The canonical (non-) interview

one of the requirements to be able to marry at our church, chapel on the hill, is a canonical interview with msgr. arturo boonggaling, bishop of lipa. thankfully, he holds office on saturdays, so marlon and i decided to show up at his doorshep -- or viewdeck, since he holds office at the viewdeck of canyon woods in tagaytay. the "appointment" marlon made was for 9:00 a.m. sharp. we couldn't be late, warned the bishop, because he had to say mass at 11:00 a.m.

but really, what else can you expect from the infamous "bara-bara couple"? if you sit me down for coffee, i can tell you about all the plan-less vacations, expired passports, wrong-date-booked tickets, barely-made it boat rides, and missed flights that have characterized our relationship.

and so, after vowing to wake up at five and be off to tagaytay at six (after picking up marlon's baptismal and confirmation certificates at his house in qc), what did we do? wake up at seven! yay! that was a record drive to tagaytay, i must say. less than two and a half hours, with a two-way trip to quezon city squelched in for good measure!

we made it to canyon woods, breathless and sheepish, at around 10:30 a.m.

breathless and sheepish

fortunately, what we thought was an appointment at 9:00 a.m. was actually just the start of the bishop's office hours. so we queued up with other couples who were getting interviewed, enjoyed the breeze and the sunshine at the viewdeck, and filled up a couple of forms while waiting.

now, the interview... was kind of a non-interview. we were all ready to chat up a storm with the bishop about how we met, why we decided to get married, and all the other sundry questions we thought a bishop might like to know about two people getting hitched.

but he barely asked us anything about ourselves! he went over the questionnaire we filled up about marriage impediments -- no, i am not being kidnapped or coerced; no, we have not been married to other people; no, we are not related even if we kind of look alike.

then he filled out a couple of forms to give our parishes -- wedding banns, which notify people in our parish of our intent to marry and allow them to bring up impediments they might know of, and a request letter for my parish to let us marry at chapel on the hill.

the bishop meticulously addressed and folded each of these forms by hand, handed them over to us, murmured about a donation for his parish church. that was that.

we felt both strangely let down and hugely relieved -- nothing that cinnamon rolls (for me) and an extra-large omelette (for marlon) couldn't fix though. and with that, we were off to a late brunch at one of our favorite tagaytay roadside stops: bag of beans!

but that's another story. ;-)

Songs for the wedding

something i thought would be really easy is starting to drive me nuts. i can't decide on the wedding repertoire!

marlon was happy to leave music-related decisions to me (except for our first dance song, which we are being indecisive about as a tandem) by virtue of my eight years of singing in a choir. twelve if you count my church choir days -- egad that's effectively half my life! anyway, that factor seems to have become a liability rather than an asset. eight years' worth of songs to choose from! and that's just for the ceremony!

i am definitely sure i want songs encompassing my choral "career" from beginning to end -- from high school in the st. andrews' church choir, to my trainee days in the glee club, to competing in europe, then to moving on to acs. i am also sure i want acs to learn new songs -- none of the generic/recycled repertoire that's default choral fare for weddings and that we can sing in our sleep (i am happy to report they agree with me 100%!). and i am also sure i want nothing that screams bongga, just songs that have beautiful lyrics and moving melodies.

so far, i've chosen two songs that are definite yeses for the ceremony. they both have beautiful words, so i thought i'd post their lyrics here.

the song: open thou mine eyes by john rutter

to be sung during: communion

the story: i first heard this song in 2000, when the glee club won an international competition in marktoberdorf, germany. we were doing a joint concert with a finnish choir called audite helsinki. (one of their guest singers at the time is still a good friend to this day.) they sang this with so much heart that i instantly fell in love.

i've always wanted to learn it, and while i can't on my wedding day, at least i can compel my friends to! i really love how it's simple and moving, like an old-fashioned hymn.

the words:

Open thou mine eyes and I shall see
Incline my heart and I shall desire
Order my steps and I shall walk
In the ways of thy commandments.

O Lord God, be thou to me a God
And beside thee let there be none else
None other, nought else with thee.

Vouchsafe to me to worship thee and serve thee
According to thy commandments
In truth of spirit, in reverence of body
In blessing of lips, in private and public.

Open thou mine eyes and I shall see
Incline my heart and I shall desire
Order my steps and I shall walk
In the ways of thy commandments.

the song: this marriage by eric whitacre

to be sung during: hmmm. i don't know yet. basta it MUST be sung!

the story: i also discovered whitacre during that competition in marktoberdorf in 2001. one of our competitors (ah, i mean, isa sa mga tinalo namin haha), the portland state university choir, sang whitacre's water night, a poem by octavio paz set to music. it was gorgeous. utterly gorgeous. i remember listening to it over and over again months later, and i still listen to it sometimes, six years later.

water night did not work so well with acs, so we took up other lovely whitacre pieces such as i thank you god for most this amazing day (words by e.e. cummings) -- which i would have liked acs to sing at my wedding. i thank you god is just too long, though, so i started googling whitacre songs that might be appropriate for a wedding. i hit on this song, and when i saw that the lyrics were by the sufi poet rumi, whose works i love... bingo!

the words:

May these vows and this marriage be blessed.
May it be sweet milk, like wine and halvah (a sweet dessert).
May this marriage offer fruit and shade like the date palm.
May this marriage be full of laughter,
Our every day a day in paradise.
May this marriage be a sign of compassion,
A seal of happiness, here and hereafter.
May this marriage have a fair face and a good name,
An omen as welcomes the moon in a clear blue sky.
I am out of words to describe how spirit mingles in this marriage.