PROVIDENCE— "We feel like newlyweds," said Roger Martin, beaming beside Lorraine, his wife of 55 years.
The loving couple from St. Joseph Church, Woonsocket, attended the Wedding Anniversary celebration Sunday at the Cathedral of SS. Peter and Paul and reflected on the day they met.
“We met at a wedding shower for a friend at a hotel in Woonsocket,” he recalled, holding his wife’s hand. “When I first saw her, I knew I wanted to dance with her and she danced into my heart.”
More than 200 other love stories were awakened as couples from across the diocese gathered together to celebrate the special milestones in their lives and to have their marriages blessed during the Mass, which was presided over by Bishop Thomas J. Tobin.
In his homily, the bishop congratulated the couples celebrating their anniversaries, a joyful occasion in the life of the diocesan church.
“There’s certainly lots of confusion about marriage in our world today,” he said. “And you’ve known good days and bad days, joys and sorrows, but nonetheless here you are, you’re survivors and we give thanks and praise to God.”
The bishop said that together, they are not celebrating quantity of years, but the quality of their life and faith within a “permanent, faithful, creative, and holy” sacrament. He also prayed that God would continue to bless the couples with abundant gifts in the days and years to follow.
“You have taken the concept of marriage and breathed life into it,” said Bishop Tobin. “You have made it real.”
Part of what makes a marriage unique is how a couple first met. The longer the love, the more those first moments become precious and extraordinary in the memory for the faithful couple. For Brian and Margaret Morgan, parishioners of Mary, Mother of Mankind in North Providence, it was “love at first sight.”
“We met on the dance floor,” she said, smiling at her husband of 25 years. “We were dancing and he said to me, ‘something tells me that you’re the girl I’ve been looking for all of my life,’ and I said to him, ‘something tells me you’re right’.”
“It was one enchanted evening,” he remembered.
After witnessing countless devoted couples at the Mass, celebrating more than 50 years of marriage, Margaret Morgan explained that she felt inspired by the generations of love.
“It’s possible," she said. “Marriage is a living, breathing example of our love and our community; it’s a sacrament. It’s a very inspiring example to our family, to our children.”
Mike DeNoia and his wife Cathy, parishioners of Immaculate Conception Church, Westerly, said that they were happy to help out with hospitality for the annual event. Celebrating 36 years of marriage, Mike DeNoia shared that the Anniversary Mass is inspirational for couples and puts the focus on how important marriage is in today's society.
"Looking at the numbers of people here it speaks volumes," he said. "You see people make their way up the stairs on crutches, under their own power. It's a tremendous example."
Bishop Tobin expressed his gratitude toward the couples for their dedication to the sacrament of matrimony and their witness to the faith. He added that regardless of what happens along the journey of life, that God will be with them, a promise he makes in the holy sacrament.
“When two people marry, they promise to love one another as God has loved us and their love becomes a reflection of God’s love in the world,” the bishop said. “Your anniversary is the intersection of your past and future. As you reflect upon the past, give thanks to God for all of his blessings and you can look to the future with confidence, hope and joy.”
Couples celebrating milestone anniversaries
67 YEARS
Michael and Mafalda Andrea
William and Josephine Elliano
John and Lena McDonough
66 YEARS
Ralph and Marie Grieco
65 YEARS
Louis and Lorraine Gazzerro
Carlo and Dorothy Longo
Armand and Rita Perrault
Nazareth and Frances Piccirilli
64 YEARS
Donald and Elaine McCarthy
62 YEARS
Albert and Dorothy A. Palombo
Louis V. and Gloria S. Sciolto
61 YEARS
Angela and Ida Acciardo
Benjamin and Carolina Carbone
Rudolph and Jean Lombardi
Richard and Eleanor Mournighan
William and Florence Rosa
Ralph and Kathleen Willis
60 YEARS
Charles and Patricia Andrade
Eugene and Evelyn Blair
Andrew and Corinne Caldarone
Alfredo and Maria DaRosa
Rodrigues and Concetta DaSilva
Marshall and Jean Gillette
Herman and Muriel Lapointe
Philippe and Gabrielle Levesque
Roland and Theresa Masterson
Joseph and Shirley Pichette
Stephen and Gloria Sanfilippo
Anthony and Virginia Simeone
Howard and Justine Weekley
59 YEARS
Clarence and Mary Barrow
Robert and Gilda Colannino
Silvio and Mary Gliottone
Charles and Muriel LaFontaine
58 YEARS
Philip and Joan Gately
Richard and Irene St. Louis
57 YEARS
Antimo and Rosalie D'Agostino
Ciro and Olga DeLuca
Robert and Anne Scott
56 YEARS
Leonard and Catherine Kerchner
Robert and Ann Moan
55 YEARS
Anthony and Patricia Cunha
Wendell and Anne Lowry
Robert and Rose MacLure
Roger and Lorraine Martin
Richard and Patricia Pelletier, Sr.
54 YEARS
David and Josephine J. Alves
Frank and Teresa Caramadre
Joseph and Natalie Migneault
Salvatore and Evelyn Raspallo
53 YEARS
Joseph and Helen Stachowiak
52 YEARS
Philip and Patricia Abbatomarco
Edward and Rosemary Altiere
Edward and Angela Haibon
51 YEARS
Thomas and Eleanor Chadronet
Michael R. and Dolores Mancini
John and Ann McBride
Charles P. and Rita L. Nadeau
50 YEARS
Arthur and Nancy Andrews
Richard and Maria Antonelli
Jose and Barbara Antonio
Michael and Pauline Aridano
Anthony and Rosemarie Arlia
Richard and Carolyn Autiello
George and Elizabeth Bannon
Manuel and Maria Bettencourt
Robert J. and Irene C. Bissonnette
Joseph and Karen Blount
Lawrence and Marilyn Bricker
Frank A. and Camille Bucci
Emidio and Judith Carusi
Richard and Jean Cedor
Ulisse and Irene Coletta
Robert and Barbara Collelo
Luke and Janet Conboy
John Michael and Mary Elizabeth Conway
James and Ethel Conway
Raymond and Ann Creta
William and Joan Darcey
Michael and Jeanette Darling
John and Jeanne Degoes
Ronald and Millie Destremps
Anthony and Mary L. DiSaia
Edward and Claire Dufresne
John and Patricia Faria
Richard C. and Barbara L. Ferreira
Albert and Marjorie Gates
Harris and Carol Gederman
David and Sheila Greene
A. Roger and Claudette Guillemette
Rene R. and Evelyn M. Heroux
John and Raffaela Leone
Joseph and Lois Lombardi
Ralph and Dolores Manzi
Donald B. and Norma McLeod
Nicholas and Luisa Nofi, Jr.
Dana and Janice O’Neill
Anthony and Rosealba Pagano
Norman and Mary Palazini
Anthony and Amelia Pecchia
Ernest and Joan Peck
John and Alice Pellegrino
Norman and Marguerite Pike
Ernest and Carol Pina
Miguel and Juanita Rey
Paul A. and L. Ellen Schroeder
Michael and Bernice Sechio
Raymond J. and Barbara M. Simone
James R. and Lena A. Sullivan
Robert and Sheila Sweeney
John W. and Judith J. Tullie
John and Carolyn Wheeler
Walter and Maria Wilk
Ernest and Pauline Woods
40 YEARS
Ronald and Althea Allard
Paul and Joanne Benoit
Eugene and Claire Berard
Domingos and Evangelina Bernardo
Jose E. and Virginia L. Bulcao
Joseph and Jeannette Carreau, III
Domenico and Christina Castaldi
Peter and Diane Cipolla
Dennis and Marjorie Costello
Robert and Barbara DelVicario
Raymond and Jane Dusseault
Gerald and Helene Dziok
Joseph and Donna Elliott
Raymond L. and Michaela E. Geary
Andrew and Barbara Gianelli
Stephen and Cheryl Golda
Richard and Patricia Hesselbarth
Robert L. and Diane L. LaFond
Paul and Catherine Lalanne
Jean and Rita Laliberte
Donald and Denise Levesque
David and Leslie Martinelli
John and Cheryl McGurn
Thomas and Patricia Mooty
Robert and Diane Nicholas
Stephen and Mary Nugent
Robert and Mafalda Nula
Peter R. and Gail P. Paranzino
Leonard and Susanna Parsons
Joseph and Virginia Pasonelli
Ronald and Jacqueline Provost
Semiao and Ana Ramos
Dale and Lynne Ryan
John and Kathleen Sandberg
Michael and Carol Saunders
Ronald and Carolyn Spagnole
Matthew and Carol Ulbin
Richard and Dallene Walsh
25 YEARS
Edward and Cynthia Aubin
Paul and Carol Baggott
John and Angel Barbosa
Christopher and Janice Bijesse
Charles M. and Leslie A. Borkoski
Edward and Sheila Broderick
Thomas P. and Marion Carnevale
Kieran C. and Patricia A. Carroll
Raymond and Kathleen Chaquette
Jose and Anne DeFaria
Al and Teri Dias
Ralph and Kathleen Dykstra
Alvin and Nancy Edler
Luigi and Denise Fontana
Jeffrey and Ellen Gallonio
Marc and Jane Gauthier
Gerald and Lucille Gince
Kipp and Donna Hartmann
Kevin and Kathleen Hitt
Robert and Muriel Holfelder
Charles and Maria Hurley
Howard and Mary Anne Johanson
Michael and Patricia Krzywonos
Dennis and Sheila Layfield
Joseph and Natalia Lima
Kenneth and Brenda Machado
William Kelly and Diane Messere Magee
Michael and Monica McLynch
Richard and Anna Montella
Brian and Margaret M. Morgan
Peter and Elizabeth Morley
Thomas and Martha Mulcahey
Carl and Lisa Nassi
Anthony and Mary Patriarca
Richard George and Jean Marie Radican
Richard and Christine Riel
Thomas and Susan Sienkiewicz
David and Elizabeth Smith
Russell and Therese Sylvestre
Ralph and Maureen Taylor
Harvey A. and Debra A. Whitmore
