Dorothy Williams, principal, St. Clare School, Essex
“My husband and I were married on May 3, 1975, at Loyola College Chapel in Baltimore. It was a beautiful day and everything was going perfect … until we knelt down in church. Someone had painted ‘Help me’ on the bottom of his shoes!”
Father Ross Syracuse, O.F.M.Conv., St. Casimir, Canton
“A few years back, when I was pastor in Brooklyn, N.Y., I was celebrating a wedding. At the time of the preparation of gifts, four people went to the table where the hosts, wine and chalice were. We had planned for three people to bring the gifts forward. Somehow, there was a miscommunication. There was a little delay in bringing up the gifts. Finally, they came forward; one had the hosts, one had the wine, one had the chalice and the fourth person brought up the table.”
Don Henderson, then music director, Church of the Resurrection, Ellicott City
“The scene is a somewhat contemporary church. The pastor is famous for his short and simple wedding rehearsals. ‘Relax,’ he tells his bridal parties. ‘Once I get you down the aisle at the wedding, I will direct you where to go and what to do. You don’t have to remember anything.’ At the appropriate time, the pastor placed some flowers in the bride’s hand and directed her to ‘dedicate her bouquet.’ The bride went off on her own, around the altar platform and toward the assortment of furnishings that made little sense to her Protestant culture. Evidently, no one had told her to whom she was dedicating the bouquet, or else she didn’t realize that the family grouping hanging on the wall included Mary. The gold box was intriguing, but hardly worth dedicating a bouquet to. In desperation, she looked right again and saw the processional cross. At last! Something that she recognized and did make sense to her, even if it did have a body (corpus) on it! Without further hesitation, the bride knelt on the floor and placed her flowers at the foot of the cross. Meanwhile, the organist/vocalist could be heard choking with barely concealed laughter as he valiantly persevered through his singing of the ‘Ave Maria.’”
Beatrice O’Donnell, Catonsville
“Regarding our honeymoon in New York City (1942), we found a crib in our room! My husband’s brother had wired the hotel ahead to ‘please put crib in room – we are bringing baby with us!’ The groom wasn’t amused, the bride thought it was a very funny prank, and the confused room clerk was absolutely stoical! “