of a country and the people of the country, but their content is different. In this way, concerning the Blessing, externally it does not look so special, but the content has an incredible difference.

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Among the participants of the March First Movement, among thirty three people, wasn't there a Lee, Gaup Sung? Now he lives alone, but if you study about the March First Movement, you know he is higher than the president, don't you? Of course, he is higher, without question. Like that, those who received the mass Blessing will be receiving unusual glory Do you understand? Even though in the last couple to get engaged the bride is missing one eye, her nose is tilted, she is missing an ear, one arm is not there and she may be disabled in the worst way, she will receive the glory of the world. Not because of these problems, but because she is blessed by the Teacher. Do you understand? You cannot buy this with billions of dollars. Our Unification Church ladies, do you understand? How much do you know?

**

The Blessing is not fulfilled easily. It does not happen like a memorial ceremony or an annual event. If you know the value of the Blessing, you must inherit the love and the heart of the Father.

**

The place of Blessing is majestic. It is a fearful place. You cannot respond to it suitably with your emotion. The value of one life is greater than that of the universe. That is why when taking responsibility for one person's life, you must take responsibility for eternity. You must know this problem is a concern at the place of the Blessing. That is why when this time comes in one's life, everyone is happy. In order to participate in this enormous Blessing place, you must make an historical determination. The Blessing is the point of life and death.

**

The Blessing is the most valuable thing in the cosmos. At the same time, it is really a fearful thing. Suppose one spouse thinks about other things, spacing out. That is betraying the other spouse. Through you good ancestors, the world and the nation are born. Therefore, those who received the Blessing must think about the universe with their eyes open. The Blessing is so you can give blessing to others.

**

You must know the value of the Blessing before receiving it. By receiving the Blessing, you are standing on the level of being a citizen of the third Israel. All of you after knowing the meaning and the value of the Blessing, can you say that you are Unification Church members without receiving the Blessing? Do you respect as adults those who are not married? Even the secular world recognizes that if a virgin lady or bachelor dies, they turn into a ghost or demon. That happens not because somebody artificially contrived it. It is the way of the universe.

**

In the Garden of Eden, if a woman had not been created, what would have happened? The fact is that the existence of women is the cosmic magic. This is the truth. The magic among all magical events is the existence of man and woman. If just one side existed, human history would have ended.

You must understand the value of the Unification Church Blessing from this angle. Once you meet your spouse, that is your connection to eternity. You must be thankful and be so strong and bold that you would not exchange the original husband and wife's love for the cosmos or God. If you taste true love in the Unification Church, that light of love must follow you no matter where in the world you go. Without loving humanity and the cosmos centering on true love, you cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven. That is why the keys to heaven were given to Peter.

**

Heaven is entered after fulfilling the family. That's why we have the mass wedding in the Unification Church. What is that mass wedding? Those who come to see the mass wedding are surprised, saying, "I thought the mass wedding was not a big deal, . . . but wow!" It is true. It is a beautiful and great thing. That is why those young ladies and men who come for the first time, wanting to go to the mass wedding, panic and cry because they are afraid that they might not qualify.

**

A while back, there were some sisters who escaped to headquarters and lived there because their parents wanted to have them married. Normally a daughter feels happy when her parents want to arrange her marriage, because she knows that she is becoming old; but why did these sisters escape? It is because they did not want to marry if it was not officiated by Reverend Moon. What is going on there? The content of True Parents is there. If not in obedience to Reverend Moon's word, they knew marriage is no good.

Being 80 years old, a grandmother knows that she cannot enter heaven without receiving the Blessing, so even in the last minute of her life she wishes to make conditions for the Blessing. In the Unification Church, things are going this way. Since Reverend Moon must take care of this, he has a rough life.

**

In the Unification Church, why do we perform the mass wedding? If I explained everything, it would melt the bones of even the grandmothers. They would pine, "If I could be young again, I would go to the Unification Church mass wedding." Whether or not ignorant people say bad words, with tears they would want to go. When a person is happy, she is positive, and laughs. When she is overflowing with joy, then tears come. That is not a bad thing.

Today, in the Unification Church, we perform the mass wedding. Among you here, if you are wise, there is no more fearful fate than being kicked out, unable to receive the Unification Church mass wedding. Because they know that, if I call to an American or Japanese, they respond, "Yes, I'm coming," and run to me. No matter if the king or the president opposes, they come. In this way, put the hook in the nose and pull the world hard; it will be pulled.

3. THE REASON FOR RECEIVING THE BLESSING

The fall is marriage not centering on God. Because marriage centered on Satan, it now must be done in the name of God alone. Such marriage is the world-historical marriage. It is not marriage in one nation but it is the marriage beyond nation and beyond the satanic world. It is the ground of surpassing the satanic world.

**

The mass wedding centering on our Unification Church is not just limited to our own church's marriage ceremony. It is the formula through which the whole of humankind will move. We must know this clearly. Then, what is the fundamental reason for receiving the Blessing? It is because our ancestors were fallen. If the human ancestors had not fallen, this work of the Blessing would not be happening. But because of the fall, there is the course of restoration remaining in order to go back to God's sovereignty, and we must climb this way. This explains the purpose for religion and the goal of history.

Ultimately, what is the final purpose? It is to have the true family. This is the ultimate purpose for fallen humankind to discover. In order to establish the true family, true people must come. Among the true people, true man must appear first. By doing that, the true man finds the true woman and they have the holy wedding centering on God, and finally the true family is started.

Due to the human fall, humankind was unable to have that origin. Therefore we must deny all the families which existed until today, according to God's providential will centering on the family foundation, and we must go over the existing family standard. If someone cannot go over this standard, the fallen world cannot return to the original world. This is the principled interpretation. Fallen man and woman, no matter who they might be, cannot stand in front of God without going through this conditional formula. We must understand this.

**

Satan entered through Adam and Eve; in other words, a husband and wife pulled him in. Therefore, the husband and wife must chase Satan out. They were attacked by Satan and became fallen parents, so the true parents must come and restore this. Without doing this, we cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The fact that even now Jesus is praying in Paradise means that we still remain under Satan's accusation. In the future, in order to become citizens of the third Israel, we must receive the Blessing centering on the Unification Church. In the past, in Abraham's time, in order to become Israelites, people had to receive circumcision. In the same way, without receiving the Unification Church Blessing, you cannot be a citizen of the third Israel. However, in receiving the Blessing, conditions are not simple. I myself offered my forty years of life because of that condition. I spent my whole life for that.

**

Why do we get the Blessing? In order to give the Blessing to others and see that the Blessing goes to the whole world.

**

We cannot establish the ideal of heaven without marriage and the family. In the Unification Church, the purpose for all the good men and good women receiving the Blessing is to build the ideal of the Kingdom of Heaven. Not only unmarried people, but also people already married who have the correct standard must get the Blessing. Everyone must receive the Blessing in order to return to the world of the original creation. In the Principle, a true man and woman enter the world of the original creation through the Blessing, but due to the fall, that work of love never happened.

**

Human beings, by finally standing in the position of parents, are receiving the heavenly inheritance. That is Jesus' Feast of the Lamb. In other words, people must go through the Blessing of the Unification Church, which means receiving the Blessing from God.

4. WHO IS GIVING THE BLESSING?

Adam and Eve fell from the completion level of the growth stage. In order to restore this, we must go the opposite course. Because they fell centering on the love problem, in our course of restoration and reaching our goal, we must absolutely overcome the love problem between Adam and Eve. In order to overcome the power of love centering on Satan, you must connect to God's love through the True Parents. Therefore, the descendants of the fallen parents must go the way of overcoming the fallen sovereignty by welcoming True Parents and becoming vertically one with them. You cannot overcome the fallen sovereignty by yourself. Absolutely, man and woman must become one to solve this.

The Unification Church Blessing has that meaning. Therefore, the Blessing does not happen according to your thinking. It must originate centering on the parents. Even in the fallen secular world, people have a history of getting married centering on the parents, not on themselves. It is the same in the course of the restoration. True Parents come and, through them, according to the providence of restoration, we go beyond the level at which Adam and Eve fell for the first time.

**

Because the fall happened by love, also restoration has to be done centering on the love relationship of heavenly new parents. That is why Teacher and Mother perform the mass wedding ceremony together. That is the ceremony of inheriting love. What is formed here becomes the eternal tradition. Revolution is not necessary. In this way, without revolution, the new tradition is established between heaven and earth; the new family, clan and tribe, and the new nation and world are forming and will conquer this earth.

**

This is the place to establish the heavenly way. I have been giving my life in order to establish the Principle rule. I'm not going to listen to your advice and take care of marriage matters lightly.

**

Who is giving the Blessing? If there are no parents, then another person can do it, but if parents are here, no other person can do it. Therefore, in the Unification Church, the Teacher gives the Blessing. You young men and ladies here, if I say I'm not going to give you the Blessing, your whole hearts will be disappointed. Once anyone knows the Principle, he or she cannot get married on their own. Must Teacher give the Principle so plainly in order for you to receive it?

**

In the Garden of Eden, originally the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve would have married according to God's commandment, with Adam and Eve giving the Blessing. Our marriage ceremony is the same. Therefore, in our Unification Church, the Blessing is given in the name of the True Parents. Have you ever seen one's own parents giving the Blessing in the secular world? Saying no is to say that in the secular world there are no perfect people. The marriage ceremony is the ceremony of the inheritance of love, God's love. Parents are living with parents' love representing God's love. With the order to live like this, marriage is the ceremony of inheritance. God's love is inherited from the parents. You do not receive it from some famous person; that is the archangel's giving marriage. Some famous person coming and doing the marriage ceremony is the archangel's giving the marriage ceremony.

**

Before marriage, you should not have your own idea about it. You assemble your heart before the heart of God and Parents. After that, grandparents and parents are linked, then the Blessing is received and the whole thing is inherited. Our family is linked, with my receiving and I'm giving to you, so the parents' love is being given to you. The ceremony of the Blessing is the inheritance of the whole. From that moment, I exist, I can have pride. I can say that I am in the center of the cosmos. Likewise, until you receive the Blessing, you cannot move your heart as you like.

**

Why do I speak in this way? Right now, some people are handsome and have the ability to look good inside and out, and in our Unification movement they are necessary people, but even about them I have worries. They make decisions centering on themselves. Is that good? If a self-centered man gets married to a self-centered woman, they both will be ruined. Is that good? Then how will they avoid destruction? They must digest what marriage is, and centering on the will of God they must make a substantial foundation to overcome. Without doing that, they will absolutely be destroyed. It is inevitable. Then who is going to do that? I am doing it. That is why I have been giving the Blessing.

**

Things that no one else can even touch, the Unification Church has been starting and guiding on the way of recreation. The very possibility of this day coming means that the world will be one, that the evil satanic world will be transformed into the heavenly world. Today, that American young people are allowed to find their own spouse is a very strange thing. It is a Christian culture, but they are doing things that the Bible does not permit. This is because material civilization brings satanic erosion, turning the Christian culture into a satanic free world. But why do you not do like that? Can we not do what Satan has been doing? What is love? Inheriting marriage from God and from parents is the Principle. Because free marriage is the fall, we cannot return to the heavenly world unless we pull out this root.

**

When the Teacher was touring, he called Americans, Germans, French, English and Italians and asked, "Would you like your mother and father to marry you or is it better for your Unification Church Teacher to marry you ? Those who want the Teacher to make their marriage, raise your hands." When I asked, everyone raised their hands and said, "Of course, please make my marriage for me." Raising your hands is doing good, isn't it? You shall raise your hands until you are happy.

In the past, Western people did that sort of thing to Oriental people. It doesn't matter that they graduated from a famous university and received a Masters and Ph.D.; once they come to the Unification Church, listen to the lectures and understand the Principle, they cannot get married by themselves. So they invite the Teacher and want to receive the Blessing. However, do I go to that place? It is a very interesting thing. An Oriental person from Asia gathers western people and says, "You rascals!" and they say, "Yes." In that way, they are making the foundation. If I say to sacrifice, they sacrifice, and if I say to go out, they go out. Also, the most valuable thing in their life, marriage, is decided by the Teacher and they just follow. They do not even listen to their father and mother's words or to their own country's president; they just listen to Teacher's words. If Teacher draws a line, everyone follows well.

**

Thinking humanistically, how rude is the person who takes sons and daughters without their parent's permission and arranges marriage for them. Those parents of whose children received the Blessing must thank the Teacher, saying, "Teacher, thank you." But this is not the time for greeting, because we are so busy. Without greeting at the ceremony, they just looked at his face and said, "Oh, that is Reverend Moon of the Unification Church." By doing that, they knew everything was all right. With that happening, are they all right? In the future, if the son of the American president joins our church, I will arrange marriage for him without concerning myself about the president. Then if that son follows the Teacher's will, that president will have to come down and visit. We have a beautiful plan like that. When you think about this, don't you feel excited? The world is sleeping; we must wake up this world and change history. Mother and Father stand together officiating, being the model, and we will continue officiating the ceremony like that in the future. If the Unification Church does this, others will follow.

5. THE BLESSING IS FOR THE ENTIRE COSMOS

God's Blessing is absolutely public. That Blessing is not for the individual or family only, nor for a nation only, nor for the world only. God's Blessing is for the entire cosmos. In order for you to become perfect Adam and Eve, fulfilling the purpose of creation, you must get married. Why do you participate in this marriage? You do it because of God, for the will of God. However, until now, from the perspective of the will of God, there were many people who did as they pleased. If something was not to their taste, they would say that they were not going to do it. Such people should be cut off. In front of the will of God, they cannot be forgiven.

Now, for whom are we doing this work? It is for God, for the Will, for humanity and for the world. It is not being done centering on the self. You, individual by individual, man or woman, it is not for yourself. Before it is yours, it is God's. It belongs to the world before it belongs to you. In order to go to this noble position of bride and groom, you must realize the value of your own existence in all seasons, day and night sacrificing and witnessing to people in front of God. Then the Blessing is allowed for you.

**

The Blessing is not for your own self, for through you as an individual the new family represents a clan, tribe, nation and the world. That family, if he is Kim, is not for the Kim family only. The family should represent the tribe, nation and furthermore the world. We must know that unless you accomplish such a family, the Blessing cannot be fulfilled. That is because although the human ancestors, Adam and Eve, were two individuals, since they stood at the historical starting point, it did not end with just those two people. Through those two people, the new family was founded furthermore, a new tribe and nation were realized. The Blessing position is this place of forming the world-wide foundation. This foundational place was lost due to the fall of Adam and Eve, and we are in the position to restore it. Therefore, this Blessing is not for ourselves. Also, for the base of this Blessing, we must receive the Blessing from the position of transcending tribal and national limits. Without this determination, we must know the inevitable fact that restoration cannot be accomplished.

**

When you receive the Blessing, think that you are receiving it for the world rather than for yourself. Those who receive the Blessing with this thinking will remain in history, but those who do not will just pass from history.

**

Now in the present moment, centering on your tribe, you are standing in the position connecting Korea and the world. Therefore, representing world humanity, representing three million Koreans and representing your tribes, pledge to take responsibility as religious leaders. By that, our family will remain. Centering on heaven, in the historical moment and in the presence of the world, our family will be the necessary family. In your world of love you will be the necessary family. Receive the Blessing with determination to establish the absolute content. You must know this content.

**

Centering on heaven and earth, the new world must appear. As an individual self, you must be able to say, "I will become like this son or daughter. The way these sons and daughters are going is for the country of God's hope. Until this moment they have been pursuing not only the country but the world." While you are going, there may be many difficulties, poverty, and ups and downs. But that should not be a problem. No matter what, you should be husband and wife overcoming everything and surpassing the country and the world. Surpassing the country and world should be the problem.

**

As one male and one female, two naturally live together. That is not the point of receiving the Blessing. The Blessing is the position of taking the destiny to make a new world and going forward with definite relationships. You must know that this is the Blessing place. This way is determined by whether you want to go or you do not want to go. It is our life's inevitable fate. This way is given once in our life; there is no second chance. If you want to go, you must know that there is no further restoration course; this is the final way.

**

Those who are attending the Blessing should not attend just as one individual male or as one individual female. That position is for six thousand years, representing man and woman. You must know that this is the place to which you are invited. You must experience this by internal heart.

The one who appeared at the point of Blessing as the responsible leader, in other words, the center of existence, is not limited to the immediate environment. He is the central figure with global content. Therefore, the Blessing does not end by fulfilling the relationship of husband and wife. Through the Blessing, a new family, new clan, new tribe and new nation should be formed. This point is only the beginning.

6. THE REASON FOR HOLDING THE MASS WEDDING

The mass wedding ceremony is the pride of the Unification Church. Moreover, we are having this wedding ceremony not just within one race but with Western and Oriental together. Therefore, this is our pride. This work cannot be done except in the Unification Church. Even the president cannot do it. It is not because I was born good that I could do it, but because the face of God is working.

**

More than anything else, the mass wedding is for establishing God's new family.

**

At the mass wedding ceremony, everyone is here together, passing through the work of indemnity. Don't you want to know why we hold the mass wedding? If the Blessing event had happened in the Garden of Eden, it would have been the big cosmic event. However, due to the human ancestors' fall, in order to indemnify the failure to accomplish the heavenly standard in the Garden of Eden, we are holding the mass wedding ceremony. Jesus should have held such a marriage ceremony on the level of all of the Israelites, at the least. However, no one was even concerned about Jesus' marriage. To liberate Jesus' grief, we must even be willing to die at the mass wedding in view of all people.

Last year, the 430 Couples mass wedding ceremony became a world topic. In many ways, the world uses this as research material. God's marriage must be a worldwide event on that level.

**

The reason we perform the mass wedding is because the fall happened together, as a union. The archangel and Eve and then Eve and Adam fell together. In order to fix this, we must mobilize the spirit world and also the world of woman and man.

The feast God sponsors should be greater than any feast in the satanic world. However, because as individual selves we cannot stand at that standard, we must hold a mass wedding ceremony the likes of which has never happened in human history.

**

The Teacher's Holy Wedding ceremony should have been more magnificent than any wedding ceremony until today, but because I did it during the suffering period, it did not happen magnificently. Therefore, in failure, the condition for doing it magnificently has remained Church members among three generations, centering on yourselves, should be in the position that you had the best wedding. By doing this, you can make the condition in front of Satan. That is why we hold the mass wedding ceremony. Even on the internal level, in order to have the wedding which makes God happy, we must make the condition of offering.

**

Before the coming of the holy family, there could be no way to engraft satanic families to the heavenly families. Because of that, in order to establish heavenly families, we have the mass weddings in the Unification Church. Although secular people may mock the Unification Church's mass wedding, through the mass wedding God can have the content for engrafting.

**

God is working in order to connect the right blood lineage. The Unification Church's mass wedding is cutting the many generations of wrong blood lineage and revising according to God's wish.

**

The Unification Church's mass wedding is not just solving one individual's marriage problem but solving this problem from the beginning of history to now, for countless ancestors, tribes, nations -- all those who were in conflict with God, in order to open the door. In order to do that, each Blessing group at one time, as a club, takes their period's portion of responsibility as one team; if 36 couples, 36 families are one team; 72 couples, 120 couples and 430 couples each become one team. Through them, centering on establishing the indemnification the historical marriage of failed families, the central resurrected families appear.

The Blessing stage is not the marrying place of Kim so and so and Moon so and so. These people are historically representing the world, nation, tribe, clan and family, and are making the foundation by even throwing themselves down centering on the family.

**

Centering on God, for the world race, we perform the mass wedding ceremony in the Unification Church.

**

Because we are related as one big family even without having had the marriage ceremony, we must have the mass wedding.

**

What is the purpose of the mass wedding? It is to save the world. This marriage ceremony transcends national boundaries, race, language, culture and customs. It is the international mass wedding ceremony. It is the appearance of the new people of God. Accordingly, this marriage ceremony is the basis for public interest.

**

Originally in the Garden of Eden, there should have been the marriage of one man and one woman. By doing so, they were to represent the whole world of man and woman and heaven and earth. This Blessing is the mass wedding ceremony. Maybe there is a small number of couples, but this is the foundation of the Blessing. It will get larger as more come each year. If the number of blessed families is more than 3.7 million in Korea, Korea will be restored automatically. Suppose, one day we will have 10 million, 50 million and 100 million. Asia will be more than restored. It will automatically happen.




THE BLESSING AND THE CHANGE OF BLOOD LINEAGE

The purpose of human life is to embody and reflect God’s ideal of love. The channel for Divine love into our lives is the family. Our first ancestors’ purpose was to realize an ideal family, fulfilling the Three Great Blessings (Genesis 1:28). Their premature and selfish misuse of love brought about the Human Fall, and separated us from the Heavenly Parent’s original love, life and lineage.  True Parents, standing on a historical foundation of victory, have the authority to engraft all humankind into the original lineage of God. The Blessing is the process through which we become God’s original sons and daughters. It consists of these steps:

A. Holy Wine Ceremony

As a result of the human fall, our families have been separated from the love and life that the Heavenly Parent intended. A false tradition of love has been inherited from generation to generation. In the Holy Wine Ceremony, we transition spiritually from this fallen lineage and tradition to that of True Parents.

This ceremony restores the order of God’s original love, cleansing us from the original sin. It is performed in precisely the reverse order of the process of the fall. True Parents give the wine to the woman first, who then shares it with her future husband. As Jesus offered bread and wine, saying "this is my body and blood," the Holy Wine represents God’s original lineage through True Parents. True Parents' ultimate desire is that all of humanity share in this communion, renewing our own families and reconnecting ourselves to the one family of humanity.

B. The Blessing Ceremony

The Holy Blessing was traditionally officiated by Father and Mother Moon in their capacity as True Parents, or an officiating couple representing them. The officiators and their attendants cleanse the couples by sprinkling them with holy water, signifying their rebirth into God’s lineage as a Blessed couple, leaving past sins behind. Through the vows, couples pledge to fulfill God’s ideal of creation as an eternal husband and wife. They promise to establish a loving family, maintain fidelity, and to raise their children to remain pure before marriage and faithful in marriage. They also determine to love all people of the world as our Heavenly Parent does. The officiators extend their arms and pray for the couples, claiming them as renewed sons and daughters within the realm of God’s original, eternal Blessing. Then True Parents proclaim the completion of the Blessing in front of God and the entire cosmos.

C. Chastening or Indemnity Ceremony

The fall took place through the corruption of sexual love. Therefore Jacob could be victorious and blessed by God as “Israel” only after the angel struck the “hollow of his thigh,” knocking it out of joint. In the same way God required circumcision as the condition for Israel to become His people. These were conditions of indemnity to restore the misuse of our sexuality.

The betrayal of the fall initiated a history of resentment between men and women. We have all experienced, directly or indirectly, the pain of misused love, as have our ancestors.  This simple ceremony provides an opportunity for each couple to indemnify any personal sexual past and the historical abuse of each gender by the other. Each partner firmly strikes the other three times upon the buttocks, to repent for and resolve the history of sexual immorality and the misuse of our bodies. This ceremony is of course symbolic.  Any abuse or violence between the couple whether emotional, verbal or physical, is a violation of the Blessing vows and not acceptable.  Completing this ceremony opens the door to our Heavenly Parent’s forgiveness and grace. It is conducted shortly after the Blessing ceremony, as the foundation for the next step.

D. 40 day Separation Period

The number “40” is the Biblical period for separating from Satan, and holy people of many faiths have traditionally carried out 40 days of fasting, prayer and spiritual cleansing. In this tradition, abstaining from sexual intimacy during the first 40 days of marriage is meant to separate the newly Blessed Couple from the history of selfish between men and women. It can also help heal any painful personal sexual past. The newly Blessed Couple offers their married life to God first, and focuses upon developing the inner aspects of their relationship- love, trust, commitment and spiritual intimacy. For married couples who are renewing their marriage commitment, this period gives you an opportunity to restart your conjugal relationship with God as the center.

E. Three-day Ceremony of Renewal

The premature relationship between Adam and Eve brought about the corruption of love, distorted the family ideal and established a false world centered on selfishness. Through this final ceremony, Blessed couples begin their conjugal life by reversing this tragic process. The couple first cleanses their bodies with the Holy Wine that now links them to God’s lineage. Then with a prayer of offering, they invite the Heavenly Parent to enter their most intimate love relationship. Through symbolic ceremonial steps, each partner will give rebirth to their spouse as an original man and woman. Their renewed conjugal life, with God’s Blessing and presence, should become one of total freedom, loving and serving one another in joyful spiritual and physical oneness.

The three-day ceremony makes salvation a physical reality by renewing the union of husband and wife and through it, re-establishing the original ideal of love. Thus the Blessing is the substantial foundation for the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.

NOTE: The 3-day ceremony has profound significance. Couples should be sure to obtain the detailed instructions for this ceremony from their pastor during the separation period.

 



Is an International Marriage Right for You?

“The best way to receive the Holy Blessing is through a cross-cultural marriage. These marriages contribute to the great task of transcending the barriers of race, culture, nationality, ethnicity, and religion, and to creating one family of humankind. In God’s sight, skin color makes no difference. God does not recognize national borders. God does not stand behind the barriers of religion and culture.”

True Father

True Father has challenged Blessed Families to transcend traditional barriers to build an original culture of heart, and encouraged international or cross-cultural marriages for Unificationists. This path, however, is not for every candidate. Many candidates attended True Parents’ matching in the past expecting an international or interracial marriage, but found themselves engaged instead to someone from their own country or race.

Therefore, each candidate should prayerfully consider with their matching team whether an international marriage is appropriate. The first and most important consideration is your heart and desire. If you want an international partner for the right reasons, and you are prepared to commit to it, then you should consider it seriously. You may feel a special calling to marry someone from a developing country. MAs, if God is inspiring a candidate in this direction, you can help them consider all of the implications or challenges they may face, but be prepared to support them if they are truly aware and committed.

There are many countries to consider, both near and far. With internet communication and the growing era of international travel, the world is truly becoming one community. Some of you may hesitate because you simply don’t know how to find candidates. A variety of international networking methods are recommended in this chapter.

On the other hand, if you cannot fathom the possibility of an international marriage, it is not helpful for others to push you even if they believe it is the best course. Others can discuss, educate or encourage you, but they must consider and respect your desires when making your matching plan. If you are uncomfortable with marrying someone from a foreign country, you can still create an intercultural marriage with someone of another race or nationality who lives in your country or geographical area.



The Value of International Marriage

True Parents’ Guidance

Almost everybody who was important in God’s providence had to leave his own hometown. Jacob had to go away, and you, too, must go into enemy territory at one time or another. The best way would be to marry a person who represents your enemy. Those who marry interracially, especially white and black, are accomplishing this, and bringing together two extremes.”

The Harvest Season for God’s Providence, September 9, 1982

“The Unification Church should gather the races of all five colors and establish true brotherly love. The realm of brotherhood was shattered in Adam’s family; thus, we should realize brotherly love. The marriage that established the satanic lineage took place due to the breakdown of true brother and sister relationships. We should thus realize the global blessing that transcends nation and race, where we connect life and lineage through love centering on God and True Parents, while standing on the absolute standard of brotherhood and sisterhood. This is the worldwide blessing project of the Unification Church.”

Proclamation of the Realm of Liberation
of Cosmic Unification for the Parents
of Heaven and Earth—September 9, 1999





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