It was a spring day in early April, as Nicholas was getting set to go see his beloved Philadelphia Phillies in action one Sunday that his life changed.
As he got set to go to the game with his sister, he decided to do one last check of his e-mail. And there was a message from a woman in Harrisburg, overflowing with enthusiasm. “I knew right away that something was different with her,” Nicholas said. “From all the exclamation marks, I could sense such a joy in her words.”
Nicholas was moved to reply right away before taking off for the day, hoping he could catch her online later than night. At the ballpark that day, the Phils were shut out. But Nicholas had better luck—that night he found Alexandria online and struck up a chat.
They found common ground in their enthusiasm for the Catholic Faith and for their admiration for the popular speaker-priest, Father John Corapi. Nicholas just felt blown away by Alexandria and after they exchanged phone numbers and he heard her first voicemail, it was not only love at first chat, but love at first message. “My heart just melted when I heard her beautiful voice,” he recalled. “…I played it back and I knew something special was happening.”
On their first date, they not only went to Mass together, but read the prayer of the Consecration of Mary together, ensuring even greater levels of supernatural grace on their new relationship. A summer and fall of dates that included the Philadelphia Orchestra, Broadway, and just going out to dinner and talking about the future, followed. They met each other’s families. Nicholas has three siblings, while Alexandria has seven.
Nicholas has no doubts about where this was going—“I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her,” he bluntly told CatholicMatch. His only question was the time to propose—was it to be October 13 or December 8, both days filled with Marian significance. October 13 is the day of the Miracle of Sun at Fatima, while December 8 is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. He settled on it by splitting the difference and making the move just prior to Thanksgiving.
For the special day, Nicholas put together a video of their 6 ½ months together and showed it to her. With Alexandria dressed in a beautiful purple dress, they finished the video and he slipped out the ring and proposed to her. “She lit my heart on fire, and has only ignited the fire each and everyday,” he said. They will be married in September of this year.
