Sylvia had been on CatholicMatch for several years with little luck meeting anyone in whom she truly had an interest.
In fact, she was beginning to give up hope of ever meeting the right person for her. She got a notification from CatholicMatch, indicating that her subscription was coming to a close. This prompted her to deliberate whether to continue online or not. She logged on one last time, planning to remove her profile and delete her subscription. After all, she wasn’t really meeting anyone, until...
“Our God showed up for me big time!” she now says of that life-changing day.
She chose to log in to her account one more time. And, when her account popped up, right at the top of the screen, were the new members just arriving to CatholicMatch. And, there was a kind-looking Irish fellow named Seamus, in his mid-fifties.
Sylvia, in her forties, “liked” his profile picture and moved on, thinking to herself, "what harm could it do"? After all, she was still planning on deleting her profile in another hour or so.
Suddenly an invitation to the video chat feature popped up. Seamus had already seen her “like” and wanted to chat with her! She agreed to connect with him via video, and from that point on, her life was forever changed for the better!
Says Seamus about their first time connecting via video chat, “Sylvia had the most beautiful smile. She has a good personality and I found her very easy to speak with!" As they discovered while they chatted, they’d both come to CatholicMatch to find someone who shared their beloved Catholic faith. Soon they traded phone numbers, and on their first call, they even prayed the Holy Rosary together. Since Sylvia lived in London and Seamus in Ireland, they didn’t think it would be too long before a first date.
But, there was still a pandemic going on and with it were many travel restrictions.
Both Seamus and Sylvia found themselves limited to their own cities and unable to cross the channel. But, they didn’t lose faith in their connection. As they continued getting to know each other over weeks that turned into months, they video chatted, prayed together daily, and above all, asked the Lord to lead them to finally meet in person. And, of course, He made a way for them!
“We met for the first time in London, and we knew that we had a future together!” Sylvia says. Their similar values and love for the Catholic Church shone brightly through their first date. They attended Mass and Adoration and got to share prayer in person for the first time. They talked about their favorite Saints (St. Joseph and St. Patrick). Seamus took the opportunity to introduce Sylvia to the Holy Cloak Novena to St Joseph, which has become one of their favorite Novenas.
“I can genuinely now attest that he is a kind, gentle and loving soul,” Sylvia says, comparing real-life Seamus to profile Seamus.
Their relationship blossomed with the in-person connection they finally shared.
Seamus wasted no time in planning a proposal. On his second visit to London, he met Sylvia’s family and proposed to his beloved there. He says that the long months of separation were well worth the wait!
“We opted to focus only on our Mass of Matrimony with very limited numbers of attendees, due to the pandemic,” the couple says. They were thankful to be able to live-stream the wedding to any family and friends who could not be present, and their day was a lovely celebration of faith and love.
They were married on May 1st, on the feast day of their favorite Saint Joseph the Worker, in the year of St Joseph 2021.
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