Relationships: Pray Together. A Lot.

"Without Prayer nothing good is done. God's works are done with our hands joined, and on our knees. Even when we run, we must remain spiritually kneeling before Him."
 -Blessed Luigi Orione


Today was a very special day for my girlfriend and I: It was the first time we prayed a Rosary together (also, I was using a rosary she had made me, which is totally awesome."

I'm sure there's at least one person reading this who is now saying, "Huh?... How is that romantic at all? What was so great about that?" Hopefully there isn't and I'm wrong, but nonetheless, I'll address it just in case.

First off, it's not supposed to be, at least not between me and her. It's supposed to be a romance between us and Christ, especially through the intercession and love of His and our Queen and Mother, Mary most holy. It's always supposed to be about the passionate and completely self-surrendering of ourselves to Christ, no matter who you're praying the Rosary with. In fact, that's especially the case if you're praying it with someone like your girlfriend/boyfriend, fiancee, spouse, or anyone else who might distract you by their mere presence. We always need to be careful to keep the focus on our True Lover, our Heavenly Bridegroom, our Spousal King of Kings. Except by His overpowering grace, I would not be able to focus on my Lord because of my joy of being with her, but thanks be to God for His grace! Now I'm not saying that you should avoid praying with someone like that, quite the opposite actually! Obviously we should be careful in everything we do, especially praying with a loved one like a girlfriend/boyfriend, fiancee, or spouse, but that care should be taken so we can focus on the One Who has brought the two of us together to glorify and serve Him by our showing His love to each other, especially in prayer. Pray together over and over, as one of the main things or THE main thing the two of you do together, obviously according to the other's pace, but pray together! A lot!!

Secondly, it absolutely can be incredibly romantic (again, not the point, but merely an added bonus from the Lord)! I was once reading an article from a new subreddit on Reddit titled "r/CatholicDating", and one line that struck me perfectly went something like, "You should hopefully be with a girl that will find reading Aquinas together romantic." Now, obviously not everyone will have that kind of personality, especially for St. Thomas Aquinas, but the fact of the matter is that prayer, reading Scripture and the Saint's writings (St. Augustine?), going to Adoration and prayer meetings, and especially going to Mass together are romantic in a specific way: You're both helping each other to come closer to the True Lover, our Lord Jesus Christ. Our Heavenly Bridegroom wants us to come closer to Him in the ways He and the Father and the Holy Spirit have planned and set up for us, especially the person you're in a relationship with,  because what could be more romantic than loving your beloved like God does? Some might be saying, "But what about flowers? Or dinners? Or something else that ACTUALLY SEEMS ROMANTIC?" Well, let me ask you this: What're the points of those? Aren't they to make the other person happy? And aren't the Holy Mass and the other things above the best way for someone to be happy?

Once again, that's not the main point. However, going to Mass, to Adoration, to prayer meetings, reading Scripture and the Saint's writings, and praying together are literally the best ways to love someone you're in a relationship with. I'm not saying that having dinner together or going on dates of any other kind are not good; they are, they're spending time to love each other by that time spent together. But, in ranking of importance, prayer and other spiritual activities, especially going to Mass and Adoration together, are by an infinitely large margin at the top. So pray together. A lot!

Pope Saint John Paul the Great, please pray for all of us, to live our relationships as our Divine Lover intends. Mother Mary, please obtain for us the graces necessary to live like that, especially those of courage to do so, and fortitude to stay in the habit! Amen.