He was on the verge of quitting CatholicMatch.
Then he saw her profile.
“She had the kindest eyes, a beautiful smile, and a profile that matched everything I wanted in a woman. She loves God, she’s educated, and she is beautiful. Even though she lived in the Philippines, I thought, I would love to see if she is interested in me, maybe I can at least make a new friend, because she lives too far away,” Richard said. (Richard, now 47, had been on the site for just over two years).
She had been ready to give up too. “I saw a six-month guarantee that you will meet your desired partner with tips on it. I religiously did every tip and before my subscription ended, I was engaging in serious talks with Richard,” Doris said. (For Doris, now 36, it had been over a year that she had been on CatholicMatch)
Both Richard and Doris found in this last-chance chance meeting on CatholicMatch the qualities they had been looking for all along.
Everything we've been looking for
Doris had three main criteria: besides being single, she wanted a match who was Catholic and “stable.” “When I talk about ‘stable,’ I’m not just referring to finances but more so spiritual, emotional, and physical stability.”
“Aside from that he is also God-fearing,” Doris added. “He truly loves Jesus. He is very honest.”
Richard also had specific ideas of what he was looking for: someone in her mid-30s with no children, educated, career-oriented. Also on his list were more spiritual qualities: “does service work for God, honest, and a beautiful soul.” Richard says he found all of these qualities—and more—in Doris.
Richard remembers the date he first reached out to Doris—it was April 13, 2015. His message was a simple and humble one. “Hi,” he wrote. “And we have been talking ever since,” Richard said.
Timing is everything
Because of the distance and the time difference, Richard and Doris count their first date as the first time they chatted on Skype. And that took almost a month to arrange. Since then, despite the fact that she is 15 hours ahead and works a graveyard shift, Doris says they have “never failed to communicate” using whatever medium worked for them—Viber, Skype, and Yahoo.
Their conversations were wide-ranging, according to Doris, covering everything from favorite colors to verses in the Bible to big-picture topics, like their plans for the future. “At the end of the conversation, I let Richard say “Mahal kita” three times, (That means I love you in Tagalog) because I love his accent,” Doris said. (Tagalog is her native language, but since the Philippines is an English-speaking country, Doris says there was no language barrier in their conversations.)
A few months into their relationship, Richard had an epiphany.
Remembering his journal
“I remembered right before I was ready to give up, and before I met Doris, I asked God for a wife in my prayers. I then ran to my room and pulled out my journal, because I remembered writing down all of the qualities I wanted in a woman. As I read the journal, I started crying, the tears were coming from my soul, and they were for God. She matched every single line in my journal about what I wanted in a wife,” he said.
Every morning, Richard prayed for God to “intervene” if Doris was not the right one. He promised to accept God’s decision, even though he admitted he had already fallen in love with her. Richard, who lives Albuquerque, New Mexico, was nervous about making the 14-hour flight to the Philippines but told God he would if it was His will.
He flew out on the last day of 2015.
The man in black
“I was waiting at the arrival near the immigration officer where you can see all passengers passing by, feeling nervous and excited at the same time,” Doris said. “After 15 minutes, I saw a good-looking white bald man wearing all black. I deeply prayed in silence that Richard would be attracted to me when he saw me in person. And when he went out, I waved my hand but he didn’t notice me. And then I went close to him, and kissed him on the cheek and held his hand to the taxi.”
“We met at the airport and caught a cab, and I had butterflies as she held my hand,” Richard added.
When they reached the hotel, they shared their first kiss. Richard looked Doris in the eyes. “I am finally here,” he told her. “Tears formed in the corner of my eyes, and we hugged each other,” she said.
Richard spent two weeks in the Philippines. By the end of his trip, he and Doris were engaged. With a visa for Doris pending, they hope to be wed by fall of 2016.
They both have advice for others still looking for their Catholic match.
There's hope!
“If you have dreams of finding someone, CatholicMatch is the best site. You can actually meet decent people with a clear intention of really finding a lifetime partner. I am forever grateful that I chose this site,” Doris said.
Added Richard: “I would suggest to trust in God. I had doubts at first, and thought this long-distance relationship might not work. However, I prayed on it and told God that I would give it a try and trust in Him. I also had to trust Doris 100 percent. By trusting in God, I have come to a point that I trust in Doris as well. Now, there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t trust Doris 100 percent. I thought it was impossible to fall in love online, but I was wrong.
In closing, ‘trust in God,’ try and follow all of God’s teachings in the Catholic Church, and ‘ask and you shall receive.’—‘Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you'’' (Matthew 7:7)
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