Chicagoland Couples Celebrating 50 Years Gather In Niles Sunday

At 3 p.m. Sunday, a lot of joyous couples will be filling St. John Brebeuf Church.

They'll be attending the Golden Wedding Anniversary Mass, which the Archdiocese of Chicago holds every year for couples who have been married 50 years. Cardinal Francis George will preside as each couple renews their vows.

The Archdiocese's Family Ministries Office compiled a book filled with the couples' stories of how they met, the trials they faced, and how they managed to stick it out for five decades.

In the Catholic New World newspaper, Delores Madlener gives snippets. How they met: "In high school study hall." Their difficulties: "I have a tendency to be a perfectionist...I have mellowed." Their solutions: “Sometimes I would just be quiet, because sometimes I was the problem. But we did not go to sleep without a kiss.”

Family Ministries is selling the book, which they say makes a good wedding present, for $15. Order from (312) 534-8351.