In the fall of 1957, just a couple months after our wedding in August, we visited the Maria Stein Shrine of the Holy Relics. One of the Sisters took us outside to proudly show us where a retreat house would soon be built. We had no idea how important the retreat house would become in our journey of faith. Fast forward to 1972. We were active in the CCD program at St. Christopher Church in Vandalia, Ohio. One evening, a special program was presented to the CCD teachers and staff by Father Jim Dugal and Sister Pat Will from the Maria Stein Retreat Center. They invited us to visit the center and told us about the retreats they were conducting there. One of those retreats was for families. Rosie and I decided we should take our family to the center and see what it was all about. We, and our five children, made the family retreat and had a marvelous time. Not long afterward, Rosie and I began giving pre-Cana talks at the center and in February 1974, made a Marriage Encounter weekend. In 1975, we joined the Marriage Encounter team upon the invitation of Fr. Jim Dugal. What a fantastic ten years making special friends and building our faith on the ME team. The Precious Blood Sisters and Priests are still very close to my heart. This has been especially true in their kindness and love shown to me and our family in the passing of Rosemary in December 2016. Our last visit to the Shrine of the Holy Relics was in August 2015. We were fortunate to arrive just before Mass was to be celebrated.
