Dear Heavenly Father, Through the intercession of the Holy Family, we pray for Joseph and Madeline as they approach their wedding day. Please grant them a permanent faith in the sacrament of Holy Matrimony, an outward sign instituted by Christ to give them grace. Help them to always remember that by living marriage in obedience to You, You will always give them the help they need to live life in a way pleasing to You. We ask that you bless them with permanent faithfulness of heart and soul as they join their lives in love, that they not trust in themselves, but remember to always depend upon You. May they be filled forever with patient hope and charity, in good times and in bad. Please bless them further with generous spirits, that they may grow in love. May they anticipate serving the needs of one another before themselves. May they treasure their gift of marriage, and may their marriage reflect the love of Christ for His Church, where the self-giving love of husband and wife unites them more perfectly and cooperates in Your plan for new life created in Your image. Grant that Joseph and Madeline will cherish the children You might bless them with. May they have hearts ready to love the ones You send. Let them realize that familial love is always sacrificial in nature, and the only way to true happiness. Give them an understanding of higher things so that they may grow in wisdom and always encourage one another toward Heaven. Grant that they constantly choose to express cheerful and forgiving natures, so that their home may be a joyful refuge forever blessed with Your Presence, protected by Your Holy Angels. Make Joseph and Madeline who You wish them to be, so they will be truly happy as husband and wife. Fulfill Your Holy Will for their lives, that they may become future citizens of Heaven through the path of Holy Marriage. Finally, we ask for these same gifts be granted to each married person joining this novena. In the Names of Jesus and Mary, we pray. Amen.

The first time we met was, funnily enough, our very first college class ever: 7:30am Calculus II (yikes!!!) on the first day of freshman year. While this was just a coincidence, we got to know each other a bit more through our introductory Food Science class at Purdue.

That first semester, Maddie invited Joseph to a retreat she had heard about that was being offered at St. Tom's, the Catholic center on campus, called Boiler Awakening. He respectfully declined, but the following spring semester – after Maddie had participated in the retreat herself – he found that he couldn't say no. Through both of our retreat experiences, we encountered the St. Tom's community, where friendship started to take root. In the fall of our sophomore year, we both participated in a small study group for an infamous Purdue microbiology class, in which a sizable portion of the syllabus was titled, "What is a weed-out course?" As a part of the study group, we would spend at least two hours after each MWF lecture studying for the course. This is when our feelings for each other started to grow, but – without telling each other – we both thought it best to hold off on pursuing anything, since Joseph was about to embark on a semester abroad in Ireland.

Plot twist: that semester was spring of 2020, what we all remember as the COVID shut-down! Even as Maddie remained in Cleveland and Joseph returned early to Suffield, we maintained contact with each other, participating in virtual College Bowl (food science trivia) events and otherwise keeping in touch. Once we returned to campus in fall of 2020, things really started to take off. We participated in ushering at the 7pm Mass at St. Tom's on campus, and it was obvious to many around us that something was brewing. Eventually, Joseph worked up the courage to ask Maddie out. She responded with a "yes" immediately!

Our junior and senior years of undergrad were filled with so many sweet memories. After that first date (ice cream at Silver Dipper, just off campus), we planned lots of fun dates, including movie nights, coffee/boba outings, golfing, farmers' markets, and more. Joseph did his darndest – and still is to this day! – trying to teach Maddie how to cook; despite popular belief, not all food scientists are chefs. Some of our favorite creations from those early days include butternut squash carbonara, homemade bubble tea (with made-from-scratch tapioca pearls), and a decadent chocolate cake made with Guinness. During these first few months, we tried (unsuccessfully) to keep our relationship quiet, lest we disrupt our shared circle of friends. However, it soon became clear that we were fooling no one, and we officially shared with others that we were dating. Once spring of 2022 rolled around, we both knew a big change was coming. Joseph accepted a job as an R&D Associate Food Scientist at PepsiCo in New York, focusing on early-stage protein research for beverage applications. And Maddie was starting her Food Science Master's program at Penn State University, delving deeper into the world of sensory and consumer science.

During the two years of Maddie's graduate program, we were 4+ hours apart, which was definitely a challenge. We knew we were committed to each other, but gone were the days of walking down the block to visit each other. We both grew a lot during this period, learning for the first time since we had met what it really meant to live separate lives – and trusting that eventually, that 4-hour drive would diminish.

The summer between Maddie's first and second years at Penn State, she had the incredible opportunity to attend the Pangborn Sensory Science Symposium in Nantes, France, and present her research on salty snack eating behavior. Joseph – having some secret plans of his own – suggested making a vacation out of the first leg of the journey, which Maddie wholeheartedly agreed to. Having received the blessing of Maddie's parents before the trip, Joseph linked up with Maddie at the airport. The next day, he had planned the most wonderful Sunday in Paris, starting with a Mass in French, breakfast at an adorable café, and a Parisian photoshoot. We took some photos in front of Notre Dame Cathedral, along the Seine (thankfully, not tumbling in), and outside the Louvre museum. At a beautiful scenic spot on the Pont de Bir-Hakeim bridge, Joseph dropped to one knee, and Maddie said, "yes"!!!

After Maddie graduated from Penn State this past August, she took a job as a Scientist on the Essential Health Consumer Science team at Kenvue, located in New Jersey, where she leads consumer testing to make the best BAND-AID® Brand Adhesive Bandages money can buy. This meant that, after these two years of long distance, we were now finally in the range of SHORTER long distance! Woohoo!! We're now an hour away from each other without traffic and get to see each other more often. We look forward to June 14th and the official end of long distance every single day! Now that the wedding is fast approaching, we have been committed to preparing not just for the wedding, but also for Holy Matrimony. This is a big step in our lives together, and we hope that you'll join us to celebrate on our special day! We also ask that you please keep us in your prayers as we prepare our hearts to become one, as husband and wife. We are so grateful that you are here to walk alongside us!