Couples renew wedding vows at cathedral on World Marriage Day

The secret to a long marriage seems to be forgiveness, understanding, and to keep smiling. 

Several couples shared their thoughts on happy matrimony at the Wedding Anniversary Celebration held Feb. 11 at St. Joseph Cathedral in downtown Buffalo in honor of World Marriage Day.

Ninety-four couples celebrating milestone anniversaries – with four couples celebrating 70 years together – gathered for Mass at the cathedral and a brunch at nearby St. Anthony of Padua Parish.

During Mass, Bishop Michael W. Fisher reflected on this year’s theme of “Love Beyond Words.” St. Thomas Aquinas said, “To love is to will the good of the other.”

“It’s reaching outside of ourselves, looking to the other, and being there for the other,” the bishop explained.

“Today we are especially mindful, grateful and humbled by the example of your power and faithfulness over years and decades of your willing the good, the good of your spouse, the good of your family,” he told the couples. “We especially pray that God may continue to bless you and keep you as you reflect this beautiful sacrament that is so important to the Church, important for vocations, important for those of us who look to you for your example and your strength as we look at our vocations as priests and deacons.”

During Mass the couple renewed their wedding vows, promising to be true to each other in good times and bad, in sickness and in health, and to love and honor each other all the days of their lives.

“May the Lord, in His goodness, strengthen your consent. May He see this good work is brought to perfection in you,” Bishop Fisher concluded.

When asked what keeps them together after 50 years, Dianne Sorrentino of Queen of Martyrs Parish replied, “Patience and love.”

Her husband, Wayne, said forgiving and forgetting is key to a long marriage. Another key may be remembering. Wayne can still recall first seeing Dianne in great detail.

“We met on a blind date. 1968, Oct. 2. Of course it was a cold day, I didn’t have a driver’s license yet.”

He tagged along with his buddy, who was bringing a date to a frat party. 

The girl’s mother did not like the idea of her daughter going out with two boys. So, the girl asked her best friend to join them. 

“She convinced her that (Dianne) had to go out, so that she could go out with Bob,” Wayne recalled. “She was ready in 20 minutes. It was a Cape Cod house. I remember seeing her come down the stairs. I thought, ‘Wow, she’s fabulous and she got ready for me in 20 minutes.”

That night they had their first dance to “Hey Jude.”

Walter and Joan Zelako have a similar blind date story. 

Joan was a sophomore in high school while Walter was in the Air Force. Walter saw Joan with her two friends and picked her out of the crowd.

“He said, ‘That’s my girl, there.’ And still am,” Joan said,

Offering advice after 60 years of marriage, Joan said, “Give a kiss every night whether you’ve been arguing or you had a great day. Seal it with a kiss.”

When asked what the highlight of his 50 years of marriage, James Turner of  St. Rose of Lima, Buffalo, points to his wife, Margaret.

“My wife. That’s my highlight,” he said.

The international celebration of World Marriage Day is an outgrowth of the Worldwide Marriage Encounter, an apostolate that aims to emphasize the beauty of marriage and to honor husbands and wives for their faithfulness and sacrifices. Begun in 1983, it is celebrated every second Sunday in February.

Listen to Michael Mroziak’s report here.