With 113 years of marriage between them, these couples share what makes a marriage strong.
Bella Bailey
Multimedia Correspondent
The Diocese of Covington Office of Catechesis and Evangelization hosted the annual Wedding Anniversary Vespers, Sept. 7, at the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption, Covington. Married couples celebrating major anniversary milestones — 1, 25, 50 and 60-plus years — are invited to attend the Vespers where Bishop John Iffert meets with and blesses each couple.
This year, the Messenger spoke with three couples who were in attendance. Linus and Ruth Ann Enzweiler, parishioners at St. Joseph Parish, Camp Spring, were celebrating their 62-year wedding anniversary. Eloy and Yazmin Fuentes, parishioners at St. John the Evangelist Parish, Carrollton, were celebrating 25 years of marriage. Josh and Stephanie Bornhorn, parishioners at Holy Cross Parish, Latonia, were also celebrating 25 years of marriage.
Each of the couples had valuable insight on what makes a marriage. For the Fuentes, it is a firm foundation rooted in faith.
“Make sure that God is always first before anything else,” said Mrs. Fuentes, using her, Christian, son as a translator.
For Mr. and Mrs. Bornhorn, the key to a strong marriage is communication, “You need to remember to not just talk, but truly communicate with each other. Don’t assume that the other knows how you’re feeling, or what you’re thinking, tell them,” said Mrs. Bornhorn.
Mrs. Enzweiler emphasized the importance of community, recalling the time they were planning their wedding.
“We didn’t have any money,” she said, “every time we turned around somebody was helping us. His mother baked our cake, the catering was family, I wore my sister’s wedding dress.”
Despite having very little, however, the Enzweilers were rich in love for one another, “we had no money, but we were in love and wanted to get married,” said Mrs. Enzweiler.
Mr. and Mrs. Fuentes while rich in love, emphasized the importance of having a Christ centered marriage, “make sure you go to church on obligation days, and have some type of a role inside church,” said Mrs. Fuentes.
Her son, followed up on the importance of a Christ centered family, “my mom was a lector and reader, as siblings we have always been altar boys and altar girls. To them, it’s just one thing is always helping church and being there.”
For the Bornhorns, faith is also an important aspect of family life, “we both knew we wanted to raise our kids in the Catholic Church and have tried to show the importance of our faith with our kids through our relationship.”
When asked what piece of advice she would give to newlyweds, Mrs. Enzweiler thought for a moment, remembering her 62 years of marriage, before saying, “You need to know how to have give and take. I think that’s a big thing, sometimes you might do something with them that you don’t care for, but you do it anyways, and they do it back to you.”
Mrs. Bornhorn tells couples, that marriage is more than the choice you make on the day you say, “I do,” it is a choice you make every day.
“Marriage is a choice you both have to make. It’s not always easy, and it’s not always fun, but it’s always worth it to put in the effort,” Mrs. Bornhort said. “You have to choose each other every day.”
Mrs. Fuentes said, “try to do prayer together.” Christian added, “that’s what they do. When my dad leaves for work, they always do a prayer together and dedicate that time together in the morning.”
With 113 years of marriage between the three couples, Mr. and Mrs. Enzweiler, Mr. and Mrs. Fuentes and Mr. and Mrs. Bornhorn, speak from experience on what makes a marriage strong: trust, patience, communication and a marriage rooted in faith and love of Christ.
