Witnessing to the sacrament of marriage

By Margaret M. Russell | The Catholic Free Press

More than 1,200 years of marriage were on display in St. Paul Cathedral Nov. 5. Bishop McManus celebrated the diocesan Wedding Anniversary Mass and 30 couples who had been married between 10 and 66 years took the opportunity to bless their spouses invoking God as they prayed: “Blessed are you, Lord, for in the good and bad times of our life, you have stood lovingly by our side.”
Bishop McManus called the couples witnesses to the sanctity of married life.
He quoted Blessed Pope Paul VI, champion of married life and family life, saying, “People will listen to a witness before they listen to a teacher and if they listen to a teacher, it is because the teacher is a witness.”
He greeted the couples and their families explaining that, “We gather this afternoon to celebrate the gift of sacramental marriage. And we do so to witness to the fact that in a world plagued by broken promises and shameful infidelities that destroy and cripple marriages and relationships, you couples have remained faithful to the vows you pronounced on your wedding day. You have done so for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death.”
Bishop McManus also read from the “exhortation before the sacrament of matrimony” that would have been read at the wedding of any couple married more than 40 years ago. The exhortation noted that the union of man and woman was established by God to sanctify human love, and married couples are “to help each other live as children of God, by sharing a common life under his fatherly care.”
The exhortation tells those about to be married that “the future - its hopes and its disappointments, its successes and its failures, its pleasures and its pains, its joys and its sorrow - is hidden from your eyes. You know well that these elements are mingled in every life and are to be expected in your own.”
Fourteen couples, who likely heard these words and lived them, celebrated 50 years of married life in 2017. One couple has been married 55 years, another two couples 60 years. Raymond and Doris Fluet were the longest married at 66 years.
Michele and John Piselli marked their 25th anniversary at the Mass, accompanied by three of their four sons. Mr. Piselli said he met his wife on a blind date, arranged by mutual friends, and it wasn’t long before he fell in love and knew that she was the woman he wanted to marry. But, when he first asked her, she said “no.”
Obviously, she changed her mind and now the couple, who worship at St. Brigid Parish in Millbury, say, “our life and faith are inseparable.”
Next week, on Nov. 17, Daniel and Nicole Shaughnessy of St. John Parish in Worcester, mark “a big year.” Mrs. Shaughnessy said they were married 10 years ago at St. Patrick Parish in Natick. They have two young boys, Evan, 8, and Ryan, 9, who attended the Mass and reception in the Cenacle that followed.
“Faith is important to keep this together,” Mr. Shaughnessy said.
Mrs. Shaughnessy added, “It’s not easy, but it is definitely worth it.”
Lawrence and Mary Walter, who were sitting at the same table with the Shaughnessy family, said keeping the romance alive in the marriage was key to their marriage of 30 years.
“You have to really get to know someone and keep them embedded in your heart,” Mr. Walter said.
Ronald and Kathleen Thompson, of St. Mary Parish in Shrewsbury, had a list of things important for a strong marriage: sharing, forgiveness, understanding, listening, not judging.
Mrs. Thompson emphasized forgiveness. “We all have faults; if you want the Lord to forgive your faults,” you have to forgive each other, she said.
“It’s not an easy matter sharing your deepest feelings, exposing yourself” and being vulnerable, Mr. Thompson said.
After 45 years of marriage, the couple said they are more alike than ever.
Mr. Thompson’s thoughts echoed one thing Bishop McManus read during his homily: “Henceforth you belong entirely to each other; you will be one in mind, one in heart, and one in affections.”    
Allison LeDoux, director of the Office of Family Life,  which sponsors the annual Mass, announced the names of the 30 couples celebrating a total of 1,276 years of marriage.
The names and number of years married follow:

10 years
Daniel and Nicole Shaughnessy

20 years
Deacon Anthony and Mary Xatse


25 years  
-  Silver Anniversary
Armand and Noel
Barrette
James and Judith Burke
David and Christine Farmer
Sean and Mary Fay
Paul and Jessica Johnson
John and Michele Piselli

30 years
Lawrence and Mary
Walter

40 years
Frederick and Mary Opatka
Wojciech and Krystyna Perczak

45 years
Ronald and Kathleen Thompson

50 years  
- Golden Anniversary
Fred and Connie Ayles
Robert and Suzanne Boucher
Richard and Doris Boulette
John and Margaret Catterall
William and Catherine Cooper
Robert and Elaine Fitzgibbon
Mat and Anne-Marie Glavickas
Ted and Betsy Gorman
John and Diane Grady
John and Linda Kinsey
Deacon George and Joyce O’Connor
Adam and Therese
Ozaniak
Gerhard and Barbara
Seidenberg
Jeremy and Charlene Swett

55 years
Roland and Nora
Paquette

60 years
James and Joan Cutroni
Francis and June Hanam

66 years
Raymond and Doris Fluet