In Advent of 1999, when Jessica was a 16-year-old sophomore at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart High School and Ray was a 21-year-old junior at Robert Morris College, they were each asked to participate in their parish's first Living Nativity. Jess was cast as Mary, and Ray was Joseph! Holy Trinity Parish in Robinson was also participating in the parish mission Renew 2000 at the time, and Ray was the leader for Jessica's mother Patty's small faith-sharing group. When Jess's teen Renew group dissolved, she joined the adult group and the rest, as they say, was history. You would think the age difference would have been a big deal, but for Jess's mom, she knew Ray's heart after months of meetings. Her dad however... he was a hard sell!

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"One of our favorite parts about our marriage is being there for the hard times -- when we each have a difficult day or are challenged by one of our four kids, we can tell intuitively and pick up the slack for the other."

Alaina and Andrew met in 2013 at a young adult group at Holy Trinity Parish in Robinson Twp. They became instant friends and there was always a connection despite not dating each other. Three years after meeting, Alaina moved out of town for her first teaching job in Wooster, OH.  She came home to Pittsburgh for Labor Day weekend and they met up. That’s when they both admitted they had "caught feelings for each other!" They took the plunge and dated long-distance for a year before Alaina moved back to Pittsburgh. They've always said their years of friendship helped them build a solid foundation for their relationship. They dated for three years, got engaged fall of 2019, married fall of 2020 (after planning a wedding during a pandemic!)

"Our favorite part about our marriage is that we make each other laugh every day...we're truly best friends. We’ve been through many hard and good times together, and we still want to share everything with each other!"

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"He proposed in my classroom in front of all of my third-grade students. Best day ever!"

Cyndi and Keith's first meeting was at a Major League Baseball game. They laughed and talked so much, they never even watched the game! Afterward, they were told it was “faith and family night” with a concert by Michael W Smith! A new song, A Million Lights, became Cyndi's secret “Keith” song. Over the next year, they saw each other as friends until they decided to go separate ways for a few months, to decide if they were meant for marriage...or if Keith was meant for the priesthood. Cyndi said, "My heart was broken but happy all at the same time! Not only did I miss Keith and his laughter, but I also missed our regular discussions about theology and the saints." It wasn’t until after they were engaged that Keith told Cyndi he thought of her every time he heard the Michael W Smith song, ”For you, all the stars are singing.” 

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"One of our favorite parts of our marriage is praying the rosary daily, even when one of us doesn’t feel good. Our shared desire for spiritual growth is something we don’t take for granted. We are truly blessed!."

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"Sometimes I think our story is straight out of a fairy tale - but it’s real life! I thank God every day."

Lindsay and Thomas met on the Catholic dating website: Catholic Match. Thomas moved to Australia a few months after they started dating. So they actually only lived on the same continent for about four months until they got married!

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"Our favorite part of marriage is being 'Mom and Dad' to two amazing kiddos."