The 5 Steps of the Blessing — David Hanna · Following the Stories of Real People

True Parents created them in order to bequeath to us the full benefit of the age we are blessed to live in. There are 5 steps to enable fallen people to move from the realm of Satan’s Territory to the Realm of God’s territory in terms of the blood lineage. These realms are invisible. However, True Parents have established this process for us and claimed these steps as the basic conditions upon which – if we understand, follow and grow in love through going through these steps – we can receive tremendous guidance about restoring true love and also protection from the forces of evil which conspire in various ways to destroy true love relationships. They are the fulfilment of God’s promise to humankind that we will be restored to his bosom.

What are they?

 The Holy Wine Ceremony  The Blessing Ceremony  The Holy Indemnity (or Chastening) Ceremony  The 40 Days of Holy Separation  The 3 Day Ceremony

1.The Holy Wine Ceremony The Meaning of this Ceremony  This Ceremony is the one through which fallen people’s blood lineage (of Satan) is transformed to that of God by drinking prepared wine or nectar that symbolises God’s Blood Lineage.  Going through the ceremony represents cleansing the original sin of adultery. Through it we are ready to be reborn centring on the love of God and True Parents.  Through it we enter the gateway where we are offered the true blood lineage of pure and perfected Adam and Eve.  Through it we are, like ships, blown by ‘God’s Love and Blood Wind’ into God’s Territory, so to speak.

Significance  In this ceremony women go internally through a process of being restored first (since they fell first), and then ‘give birth’ to men. (True Parents give re-birth to women spiritually and men are re-born spiritually through their wife’s faith, heart and love.)  Good and evil are divided through this ceremony. The condition to become the 1st Israel was circumcision. The condition to become the 2nd Israel was baptism. The condition to become the 3rd Israel is the Holy Wine Ceremony  The proper order of love is restored, receiving new life from God instead of being Satan’s children.

2. The Blessing Ceremony  We call this wedding ceremony ‘the Blessing’ because through it we become able to receive the blessing of God’s complete love  Marriage allows us to complete God’s purpose of creation: the harmony of all things centring on an harmonious man and woman  We receive the blessing of being able to belong to another with total commitment and service and giving; living for the sake of our partner  Through God centred marriage we are blessed to be able to restore our true humanity, our true heart and value

Process of the Blessing Ceremony  Walking through the 3 Ages of Restoration GRATITUDE TO GOD’S WORK IN HISTORY and for me  Reciting the Blessing Vows PROMISE TO GOD  Receiving True Parents’ Blessing Prayer SANCTIFY THE UNION OF OUR COUPLE  Receiving the sprinkling of Holy Water CLEANSE OUR HEARTS  Exchanging rings GIVE OUR PROMISE TO EACH OTHER  Bow of respect to True Parents, Parents and families GRATITUDE to those who have raised and loved us  Celebratory cheer of ‘Og Mansei!’ CELEBRATION

3. The Holy Indemnity (or Chastening ) Ceremony  This Ceremony should be done as soon as possible under the supervision of your Community Leader or Pastor’s couple if you do not do it the day after the Blessing Ceremony  It is for the purpose of resolving the resentment between fallen men and fallen women who have brought untold suffering to one another in history through the misuse of their ‘love organs’  It is a ceremony of promise that the new couple will never hurt each other through misusing love by betraying each other or misusing anger in violence towards each other

4.The 40 Days of Holy Separation

 This a time of offering the Marriage to God and spending time preparing for the final step of the Blessing  The 4th Step ( The Holy Chastening Ceremony ) is done usually at the beginning of this 40 Days’ Separation Period.  It simply means that we put God first in our life, and in our marriage life too. So, in order to become a Blessed Couple we do not consummate the marriage until after the 40 days has passed with sincere devotion and thought*

5. The 3 Day Ceremony  When the 40 Days of Separation are completed the couple can receive a confirmation prayer from their local Pastor Couple, or Community Leader  The Guidelines of the 3 Day Ceremony can be given to them then and they can read and ask questions of their elder couple about the consummation of their Blessing.  The 3 Day Ceremony represents the reversal of the process of the Fall of Man, and the substantial restoration of the order of love centring on God.  Through it the man and woman can complete the process of being reborn as children of True Parents and children of God  After the ceremony they are free to express their intimate love in anyway which brings mutual joy

Beginning the Journey of True Love  Having completed the 5 Steps of the Blessing, you will be registered as a Blessed Couple  You will then belong to the extended family of the True Parents  All your ancestral merit will bear fruit in your efforts to renew love in your family and build a new family tradition centring on the Family Pledge  You will begin to substantially restore true love in your lives as you work together to overcome fallen nature and build the culture of heart in your family and community

 These three ceremonies should be considered as roadmaps, which guide our way back to be God‘s children.  Completing the ceremonies is the beginning of the cleansing of our blood lineage.  Through our everyday investment and effort we develop our mutual love until it becomes true love.  On this way we overcome and restore all the mistakes and sins of the past (inherited sin, collateral sin, personal sin).

Five Steps of True Parents’ Holy Blessing The 5 Steps Name of Step date completed (by the couple as they finish each step)

 The Holy Wine Ceremony ___/___/____

----------------------------------------------------------------------- Registration  The Blessing Ceremony ___/___/____

-----------------------------------------------------------------------  The Holy Indemnity (or Chastening) Ceremony ___/___/____ Form -----------------------------------------------------------------------  The 40 Days of Holy Separation ___/___/____

-----------------------------------------------------------------------  The 3 Day Ceremony ___/___/____

---------------------------------------------------------------------- Signature of Community Leader who has guided the couple through their Blessing Preparation and Ceremony, and prayed with them before they offered the 3 Day Ceremony

I, _________________________________________ confirm that _________________________________ and _________________________________ (husband) (wife)

have completed the 5 steps of the Holy Blessing Please attach a couple photo below:

Signed: ---------------------------------------------------------- Date: -----------------------------------------------------------

Please note that if you are married and have children….  In our tradition, those children have come to be called ‘Jacob Children’. When they embrace the Unification faith, they would be eligible to apply for the Matching and Blessing as 1st Gen candidates, once they fulfil the requirements for that process. They would go through these 5 Steps of the Blessing as you have to receive the change of blood lineage.  Any children you may have after completing the ‘5 steps’ process of the Blessing are called ‘2nd Generation Blessed Children’ in our cultural tradition. When they come to the age of matching and Blessing, they are not required to go through the ‘‘change of blood lineage” process.

Does this mean that ‘Jacob children’ have less value than Blessed children?

 NO!!!!!  It simply means that they need to go through the 5 steps of the Blessing process to receive the ‘change of blood lineage’.  They should never be treated as less valuable than other children, or separated in different classes, or activities so as to make them feel inferior  They need to be educated about the value of the Blessing just as other Blessed children do

Parents need to be honest with them

 Explain to your children at an appropriate age – perhaps between 12 and 14 ( depending on their understanding ) that they were conceived before you received the Blessing  Explain in a simple way what the 5 Steps are what you went though and that they will need to also when they marry  Make it clear to them that God and you will help them to find a beautiful spouse from amongst other 1st Generation Blessing Candidates, possibly other ‘Jacob children’