What would you tell young young husbands, young wives, young men about to get married or young women about to get married?
Having read replies, I wonder how many live in the real world, the world of today, or only in a close-knit group of traditiional Catholics?
Oh if life were as simple as the latter group. Now while we can all aspire to how we would like things to be, the reality is what each of us experience. By that I mean how we were reared, how those of us in marriage experienced it, and most of all those of us who have/had children living in the real world.
To be honest, the traditional Catholic family of parents and children is as rare as miracles today, and hoping your son or daughter will meet, fall in love and marry a traditional Catholic is very rare indeed.
But let us start with ourselves. When I met my wife I was AWOL. I had not lost the faith, just drifted away from churchgoing in my late teens into my 20s. My wife was still going to Mass. Given what I have read so far on this thread, the advice to my wife would have been, get rid of that guy. She didn't, and soon we will celebrate our 40th wedding aniversary. My wife has a Mass planned for that day and all 15 in the family will attend before we all go off for a meal. We are more in love today than ever before and know we are the lucky ones. Indeed it was that marriage that brought me back into active service where I returned to the faith the Holy Ghost Fathers had taught me. We both wanted to rear our five children in the faith.Once you share the faith, that helps a lot, especially knowing you promised God on that wedding day to love each other until death. That is as much a promise to God as to each other. As for the other secrets of a loving marriage, well respect is number one and helping each other in any way possible number two.
The first lessons we teach our kids goes on for years. Now that is easy until they reach about 18. I recall my father telling me when I was 18 that I was now a man who must decide for myself what is the right thing to do. By that he meant that there is no point in telling someone what to do at that age, it must come from within. When my kids reached 18 I had to hope they would continue with the faith they were reared in. Going to Mass because their parents would give them hell if they didn't doesn't work. As soon as you are gone they will stop. Again, thank God, they all still go and will after we are gone, I hope and pray. It will be harder for them than it was for us, given the rot in the world today.
But, but, where do they meet husbands or wives? Yes, a few are lucky to meert traditional Catholics like themselves and live happy ever after. But the rest have to look elsewhere. On two occassions I have been asked for my daughters' hands in marriage. They were not traditional Catholics but lapsed Catholics like I was when I got married. So what did I say to them? I said I ask only one thing they must promise me, support my daughter in her Catholic faith. It worked and while the husbands only go to Latin Mass occassionally, the girls and the kids are there every sunday. They do defend pro-life etc among friends and acquaintances and on media of the young but they are up against it today, 99 to 1. That is the world our kids live in today and God help them.