Florida Catholic | Couples Celebrate Decades Together

Couples celebrate decades together

More than 500 couples married 25 or more years attend the diocese’s annual anniversary Mass

ALICIA M. BARTOL–THOMAS | FLORIDA CATHOLIC CORRESPONDENT

Published: 02.22.08

One of 540 couples who attended the Mass to honor married couples proclaim a reading. “The accomplishment is not about a number,” said Bishop Frank J. Dewane. “It’s about who you are — who you are as husband and wife — the sacramental commitment you made and that you have lived out.”
Courtesy of the Diocese of Venice

VENICE | Eleanor Cronin’s voice quavered as she proclaimed a portion of the love poem from Song of Songs.

“I hear my beloved. See how he comes leaping on the mountains, bounding over the hills,” she read.

At her side, her husband of 25 years, Michael, placed his hand on her back. Eleanor Cronin’s voice strengthened.

“Love no flood can quench, no torrents drown.”

The Cronins were among 540 couples celebrating 25, 50 or more years of marriage at the annual anniversary Mass at Epiphany Cathedral Parish in Venice Feb. 9. Bishop Frank J. Dewane, who celebrated the Mass, said the couples had used the grace of God to sustain their marriages.

“The accomplishment is not about a number,” he said. “It’s about who you are — who you are as husband and wife — the sacramental commitment you made and that you have lived out.”

Marriage is the icon and image of the love between God and his people, Bishop Dewane continued.

“You are the icons of marriage,” he told the couples. “Ad multos annos, many more years, to all of you as you celebrate your sacrament and your marriage.”

Later, as all the couples faced each other in the pews to renew the wedding vows they made many years ago, they held hands and smiled. Many eyes were tearful and each couple kissed without having to be told.

Three of the couples have been married for 70 years or more. Richard and Margaret Wilhoit of St. Columbkille Parish in Fort Myers have been married 70 years. Deacon Jim and Peggy Attridge of St. Peter the Apostle Parish in Naples celebrated 71 years, and Anton and Hedwig Hartmann of St. Francis Xavier Parish in Fort Myers will celebrate their 72nd anniversary in May.

The Hartmanns have been the longest-married couple at the anniversary Mass for the past five years. Anton Hartmann came to the U.S. from Würzburg, Germany, in 1926 at the age of 18. He met a woman who had also immigrated to the U.S. and was originally from Poland. The two married in 1936 in Hudson Heights, N.J.

“We did what a husband and wife should do,” Hedwig Hartmann said of their marriage.

Anton Hartmann turned 100 this month and his wife hopes they will attend the anniversary Mass in 2009.

“We look forward to it every year,” she said.

Margaret and Richard Wilhoit of St. Columbkille Parish in Fort Myers said marriage takes perseverance, patience and love.

“You gotta be tough,” Richard Wilhoit said of keeping a marriage strong. “You can’t let little things bother you, otherwise it’s a shambles.”

Epiphany Cathedral parishioners Bob Will and his wife, Rhonda, also spoke of God’s role in their long marriage.

“(Jesus) reached down and held us together,” he said.

Marguerite Singer, a wedding planner who attends Sacred Heart Parish in Punta Gorda, passes on her marital wisdom to the brides and grooms she meets.

She and her husband, Bernard, have made a point to celebrate each other and their marriage on the 25th of every month for the past 57 years.

“Remember to celebrate,” she said.

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