[caption id="attachment_11827" align="alignnone" width="300"]
Photo courtesy of McKenna Ronquillo-Schray[/caption]
The celebration of marriage continues to attract Seton Hall alum to their alma mater as 58 weddings are planned to be hosted in the Chapel of Immaculate Conception for 2016.
Seton Hall’s Chapel of the Immaculate Conception has hosted countless alumni who have been joining their hands in marriage since the summer of 1864. Rev. Robert “Mac” McLaughlin said the chapel administers around 40 to 60 weddings a year.
Oct. 17 marked the fifth anniversary of the first date for newlyweds McKenna Ronquillo-Schray, Seton Hall Media Relations graduate assistant, and Frank Schray (2013).
“It was very important to us that we could get married on our fifth dating anniversary and it so happened that one time slot was available on that date when we booked the date over a year and a half ago,” Ronquillo-Schray said. “It was meant to be.”
Seton Hall students rang in on whether the Chapel could be a possible venue for their future weddings.
“It’s everyone’s dream to incorporate some way on how they first met and what better way to do it than by going back to the school were you met and fell in love,” said Tamila Garayo, sophomore marketing and information technology major.
Garayo said Seton Hall students are lucky to have a chapel on campus. It offers the opportunity to share the first blessing of a marriage at the same place the couple met.
McLaughlin said that the attachment to the Chapel and the University is a main reason why alumni choose the Chapel as their wedding venue.
“Many college students spend a significant portion of their lives at Seton Hall and many of those students attend mass at least often if not weekly. Their attachment to the University and the Chapel must be a top to their list of reasons,” McLaughlin said.
For students interested in gaining a deeper understanding of the celebration of marriage, Damon Owens, executive director of Theology of the Body Institute, will be speaking about the Catholic perspective on love and marriage this evening, Nov. 5, at 8:30 p.m. in the Jubilee Hall Auditorium. The Theology of the Body Institute promotes Saint John Paul II’s teaching on human sexuality, marriage, and family life.
Owens will discuss the topic of Catholic marriage in a Compass Event brought to the Seton Hall community by Campus Ministry and the Department of Catholic Studies.
“We wanted to host Damon Owens because he is a wonderful and dynamic speaker and an ex
pert on the subject of marriage,” event coordinator and Campus Minister at Seton Hall Noreen Shea said. “Damon’s lecture is a great opportunity for students to learn more about love and the sacrament of marriage.”
Sedria Thomas can be reached at sedria.thomas@student.shu.edu
Comments
