Congratulations to the 36 couples that received the Marriage Blessing from True Parents on May 15, 1961!
True Parents conducted the 33 Couple Holy Blessing in the Chungpa-Dong Church Headquarters on May 15, 1961. Together with the Three Couples whom True Parents blessed on April 16, 1960, they comprise the 36 Couple Blessing group. True Father called them the “ancestors” of all the blessed couples to come after them. He also regarded them as “the representatives of all types of people on earth” and viewed them as being needed to “pave the way to the Kingdom of Heaven and act as guides for others.” True Father explained that the 36 Couples consisted of three groups of 12, symbolizing the Old Testament, New Testament, and Completed Testament ages. They also were wedded in three phases: the first at dawn, the second during the day, and the third at night. True Father recalled that the 33 Couple Blessing Ceremony was held “amid great confusion and chaos.” He noted, “The parents of the 33 Couples came swarming about the place, shouting all kinds of insults at us and creating a continuous uproar. Some went so far as to send dozens of anonymous letters to the court of justice, demanding I be sent to jail; as a result, I had to appear in court on several occasions.” According to True Father, the parents were upset that he “brought together other people’s children and married them at my own discretion, without discussing it with the parents at all.” He recalled, “We finally had to have someone stand guard at the door before we could go through with the ceremony.”
