By Rose O’Connor |Correspondent

For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, faith remains the key to a committed loving relationship for the 270 couples celebrating milestone anniversaries during 2013 in the Diocese of Trenton.

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Couples gathered in St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral, Trenton, Oct. 6 to receive a special blessing from Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., and to renew their wedding vows before God, their families and the larger faith community. Representing their parishes from Burlington, Mercer, Monmouth, and Ocean counties, they came to give witness to their love and to express their fidelity to the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony.

Whether the couples were married for one year or more than 50 years, the significance and importance of welcoming Christ into their marriage was paramount, underscored Bishop O’Connell in his homily.

“There are many ideas of marriage in the world today,” Bishop O’Connell acknowledged, “but your married life has been a sacrament you received in the Lord, joined together for many years in the Lord.

“Faithful and committed relationships offer a door into the mystery of spiritual life in which we discover this: the more we give of self, the richer we become in soul; the more we go beyond ourselves in love, the more we become our true selves and our spiritual beauty is more fully revealed. In marriage we are seeking to bring one another into fuller life,” he said.

Bishop O’Connell also recognized the struggles and imperfections that are present in marriages, but encouraged the couples to not lose hope and to remain resolute in their dedication to their commitment to one another.

“A couple does not begin marriage with perfect love. The couple grows in loving and grows by loving. Love is hard work. Sometimes love has brought suffering, if not love has been a disguised form of selfishness. But just as the Church is strengthened through suffering, your relationship has grown in the valleys. There is always more growth in the valleys than on the mountain-tops.”

At the conclusion of his homily, Bishop O’Connell asked each of the couples to face one another and renew their wedding vows. Many couples were overcome with emotion and fought hard to hold back their tears as they recited their vows and pledged their love and dedication to their spouse once again.

The couples’ children and family members looked on with pride and admiration as they recorded the vow renewal on their smartphones and snapped photos of the pairs with their cameras.

Bishop O’Connell invited couples to touch one another’s wedding rings and prayed that the rings “continue to be a symbol of their true faith in each other and always remind them of their love.”

A blessing was given for the couples by the bishop, as they were honored for one year, 25 years and 50 or more years of marriage .

At the conclusion of the Mass, the couples were given the opportunity to receive an additional individual blessing from the priests concelebrated the Mass with Bishop O’Connell, including Msgr. Thomas Gervasio, vicar general and moderator of the curia;  Father Philip Pfleger, episcopal vicar, Burlington County; Msgr. Michael Walsh, episcopal vicar, Mercer County; Msgr. Edward Arnister, episcopal vicar, Monmouth County; and Msgr. Leonard F. Troiano, episcopal vicar, Ocean County.

Also concelebrating were Msgr. Joseph Roldan, rector of the Cathedral; Msgr. Sam Sirianni, diocesan director, Office of Worship; Father John Bambrick, administrator of St. Aloysius Parish, Jackson, and Father Pablo Gadenz, a professor in Seton Hall University, South Orange, who also serves as an adviser to seminarians in the diocese. Both Father Bambrick and Father Gadenz were joined by their own parents, who were each celebrating fifty years of marriage.

Whether they were celebrating their first anniversary, or more than 50 years of wedded bliss, each couple had their own unique love story rooted in their Catholic faith that they were more than happy to share.

Elfriede Crisafi of St. Elizabeth Parish, Whiting, who with her husband, Jim, will celebrate their 55th wedding anniversary this December did not hesitate when asked what it takes to make a marriage last, “absolute trust and faith in God,” she said definitively.

“I don’t think our marriage would have survived without our faith,” she admitted, “not with all the pressures from the outside world.”

Jim Crisafi shared his wife’s opinion and disclosed that he feels for young couples in the world today and encouraged them to “go to church, practice your faith and live the sacraments.”

Victor and Courtney Pidermann of St. Elizabeth of Hungary Parish, Avon-by-the-Sea, a young couple celebrating their first year of marriage, understand the significance of the Sacrament of Marriage.

“Being steadfast in prayer together as husband and wife each night to keep us focused on the same goal which is bringing each other closer to God through our marriage,” said Courtney.

Her husband, Victor, concurred, “My prayer life, my faith life, has gone to the next level and has been enriched having my wife by my side, just being able to pray with her on Sundays, daily prayer, it really is an enriching experience.”