On Easter Sunday of 2019, Rose’s two teenage nieces told her “Auntie Rose, we need to find you a match!” Though Rose, who works in sales for a packaging company, had briefly tried another dating website without success, she willingly went along with her nieces’ plan to create a CatholicMatch account for her. She laughingly joked, “They spent most of that day swiping for me!” Mark wasn’t among the eligible bachelors they chose to view profiles for that day or on the days following, but fortunately for him, Rose would eventually find his profile herself.
They met each other within a month of signing up!
For his part, Mark, a retired Army veteran with consulting, management, and insurance claims adjusting experience, signed up for CatholicMatch less than a month later. When he was young, Mark married outside the Church and welcomed two sons with his first wife. They later divorced. Over a decade later, he was wed in a Catholic ceremony to his second wife Laura, who he credits with helping him return to the Faith. They enjoyed 14 happy years together before her death in 2017.
In the months before signing up for CatholicMatch, the widower realized that his future wife would almost certainly need to be a Catholic, but not because of a litmus test from him. He is active in his parish’s Knights of Columbus council, sings in the choir, lectors at Mass, and previously served as the Parish Council chairman. Only a woman deeply committed to the Catholic Faith herself would likely go along willingly with all that involvement, he reasoned.
Almost immediately after signing on, he came across Rose’s profile and sent her a message. Mark recalled, “Rose’s picture was very sweet, it struck me right off! [She] looked so happy!” He went on, “She’s all about family…came from a big Irish-Catholic family, and her faith was important to her.”
“Stop looking in all the wrong places!”
Asked what first stood out to her as she looked through Mark’s profile, Rose answered, “He had traveled a lot, he was [retired from] the Army. He goes to church, loves Catholicism. And,” she added, “He was cute!” Mark’s involvement with his parish was an answer to prayer for her, as she and one of her sisters had discussed not long before how, when it came right down to it, Rose was looking for a man who “was honest and loves to go to church!” When she heard that Rose wanted a God-fearing, church-going man, she told her bluntly “Stop looking in all the wrong places! Get on CatholicMatch!”
Her future husband lived just 40 minutes away...
Mark and Rose learned that they lived just 15 miles, but a nearly 40-minute drive, away from each other. They met for a first date just a week after “meeting” online. That first date was a success, so they planned another. In the months and eventually years following, they realized they enjoyed taking long walks together, riding their recumbent bikes, serving in their parishes, and savoring wine.
As the relationship grew more serious, the couple reflected on the beauty and sacredness of Christian marriage. Asked by a well-meaning family member why he didn’t just say ‘to heck with it’ and go get married on a beach, Mark shot back cheekily “I’m not a beach person!” But underneath the humor, he and Rose reflected more seriously, “Marriage is important to the church, as it is to us. It’s not a fly-by-night, instant-gratification set of circumstances. I think it’s good that the Church would protect it.”
In August of 2021, two years and a few months after their initial correspondence, Mark decided the time was right to propose during their first visit to the Napa Valley wine country.
Her response to his proposal surprised him!
Mark received help with a midnight proposal from the spa resort staff, who left the lights on in a poolside cabana specifically for the couple. As the couple went for a stroll, Mark suddenly turned towards Rose and got down on one knee. She was so taken aback that she blurted out, “Huh? What? Now?” Mark had to follow up with a clarifying question, “Is this a yes or no?” Fortunately, he received a resounding, definite yes!
The couple is planning a November wedding.
The couple is grateful to God and CatholicMatch for bringing them together. Rose offered words of advice for prospective members still sitting on the fence about joining, “If a good Catholic man is what you are seeking, you've come to the right place with Catholicmatch.com." Mark agreed, “My faith life is important to me, and by participating in Catholic Match.com that element is assured.”
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