The 43 Couples from 10 nations During their Second World Tour in 1969, True Parents officiated the marriage Blessing ceremony of 43 Couples from 10 nations. They said that this Blessing was linked to the 430 Couples in Korea and signified connecting the Blessing to the entire world. True Parents blessed 13 couples (seven newly engaged and six already married) at the Washington, D.C. church on February 28; eight couples (seven newly engaged and one already married) in Essen, Germany, on March 28; and 22 couples (12 newly engaged and 10 already married) at the Tokyo church on May 1. 13 The world now revolves around the second seven-year course, which started in 1968. Just as Cain and Abel fought, the left wing and right wing are fighting worldwide. We need to resolve this conflict and develop a new family, a new society, a new nation and a new world. This is the view of the Principle and is the mission of the Unification Church. This is why, on January 1,1968,1 established God's Day. It was the day of victory on this earth for the Unification Church. Shortly thereafter, I conducted the 430 Couples Blessing. I had to connect this victorious day horizontally to the world, so I blessed the 43 Couples while on my 1969 world tour. This was an extension of the 430 Couples Blessing in Korea. By conducting the 43 Couples Blessing, I connected 10 nations on the horizontal level. We need to globalize everything that we have accomplished in Korea. (058-223, 1972/06/11) 14 The 43 Couples Blessing was largely intercultural. Everyone was matched internationally, such as American with German, Dutch with English, and so on. In most cases I did not match the Blessing candidates with someone from their own country. In order to restore the world, we need to transcend our attachment to our own people and instead love the world. This is why I conducted a marriage Blessing ceremony with people from different countries. All of them were thrilled to participate and it brought me great joy to look upon them.
After I bestowed the Blessing, I asked what they would like to do for Korea. They said they would do anything I asked of them. Never before in history has an Asian man single-handedly inspired people so profoundly in Europe. In light of this, I once again came to realize how formidable the Unification Principle truly is. (022-229, 1969/05/02) 15 Through the Blessing of 430 Couples, Korea came to stand in the position of connecting to the Unification Principle. What this means is that, even though most Korean people may not believe in the Unification Church, they can reap the benefit of being the Third Israel because we have established an indemnity condition for them to do so through the 430 Couples. Thus, the nation of Korea has become the realm of the chosen people.
After blessing the 430 Couples, I needed to carry out the work of expanding this realm of the Republic of Korea and its citizens worldwide. I first needed to choose the holy grounds and then I had to engraft them to the 430 Couples. This is why I chose holy grounds in 40 nations during my First World Tour and blessed 43 Couples during my Second World Tour. I determined to connect Japan, America and Germany through the 43 Couples, who were the counterparts of the 430 Couples. This was a global, historic task. As a result, it has become possible even for the world's innumerable nonbelievers to enjoy the benefits of the realm of Israel in this age of horizontal restoration, the same benefits as those enjoyed by those who inherited the traditions of the Jewish or Christian faith, whether over the past 4,000 years or today. Such a foundation has been established. |