LEWISTON — Asking God to look with kindness on them, to renew their marriage covenant, and to increase his love in them, Bishop Robert Deeley blessed husbands and wives who came together for the annual Silver & Gold Mass on June 19.

More than 50 couples attended the June 19 Silver & Gold Mass at the Basilica of Saints Peter & Paul, including one couple who had been married 70 years and many others who had been married at least 50.

“These milestone anniversaries speak to us of the enduring power and strength of married love,” Bishop Robert Deeley told the assembly, according to a news release from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland.

The bishop said it is important to celebrate marriage because it is the relationship of a man and a woman, as husband and wife, that gives rise to new life.

“It is, as such, the place where family is born, where life is nourished, where love is taught,” he said. “It is, in addition, the place where God becomes known. In the experience of love, we come to know there is a source of all love, and that is God. All of that we find in Christian marriage, the foundation of our Church, of our society, our nation, and, indeed, of our culture.”

The couples who gathered at the basilica said having God in their lives has been an invaluable part of their marriages, seeing them through both good times and bad.

“It’s everything,” said Muguette Moulin of Auburn, who has been married to her husband, Tom, for 52 years.

“It is. It’s everything,” agreed Tom. “I just can’t imagine not having faith. I think they’re so lost, the people who don’t have it.”