Arte, 34, had spent years praying to find a good Catholic man, someone with whom she could grow in the faith and start a family. But she had few Catholic friends in her North Carolina town. She decided to try CatholicMatch, but grew discouraged after several months.
On top of that, she suffered a foot injury that prevented her from playing volleyball, her favorite sport. “I was single, couldn’t practice the sport that I loved, and felt sorry for myself,” she said. “I felt that God left me alone.”
Thinking she’d never find a mate, she decided to cancel her subscription.
But the Monday she tried, her laptop screen froze. The next two days, when she was trying to cancel, she received phone calls that distracted her.
On Thursday, she was determined to finally cancel her subscription. That’s when a photo of Nick, 34, also in North Carolina, popped up. Arte was intrigued by his picture and profile.
"He was on a wheelchair, holding a tennis racket and smiling. I read his profile and I loved what he wrote, and I just wanted to know more about him,” she said. The next day, she decided to cancel anyway, but before she could, Nick sent her a message.
They started messaging on the website and learned they had much in common. Nick noticed they were the same age and asked what month she was born. “October,” Arte said. What day? “The 19th.” Nick was floored—they shared the same birthday. “I didn’t believe him until we met and I saw his driver license!” Arte said.
They exchanged numbers and started talking on the phone. “Our conversations involved the Catholic faith,” she said. Within a few days, Arte felt that God was telling her Nick was the man she’d been praying for all those years. Excited, she asked God when it would be official.
“He told me that I had to be patient, which is not my strongest skill, but I believed Him,” she confessed. Soon, Nick asked Arte to be his girlfriend.
A few months into dating, Nick got a chance to meet her family in Mexico...and ask her dad an important question.
Five months after meeting on CatholicMatch, Arte invited Nick to spend Christmas 2015 with her family in Mexico, where she was born. “He didn’t speak a word of Spanish, so I thought it would be hard for him, but he accepted and went with me,” she said.
Arte and Nick spent three weeks with Arte’s family, who showed Nick their love the whole time. Since language was a barrier, they sometimes communicated using Google translation services, or Arte’s brother (who speaks English).
Unbeknownst to Arte, Nick had an important conversation with her father in Mexico. Since he knew this would be his only chance, Nick asked her father for permission to marry her, using her brother to translate. Arte’s family knew a proposal was coming, but they kept it a secret.
He proposed on St. Valentine's Day, on a snowy day at the beach.
In February, back in North Carolina, Nick was remodeling the house he recently bought, with Arte’s help. “I felt like his designer!” she laughed. One chilly day, Nick suggested they take a break from working and go for a walk on the beach. Growing up in Mexico, Arte loved the beach. But not on this day. “A trip to the beach when it’s snowing? That’s crazy!” she thought, but went anyway.
On the beach, Nick told Arte she was his best friend, and he loved her and wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. She was so concerned with the cold, she didn’t realize he was about to propose. “I just wanted to let him finish so we could get inside to keep warm,” she admitted. “It wasn’t until he showed me the ring that I forgot about the weather and started crying for happiness.” She said yes.
Nick chose February 14 to propose, but not because of that day’s romantic tradition. He chose the date to honor the true spirit of Saint Valentine, who believed that marriage was for life. “That’s why he proposed to be together until God separates us from this life,” Arte shared. Five months later, they married in July 2016.
A daily rosary and weekly visits to the Blessed Sacrament helped the first few months of marriage to go smoothly.
“I’ve heard that the most difficult part of marriage is the first months or year, because you’re learning to adapt,” Arte said. However, she revealed that this hasn’t been a problem for them. She admitted they don’t always agree on everything, but they try to understand each other and make the best decisions for both. It helps that they daily pray the Rosary, visit the Blessed Sacrament once a week, and try to help each other grow in the faith.
Arte and Nick, neither of whom had been married before, are grateful to CatholicMatch for bringing them together. It was a result of answered prayers—and timing. Nick had opened his CatholicMatch account on Wednesday, the exact same day Arte was trying to close hers. They started talking two days later.
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