Katherine had been on CatholicMatch on and off for years. Her subscription was about to expire, and she had no plans to renew it. “I wasn’t expecting anything,” she admitted.
Meanwhile, Alex had just joined, guided by a therapist colleague who encouraged him to be intentional in dating. Shortly after signing up, he came across Katherine’s profile. “I wanted to message her right away, but it was late at night,” he said. Out of an abundance of respect, he abstained from messaging her until the next morning, at 8 a.m. “Then I prayed for a response.”
His prayers were quickly answered.
Katherine replied, and the two began exchanging thoughtful messages, which eventually led to two video calls. Then came their first in-person meeting at a café halfway between their homes in Southern California.
They initially planned to meet for a couple of hours, but once they connected, time seemed to become irrelevant. They completely lost themselves in conversation, chatting for hours about faith, life, and future dreams. Katherine remembers, “We didn’t look at the time until 2:08 p.m. Alex was late to a study group, and I felt this was the start of something special.”
It was the kind of date that left no doubt. Alex called his best friend shortly after the date ended and said, “I just met my future wife.”
From the very beginning, faith was the foundation.
“My faith was strengthened by our relationship,” Katherine shared. Alex felt like an answer to prayer: someone she was genuinely attracted to who also shared her Catholic values. “It was proof that God would provide,” she said, and it reaffirmed her trust in Him.
They had conversations early on about faith, the moral law of God, and what it meant to live it authentically. Those discussions shaped their relationship and helped establish a foundation rooted in shared belief rather than surface-level compatibility. Marriage was always the intention. In fact, from their very first phone call, they were already discussing what marriage might look like and what kind of life they hoped to build together.
By their third date, Katherine saw that intention expressed through action. Alex planned a picnic near a local beach, complete with homemade mac and cheese, 96-hour cookies, salad, and fresh-squeezed lemonade. “Nobody had ever done that for me,” Katherine said. “That level of intentionality and care—everything changed for me after that.” It was a turning point where she recognized they were truly committed to one another.
Their shared faith continued to deepen as their relationship grew. They attended Mass together every Sunday and developed a love for the Traditional Latin Mass. They also shared a special devotion to St. Joseph, praying to him every day in the lead-up to their wedding—asking for guidance, humility, and trust as they discerned their vocation together.
Six months later, Alex planned the perfect proposal. On November 10, 2023, he took Katherine to the Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens. In the serene Chinese garden, a bridge stretched over a still pond. “He told me he was going to take a picture and positioned me facing the water,” Katherine recalled. “Then he told me to turn around—and there he was, on one knee. It was a wonderful moment!”
Their wedding on August 10, 2024, brought family and friends together to celebrate a couple whose relationship had been guided by faith and intention from the very beginning. Less than a year later, in June 2025, they welcomed their first child, beginning the next chapter of their story.
Knowing from the start that they shared the same faith in God made it easy to trust the dating process.
Reflecting on their journey, Katherine said, “We were very aligned on our values, and that obliterated many obstacles.”
From a respectful message sent at dawn to a proposal on a quiet bridge, their journey is a testament to the beauty of patience, intention, and letting God guide the way.
