The result is Come My Beloved: Inspiring Stories of Catholic Courtship, a short, 145-page compilation of 12 real-life stories about how couples met, courted and gave their “yes” to married life.

All couples featured in the book are still married “happily ever after.” But all share something besides longevity; they are couples that put their faith and Christian values at the centre of their relationships.

Posie Doughtwright, one of the featured women, is quoted as saying: “I think of falling in love as more like falling into God together, and allowing His love to be made manifest between us.”

Cassanto’s husband Mark says Christian men might read the stories and recognize the men in these stories had an openness to God and God’s will, equal to the openness they had for the love of the woman they pursued.

“In all of our stories, there’s the aspect of wanting to do God’s will — and it’s not just because it’s right or because you are supposed to do it, but it’s because you want the best for your future wife,” he said.

The stories offer perspectives from both husband and wife, as told to and recorded by Ellen Hrkach, a mother and Catholic author from Pakenham, Ont., who co-edited the book with Cassanto.

“When I was transcribing their stories I thought, ‘this is powerful stuff.’ In a lot of cases, I had previously no idea how they had met,” Hrkach said, explaining that several couples were friends, while others were acquaintances she met through the Couple to Couple League as a Natural Family Planning teacher.  

Hrkach bellieves the people who might benefit most from reading Come My Beloved are single people trying to find a mate — especially since some of the couples’ stories reveal how they had been praying and longing for many years before they met the love of their life.

“I think a person who is single and looking for a spouse would read it and have hope,” she said.  

The courtship stories take place from the 1980s through the 2000s, although one story takes the reader back to the late 1940s and early 1950s.

Leon and Mary Lou DuBois met after Leon, in the navy at the time, prayed a novena to meet the right girl. What advice do they give for a lifetime of happiness?

“Not only do you have to love the person, you have to like them,” said Mary Lou. She also says, “The most important thing is to have a sense of humour and to be able to laugh at yourself.”

Though she feels as though today’s generation just isn’t as romantic, the book reveals how Catholics continue to find each other in their own God-filled ways.

The authors are planning a second book of Catholic courtship stories, and are looking for “interesting, inspiring or humourous courtship/dating stories.”

(Girard is a freelance writer in Ottawa.)