By Sue Denny • Posted April 24, 2026

Married couples throughout the region are invited to celebrate their marriages at the Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s annual wedding anniversary Mass on Saturday, May 2.

The 5:15 p.m. Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter & Paul is dedicated to the sacrament of marriage, highlighting the spiritual and communal aspects of married life.

Married and engaged couples, along with their family and friends, are encouraged to attend. The Mass will specifically honor couples marking milestone anniversaries — one, five, 10, 25, 30, 40 and 50 years plus.

The celebrant is Auxiliary Bishop Efren Esmilla.

Mass will be both intimate and communal, as married couples come together to celebrate prayerfully their own anniversaries  while gathering with other faith-filled couples including newlyweds.

This will be an occasion for them and their loved ones to reflect on the text of “Familiaris Consortio,” St. John Paul II’s landmark teaching on the beauty and spiritual power of marriage and family life. His 1981 document states that the sacrament of marriage “is the specific source and original means of sanctification for Christian married couples and families” (no. 56). “The great gift of an Archdiocesan Wedding Anniversary Mass is that it invites all couples to return to this insight, to appreciate the great gift of unity that’s been given to them in their marriage,” said Daniel Drain, director of the archdiocesan Office for Life and Family.

Matrimony, he said, is the source of God’s grace in a couple’s lives.

Nearly 100 couples are expected to attend. Participants will receive a certificate of recognition.

The Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul is located at 18th Street and Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Center City Philadelphia.

For more information and to register, visit https://cathedralphila.org/wedding-anniversary-mass/ or email famlife@archphila.org.