September 17, 2024 // Bishop

Living a Lifetime Together:

Clare Hildebrandt

Reporter

Couples Celebrate Jubilee Wedding Anniversaries with Special Masses

When Allan and Mary Frisinger were married 50 years ago, they could not imagine the blessings that would stem from their union – the most recent of which was celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary surrounded by their children and grandchildren.

Many couples, like Allan and Mary, celebrated wedding anniversaries and the fruits of marriage at two recent Masses for couples marking milestone anniversaries. On Sunday, September 8, at St. Matthew Cathedral in South Bend and on Sunday, September 15, at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Fort Wayne, Bishop Rhoades celebrated Masses to honor the commitment to the Sacrament of Marriage by those in the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend. Couples married for 25, 40, 50, and even 65 years joined together for the Masses on both sides of the diocese. A reception with food and drink followed each Mass.

The Frisingers attended the Fort Wayne celebration and shared their story of how they met with Today’s Catholic. Allan attributes meeting Mary to divine providence. With Mary living in New York, the chances they would meet were slim.

“I don’t know how I got in position to meet Mary and build our lives today,” Allan said. “We grew up in two completely different areas. I went to high school at Central Catholic across from the cathedral, while she lived in Copenhagen, New York.”

It was his service in the army that led him to Mary. Three years after they began seeing each other, they were wed and had children and, now, 17 grandchildren.

Their advice for newlyweds was to simply “make sure you love and respect your partner.”

In his homily, Bishop Rhoades praised the couples for their dedication to love. He reminded them to continue imitating the love of Christ and the Church, giving themselves totally to one another.

Lynda and Pat Sarb were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. Lynda shared her delight in listening to and speaking with Bishop Rhoades. 

“Being able to talk to the bishop was wonderful,” she said. “We’ve had our marriage vow renewed multiple times. It’s because we’re always having to say ‘yes,’ making the decision to love each other.”

Pat agreed, saying: “It’s not one and done. It is everyday, all the time.”

The couple shared more insight from their years together, finding laughter to be helpful in difficulties.

“You need laughter, joking around, not taking yourself so seriously so you can get through it all,” Lynda shared.

Most importantly, Lynda and Pat urged young people considering the sacrament to seek community.

“For us, when we got married and moved away from family, our parish community became our family. … We’d have holidays together, we’d be at our kids’ baptisms. We were tight,” Lynda said.

The couple hope their insights can help future marriages.

Another couple, Chris and Cyndy Herms from South Bend, shared their thoughts on the Jubilee Mass. Celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary, the couple told Today’s Catholic about their life together.

“I thought the Mass was beautiful, the organization and the whole thing was honorable and praising to God,” Chris said.

They were accompanied by their children at the celebration.

“It was lovely having our children with us,” Cyndy said. “A couple [of our children] are not walking close to Christ, so hearing the bishop’s message was perfect for them to hear.” 

In the end, Cyndy echoed the words of Bishop Rhoades for those considering the Sacrament of Marriage.

“It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done – marriage and raising children,” she said. “So just know that it’s not going to be an easy road all the time. And it was like the bishop said, you have to act like Colossians – you have to love, forgive, and listen.”