Salvador Flores and Jennifer Bautista had been together for 15 years when Bautista, through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) program, received the sacrament of confirmation during the April 4 Easter Vigil this year at Our Lady of Fatima and St. Nicholas Parish in Passaic.
One thing was still missing: marriage for Bautista and Flores. That changed on Oct. 10, when they and six other couples who had been together for many years were married during a Mass that Saturday morning.
Bautista said, “We feel that this step was needed in our marriage to feel this unity with God guiding us and blessing us as well as being an example to our children [Hailey, 15; Kayla, 9; and Adrian, 6], witnessing that being close to God will bring peace in our lives.”
The other newly married couples are Juan Santana and Regina Tlatenchi; Eduardo Roman and Lourdes Rodriguez; Hector Ortiz and Violeta Ortiz; Isidiro Herrera and Santa Mota; Cristin Reyes and Fatima Perez; and Domingo Meyo and Sandra Escalante. Like Salvador Flores and Jennifer Bautista, they are all parish members and have been preparing for Holy Matrimony since last June.
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Father Rolands Uribe, pastor of Our Lady of Fatima and St. Nicholas, said the parish’s RCIA [now also known as the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults in the Church] prepares people from September to Easter for the Easter Vigil. Then the parish starts a second group for older people and couples to receive their sacraments at Pentecost.
For the Easter Vigil, 95 people received their sacraments. Some received baptism, some received first Holy Communion and confirmation, and some received all of those sacraments.
When some of the couples received their sacraments, they wanted more.
Father Uribe said, “They said to me, ‘Father, I feel like I am missing something else.’ I encouraged them to have the sacrament of matrimony, but they said, ‘Oh Father, we want that; for us it is embarrassing, because we have been together for a long time.’ I encouraged them to return to God and ask God to bless their lives. So, for Pentecost, we prepared the second RCIA group.”
The seven couples had been together from seven to 49 years.
Flores said, “Getting married through the Church was always in our minds, but when Jennifer did her confirmation is when we wanted to complete that sacrament.”
And a key step in the journey to the wedding day was Pre-Cana preparation for marriage, which started after Pentecost.
Bautista said, “I learned that we need to have more communication with each other and be closer to Church and God. With every obstacle we go through, it should be together as one.”
At the conclusion of their wedding, Flores said he felt closer to his wife, knowing their marriage was finally blessed by God.
Bautista said she was at peace knowing that, after many years together, the couple had finally received all their sacraments, with their children’s witness that it is never too late to come closer to God. Flores had received his sacraments as a youth.
Bautista said, “Every Sunday we would go to church; we would always ask a question about taking Holy Communion, so we are looking forward to always doing so. I think this road we will continue to take is for us to keep being close with each other and show our kids that there are ways to come closer to God.”
