Leading up to an engagement, Catholic couples sometimes look to coincidences as signs they’re meant to be together. Chance encounters, numbers that regularly pop up and transcontinental moves can provide proof to many of the divine intervention that brought them together.
Father Josh Laws of the Catholic Community of South Baltimore – who officiates at as many as 40 weddings a year – said most couples look for signs at the beginning of their relationships. By the time they’re sitting down with a priest to discuss getting married, he said, they are no longer looking for evidence. Soon-to-be-married couples often mention a moment or an experience when they realized they were meant to be with one another, he said. That moment typically comes as they’re facing a challenging time in life.
“Every couple has their story of when they realized: this is the one,” Father Laws said.
Three couples in the Archdiocese of Baltimore shared with the Catholic Review a little about their engagement story, the beliefs that shape their lives together – and some of the signs they spotted along the way.
Andrés and Jessica
Andrés Macias brought his wife, Jessica, back to the place of their first date, exactly one year later, June 24, 2021: Kilgore Falls at Rocks State Park in Harford County. Andrés had told his future wife to wear workout clothes so she would not expect his proposal.
All of their relationship milestones have fallen on the 24th of the month, and when the couple reached the perfect spot near a waterfall, Andrés started outlining all of those special coincidences as a saxophonist played in the background. He was nervous and shaking, and his future wife knew something important was about to happen. He asked for her hand in marriage, and she said yes.
The couple, parishioners of St. Joseph in Cockeysville, are led by the belief that God’s love is unconditional and merciful. They are both immigrants. Andrés was born in Mexico, raised in Florida and settled in Maryland for work. Jessica spent the first 18 years of her life in her native Ecuador before moving to Maryland.
The Maciases find small miracles everywhere as evidence of the angels at work in their lives. The fact that they both ended up in Maryland is one.
“I see God through my husband; I see love through him,” Jessica said. “When God provides, he does so abundantly.”
They chose Our Lady of Mercy as the patron of their marriage and celebrated their wedding on her feast day: Sept. 24, 2022.
Scott and Bridget
Scott Easton did his best to casually suggest to his future wife, Bridget, that they visit the fishing pier at Downs Park in Anne Arundel County. He was careful not to tip his hand and reveal his special plans for the day.
When they arrived at the pier July 18, 2018 – a date specially chosen to incorporate some of the numbers that have regularly recurred in the couple’s life – Mr. Easton asked the then-Miss Sandkuhler to take a panoramic picture to capture the beautiful scenery and the sunlight bouncing off the Chesapeake Bay. When she panned around to him, Scott was on one knee with a ring in his hands, and he had a question: “Will you marry me?”
The Eastons, parishioners of St. John the Evangelist in Severna Park, now have two daughters, Ava, 3, and Freya, who is almost a year old. They met in a very modern way, but their love story is rooted in their traditional values. When Bridget was still swiping left and right – as singles do to select potential partners on online dating apps – she paused when she saw her future husband’s bio that described his dedication to faith and family. It was just 12 hours after he posted his profile.
Their life in the church and the expressions of their Catholic faith unite the Eastons in values they both stand for: country, service and God.
“A good marriage under God raises children under God which blooms into a society under God,” Bridget said.
Feargal and LeShawn
About six months after their chance encounter in Baltimore, LeShawn Gee was visiting her boyfriend Feargal King in Chicago in the fall of 2018 when he dropped to one knee to declare his love and propose marriage with a sparkly purple amethyst ring he designed just for her.
The future Mr. and Mrs. King met April 13, 2018, when Feargal came to Baltimore to hear a famous pianist play at the Peabody Institute. They were sitting in the same row with a few empty seats between them when she smiled at him, and he smiled at her. He moved to a seat closer to her and introduced himself: He was an Irishman living in the Midwest with a love of music and abiding Catholic faith.
They’ve spoken every day since, and not long after their engagement, Feargal King moved to Maryland. LeShawn grew up in Baltimore, where she attended St. Bernardine in West Baltimore. The couple now lives in Edgewood and attends St. Joan of Arc in Aberdeen, where LeShawn is a cantor and Feargal is the director of music ministry and media evangelization.
The Kings celebrate the 13th of every month in honor of the day the Lord used a piano concert and a hello from a stranger to bring them together.
“I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect love story,” LeShawn King said. “God did answer my prayer.”
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