Have you ever been ducked?
To anyone who doesn’t drive a Jeep, that may seem like a strange way to begin a conversation. But Jack, already well aware of the tradition of gifting Jeep drivers with rubber ducks, knew exactly what Marie meant.
Meanwhile, miles away, Marie was doing her best to be open to God’s guidance after hearing a particularly powerful homily on the need to be specific in prayer. In response, she had begun a 54-day novena, taking weekly trips to a nearby shrine to pray before the statue of St. Joseph on Wednesdays.
One of Marie’s specific requests was that her future husband have a devotion to St. Joseph, himself. So when she read Jack’s profile and saw that he was particularly devoted to Our Lord’s saintly foster father, she immediately reached out. Admittedly, Marie isn’t usually the type to make the first move, but she credited Our Lady and St. Joseph with inspiring her message.
Once Jack responded, the two kept up a steady text conversation until one day, when Jack added Marie on Facebook and called her on the spur of the moment. Unprepared for their first call but undaunted, Marie answered the phone – and the couple talked for 6 hours! From liturgical preferences to classic films and everything in between, Jack and Marie were pleasantly surprised to find that they had a lot more than just their shared faith in common.
“Even before meeting, we were inseparable,” Marie reveals. “We both put each other first and put time into the relationship by sharing what was going on in our lives every day.”
An incredible feat given that the couple lived a literal thousand miles apart at the time of their meeting. But despite the challenges that their long-distance bond created, in a short time, they were able to recognize that there was something very special about this relationship. About two and a half weeks after they first began talking, a particularly touching message from Jack brought Marie to tears – and a pivotal moment.
“I just thought, ‘This guy is so different. He gets it.’” Then, when she was praying later that evening, a thought sprung to mind: ‘I could marry him.’
After that revelation, Marie took down her profile, and she and Jack planned their first in-person meeting. Marie had been planning a trip to New England with her sister to admire the fall colors, and Jack joined the two, acting as a tour guide. Their time together went so well that Jack visited Marie in her hometown the following month to officially ask her to begin the process of courtship.
Fast forward a few months later, and Jack was planning a surprise for Marie.
“I called and asked her mother for permission to propose, and then coordinated with her sisters to plan the engagement.”
Unbeknownst to Marie, Jack flew back to meet her at the same shrine where she first prayed for her future husband. But the meeting didn’t go as smoothly as anticipated.
“There’s a tradition in Ireland that if a man wants to propose, he throws his hat inside the woman’s house,” Jack explains. “If she throws it back out, it’s a no, but if she keeps it, it’s a yes. Well, I threw my hat inside the shrine where they were praying, it hit a pillar, and it bounced right back out!”
Unwilling to leave his next move up to chance, Jack opted to throw his hat down at Marie’s feet instead. Through joyful tears, she eagerly accepted both his proposal and the rubber duckie he gave her as a nod to their first conversation.
Amidst a crowd of friends and family, the two were wed on August 17, 2024, exactly one year to the day that Marie’s first message started it all. To mark the fateful moment, a clock standing tall amid their reception venue counted down to the exact minute the message was sent.
“We’re beyond grateful for The CatholicCourtship,” Marie says. “And so excited to begin our life together.”
And we at The CatholicCourtship couldn’t be happier.
Isabella Bruno
Isabella Bruno is the content editor at The CatholicCourtship. She is an author, speaker, and writer.