They Both Turned to St. Therese

Kelly was late for their first date. She and Joe were meeting for the first time at a restaurant about halfway between their respective homes, which were over an hour apart, and she is habitually unpunctual.

Both Kelly and Joe were coming from a place of heartbreak and disappointment.

Both had been married before, marriages that had ended in annulments. And both were frustrated with dating people who didn’t share their faith and world view.

Kelly had first made her Catholic Match profile some time ago, but had decided to take a pause from actively using it in order to focus on putting the rest of her life in order. When she at last got back to it, she found that Joe had left a message for her.

“Mine was the first she saw,” he said. “The rest is history, and I’m grateful for that good timing!”

After Kelly finally arrived for that first dinner date, however, there was yet another delay before ordering. Namely, they became so engrossed in conversation that it was over an hour before they even looked at the menu. They kept having to tell their poor waitress that they weren’t ready yet.

“We quickly found a friendship and safe haven in each other, rooted in our love of faith and family,” she said. “Any previous frustrations about online dating vanished when we connected.”

On their second date they attended Mass together, where Kelly prayed to the Lord that He would send her a sign if it was His will that she become Joe’s spouse. She promised Him that if so, they would build a strong family to love and serve Him. When she had done, a great sense of peace washed over her.

Unbeknownst to Kelly, Joe was praying a similar prayer next to her.

He didn’t tell her until after he had proposed.

Their courtship was not always easy though. After all, they had both been married before, which brought with it its own emotional obstacles. They wanted to make sure they didn’t overlook anything this time; that they were totally prepared for the new covenant they were about to form. In this they were blessed with a very good marriage preparation program, which they both found especially therapeutic.

“We confronted strengths and areas to grow in virtue and we helped each other face any emotionally challenging topics that arose,” Kelly said. “It made us feel totally prepared for our nuptials and made the wedding day truly joyful.”

But there were still other complications that no amount of marriage prep could solve.

Kelly’s daughters and Joe’s son had some trouble adjusting to the new situation, as children often do. Worse, their exes attempted to prevent them from raising their children in the Catholic faith. Added to this was the difficulty of the distance, living over an hour apart.

“At one point, it seemed all the odds were stacked against us,” Kelly said.

In the midst of a particularly difficult period, the couple prayed a Novena to St. Therese of Lisieux, asking that she would give them a sign that “the broken pieces of our family may find unity in Christ.” Upon completing the Novena, they happened to be attending Mass for the Feast of the Assumption in a town they had never been before. As the priest was about to recess out of the church, he suddenly turned to the altar and selected a rose from the altar arrangement. He stopped by their pew and handed the rose to their youngest, saying “This is proof you really do receive gifts from Heaven when you ask. Place this on you family’s altar.”

A sign indeed. From then on, things seemed to start getting easier. 

They started talking marriage only a year after they met and were joined together in matrimony on October 3^rd, 2020, the Feast of St. Therese in the old Roman calendar. Kelly’s brother and Joe’s nephew served at the Mass, and Kelly’s other brother sang the hymns they selected. The side altar was decorated with petals from that gifted rose.

Reflecting on their journey, they offered this advice to those who are still seeking:

“What we learned is that when the timing is right, you'll be ready for meeting your true love. Until then, there's always more work or healing to do and you're not quite ready to be in a relationship. Focusing first on your relationship with the Lord is the surest way to be ready to show that love in a relationship.”