Originally published at crisis magazine
The couple stood on the wind-wracked hillside on a blustery October day late in 2019. The valley below was marbled brown, vermillion, and gold, while a gray sky curled overhead and the wild wind sent a spattering of rain into their faces. But ignoring the somewhat inclement weather, the man knelt before the woman and proposed marriage. Unable to speak due to the rush of joy, she simply nodded, and they embraced.
The woman in that story is my wife, and the man is me. I proposed to my bride on October 21, 2019, the feast day of Blessed Karl of Austria, the last emperor of the Austrian Empire. Unbeknownst to me, this was exactly a year to the day from when my wife had completed a novena to Blessed Karl asking him to help her find a husband. There are no coincidences when it comes to God and the saints.
Our success story is far from the only one attributable to Karl’s intercession. A few years into our marriage, my wife suggested to three of her single sisters and two of her single friends to pray the novena to Blessed Charles, asking for the grace of finding good husbands.
