What I didn't know as a June bride

 by Allison Girone

Off for the Honeymoon by Frederick Morgan (Wikimedia Commons)

In 1991, I married my boyfriend of 6 years.  On June 8th, it will be our 22nd anniversary. That girl, in some ways, is so different from me today. The Sacramental events of that day played a large part in my transformation.

What I didn't know, very well, was my faith. And yet, we were married in a Cathedral Basilica...and today that means so much to us! We are strengthened by the graces of the Sacrament of Marriage.Our faith...the beauty of such Churches that elevate one's heart and mind to God are now of monumental importance to us, the architecture that upholds and supports us. Today, it's a passion of mine to photograph the Mass, Sacraments and Churches.

"A basilica is an architectural term for a certain style of building, and, as is often the case in Catholicism, the basilica comes to us from the Romans. When the ancient Romans spoke of a basilica they were referring to a large, high-ceilinged hall with three long aisles."

The Cathedral Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul is majestic and traditional looking. In its name there's St. Peter and its Baldachin reminds me of St. Peter's in Rome.  What I didn't know is how much I would grow to embrace traditional Catholicism, how Rome would take a place in my heart and define a path for me here. How, like St. Peter and St. Paul, I would turn my life over to Him. Certainly the degree does not compare... O, to be as filled with faith and purpose as those two saints!

"The canopy, or baldachin, over the altar is of Antique Italian marble. It stands thirty-eight feet high and is surmounted by a semi-circular bronze dome. The underside of the dome is a marble mosaic. Its central figure is a dove, the symbol of the Holy Spirit. The mosaic carries in Latin an inscription which translates: “In every place there is offered and sacrificed in My Name a clean oblation.” At the corners of the baldachin stand ten foot high white Italian marble Angels. Its decorative rosettes are of Botticino marble." 

Coming back to my faith, I always felt it was the Holy Spirit that began that process. Reading the above description, of the dome we were married under, I see how He was truly above us on our wedding day, with us... Three to Get Married.  But, I also attribute so much of my transformation to earnest prayers I made to His "spouse," the Blessed Mother, as I knelt before a statue of Our Lady on our wedding day.  What I didn't know is how we would grow to love and honor her, how she would bring us closer to her Son. Totus Tuus.


Read more of Allison's reflection at her blog  Totus Tuus.