I was in 7th grade, a Catholic school in 1952, the English teacher, a nun instructed the entire class to pray one Hail Mary each night for the man/women we were to marry.  A good habit I adopted.  I also believe we must trust God.  

What I don't believe is making deals with God, example; Dear God, I will do this if you do that.   Everytime I tried that, I hear my conscience speaking loudly, whatever it is you are promising God, maybe you should be doing it regardless of your petition.

I married a very good man, but at the time he was not Catholic, today he is. My friends who married Catholics back then, today neither are Catholics unless you consider NO Catholic.  Some are no longer even NO, have drifted away or found other strange beliefs.

I thought about my little Hail Mary often, and started to pray for my children and grandchildren even before they were conceived.  I believe in prayer first and trust in God just as important.  I continue to pray for my children and grandchildren daily, my prayer has always been that they save their soul. I seldom ask God anything else, except He protect their body and soul.

Considering who you marry will probably be the, or one of the most important things you do in your life, it only seems to make sense to pray about it, and to take steps to bring yourself into contact with other potential spouses (meeting other good families, etc.).

Were you Catholic at the time you married him?

Raoul, my dear, wake up!  Myrna has said over and over she went to Catholic school, on this thread and 100 other ones as well! :roll-laugh2:

Okay, Emerentiana, mock if you will but did you ever think to ask Myrna  this?

Why did you as a cradle Catholic marry someone who was neutral about religion?  In your case, it worked out.  But what was the reasoning?  Was anyone else in your family against the marriage?

I simply can't imagine doing that.  I don't feel like I have anything in common with that kind of person, even if I used to be one of them.  That was another life.  If I had an attraction to a non-believer I'd give them a trial run, I'd date them a little bit until they either converted or were driven away by my constant haranguing  :wink:.  But to marry someone like that and have a bunch of kids is awfully risky, isn't it?

I'd always be thinking "This person is probably on their way to hell," it would be such an oppressive atmosphere.  Life has enough burdens without adding an unnecessary one, IMHO.  There is also the problem that I'd find it hard to respect them, I'd always think of them as something spiritually pitiable.

Okay, Emerentiana, mock if you will but did you ever think to ask Myrna  this?

Why did you as a cradle Catholic marry someone who was neutral about religion?  In your case, it worked out.  But what was the reasoning?  Was anyone else in your family against the marriage?

I simply can't imagine doing that.  I don't feel like I have anything in common with that kind of person, even if I used to be one of them.  That was another life.  If I had an attraction to a non-believer I'd give them a trial run, I'd date them a little bit until they either converted or were driven away by my constant haranguing  :wink:.  But to marry someone like that and have a bunch of kids is awfully risky, isn't it?

I'd always be thinking "This person is probably on their way to hell," it would be such an oppressive atmosphere.  Life has enough burdens without adding an unnecessary one, IMHO.  There is also the problem that I'd find it hard to respect them, I'd always think of them as something spiritually pitiable.

Don't forget Raoul, during this time period the Church was already getting Modern, it was losing grace even before Vatican II, and so was I.  
My husband was extremely an honest man, and never went back on his word when he gave his promise to anyone.  Example, while we were dating he hit a parked car and dented it, no one was around yet, he knocked on doors to find the owner, when he couldn't he left a note on the damaged car.  That is the kind of person he was and some Catholic guys I knew at the time, I couldn't say that about them.  I always had a deep respect for him because today he is still that way.  
We were married in a Catholic church and no one discouraged our marriage, not even the priest that married us, but remember this was 1961, the Modernist were already at the door.  
I am sure that God was watching out for me, and God who knows all things knew that someday my husband would convert.
I am not saying that I am overjoyed when I hear of someone getting involved in a mixed marriage, but I don't despair either.  

P.S.  Even my son, married a Protestant girl, and today she is a devote Traditional Catholic, they have 8 children.  No one forced her to convert to the Catholic church, she wanted to after she was married to my son several years later.  Today when I ask her why, she says, because I could see how all of you were so involved in what you believed, that I wanted that for myself.  The hardest part for her was obtaining a devotion to Our Lady, but she prayed to God to give her one, and now she is deeply devoted.  Fr. Dominic married them in our back yard when we lived in California, as I said she was not Catholic at that time.  Bishop would not allow their wedding rings to be blessed during their marriage.  

CMRI was not in existance in 1961, it was founded in 1965.  However I found it in 1982.

Emerentiana said:

Raoul,
I married a cradle  Catholic.  I was a protestant convert.  The man was very lax, and later I experienced the agony and the sorrow of his REFUSING to allow  our  kids to be educated Catholic.

I never advocated marrying a lax Catholic, did I?  That was the whole point of my rant about CatholicMatch.  For you, it was an improvement over being Protestant.  But I would only marry a fervent Catholic if I were going to get married.  Without being psychic, I can pretty easily tell who they are by the way they talk, they will speak of saints and Catholic history in a way where it clearly comes from the heart, and from that you can get an idea of who is really in love with God and who is just lukewarm.  

When I say that, I'm told I'm expecting perfection.  But look at what can happen otherwise.  It can still happen even if the parents are both devout Catholics, but then look at St. Therese's parents... They not only produced a saint but she had at least one other sister who was a well-known nun.