St. Joan of Arc said, "Act and God will act, work and He will work."
Beth Louise saw the truth in the saint's words, and after six years of widowhood, she decided to take the initiative. In October of 2019, Beth Louise made a CatholicMatch profile and prayed that God would gift her a faithful, Catholic man.
Enter Brian, a widow from Michigan.
"The first thing I noticed about Brian was his kind face and smile—both made me want to learn more about him and read his profile," shares Beth Louise, 53, mother of two. "I saw that he was a widower raising two children, and I knew that in addition to our faith, we also shared some unique experiences, so that was one immediate connection."
Beth Louise noticed that Brian had a special devotion to Our Mother and the Holy Rosary, which they shared in common. She also liked that Brian included a little humor in his profile.
"My family shares jokes and laughs together a lot," she says.
His first wife told him to remarry
Before he lost his wife, Marilyn, to cancer in January of 2017, Brian was happily married for 18 years. Marilyn was in hospice when she told Brian that she wanted him to remarry.
"It was the only time that both of us had ever cried," explains Brian, 54. "She told me that I needed to move on in my life and that I was too good of a person to spend the rest of my life alone. I told her that I didn't think I could move on based on what I had experienced with her."
After mourning Marilyn for over a year, he realized that he needed to listen to her. He decided he should start looking for someone to marry, but that someone would have to have enough heart to love him and his two daughters. Initially, Brian resisted online dating because he wanted to meet a woman without help.
"I quickly realized there are very limited opportunities to meet someone with the same faith, family values, work ethic, and volunteer spirit that is even interested in dating," he explains. "I come from a small rural parish and saw no opportunities there or with friends of friends."
Brian experienced a low point, which motivated him to give CatholicMatch a try.
Enter Beth Louise.
When Brian first viewed Beth's profile, he felt intimidated. Even though he considered himself an involved, practicing Catholic, he thought Beth was out of his league. Brian let things slide for about two weeks.
Her profile mentioned "'Let's be saints together,' and then I thought, 'this is a dating website, what do I have to lose?' I sent her a simple message admiring her faith and surprisingly got a reply," recalls Brian. "We sent several messages, and things just took off."
They planned their first date!
Brian reached out to Beth Louise first, and she felt pleasantly surprised to hear from him.
"When he sent me a message, my first thought was, 'Oh! It's the guy with the kind smile!' and that was a great beginning."
Beth Louise appreciated that Brian didn't waste any time posing the important questions. She felt that he sincerely desired to get to know her.
"As I hoped, Brian truly is very kind, thoughtful, and extremely respectful."
It didn't take them long to plan their first date. Brian drove three hours from Michigan to Ohio. Their date began at Beth Louise's home parish, St. Paul's, for the Saturday vigil Mass. Then the two of them went to for dinner at the restaurant where Beth Louise first felt inspired to join CatholicMatch. From the beginning, conversation flowed.
"We shared our stories of faith through some difficult times, about our spouses and our children, and Brian told me about his special devotion to The Sacred Heart of Jesus and his plans to design and build a grotto to honor our Lord," she says.
The couple's common interests and faith experiences made it easy for them to connect. At the end of their first date, Brian and Beth Louise made plans for their next meeting.
A shooting star...
Brian again drove to Ohio, and this time they met at a lovely Adoration Chapel at a nearby parish. They began their date with a rosary. They then strolled through the grotto of Our Lady Queen of Heaven.
"While walking the Stations of the Cross in the last moments of daylight, we paused at station number six and spoke of our confirmation saints St. Veronica and St. Joseph. We talked about how—although both of these saints were just ordinary citizens—God used them in extraordinary ways. And how both had comforted and touched the holy face of our Lord."
At the end of the date, Brian and Beth Louise were sitting in his truck discussing their future when they noticed a shooting star.
"Shooting stars are not just for wishing but come as reminders of great gifts that He has already sent to us," she explains. "I know Brian and his faith and love are great gifts to me."
Brian adds, "I truly believe that there was divine intervention in our meeting. I wanted to meet someone that would challenge me physically, mentally, and spiritually. I found that person in Beth,"
Planning for the future...
By their third date, Brian and Beth Louise were discussing how to blend their families. Beth Louise has two children, ages 21 and 11, and Brian's two girls are ages 20 and 17. They found that their biggest problem to be that Brian's house wasn't big enough.
"I have a three-bedroom house and cannot ask the girls to give up their rooms. We have some ideas about creating more living space so that everyone feels treated equally, so from my perspective, the biggest issue will be time to make it happen," Brian says.
A betrothal!
After all the talk about blending families, the couple made it official and became engaged on St. Valentine's Day. On Saturday, June 6, 2020, Brian and Beth Louise said vows in a formal betrothal ceremony at Beth's home parish, St. Paul Roman Catholic Church in North Canton, Ohio— where they first met in person.
"Fr. Marian presided over the ceremony—the priest who officiated during our first Mass together," she shares. "We feel blessed to have received this special blessing for our engagement. Afterward, we held a small reception at my home for our families to celebrate and spend this special day together."
They will be united in Holy Matrimony on August 15, 2020, at Brian's home parish, St. Charles Borromeo in Newport, Michigan.
Brian and Beth Louise close, "We feel that the Lord has left a trail of breadcrumbs for us to follow. Every day we seem to discover something that brings us closer."
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