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By Testimony,
At the end of our walk, I proposed. Rose had not expected it at all, so she responded with tears in her eyes.
On April 28, 2008 I met my future wife for the first time, in Krakow’s Market Square. I arrived for this date early and was eagerly looking out for the girl whose image I had in my head based on the photo she had sent me. After some time I saw a young, smiling girl who was walking and almost skipping in my direction from the town hall tower. Our evening together was very pleasant – we spent it at the fair ground spread on the Vistula boulevards. I distinctly remember our pendulum ride in a big, eight-person gondola, where we were sitting strapped in with metal security locks and admired the beautiful panorama of Krakow. When we got off the carousel I hugged Rose for the first time, seeing that she was trembling. For me it was natural at that moment, but Rose saw my behaviour a bit differently: “Who is this guy, that he takes me in his arms?” Then there was pizza, lending her my jacket because it got cold, and walking her to the bus. Then we met two more times, and then Rose agreed to be my partner at my cousin’s wedding. For we had met on the Internet. I had been looking for a companion for the wedding and Rose was one of several girls that had responded to my request posted on the Internet. Having met her I didn’t need to look for anyone else …
We went to the wedding as a couple of friends. However, everybody decided that we were engaged and they were happy that we would soon get married. There was no point discussing it then. Besides, sometimes the family can see more, so it’s always worth keeping their opinion in mind. The wedding reception ended and we continued dating. Our relationship matured, and it matured in purity. It was not easy, because I was renting a bedsit near the Market Square in Krakow. There was no control apart from the self-control. Sometime later we went to Zakopane together. Looking at it in retrospect, I can see now that it was a rather inconsiderate undertaking. We spent the night on our own in a rented room in a youth hostel. We came out victorious from this test, although although I did not venture an escapade again. It was an unnecessary exposure to temptation. Another difficult test for us was spending time together in different venues of Krakow, which sometimes lasted until late into the night. Time always passed too fast for us. Out of convenience, Rose would then stay in my apartment . Pretty soon we found that this state of matters was bad. That it could create an opportunity to fall, so we had to stop this. So, despite the late hours, I began to take Rose back to her own apartment. Pretty soon I decided to propose to her. I suggested to Rose a trip to Greece. We rented a car locally and, together with another couple, we went sightseeing in the area. It was a lovely time and I became convinced that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Rose. And it was not even about physical compatibility, because we lived in purity all the time. It was about soul compatibility and beautiful male-female complementarities. On the last day we went for a long walk along the sea. The finale of the walk was my proposal. Rose had not expected it at all, so she responded with tears in her eyes.
Then came the time of engagement, filled with intense preparations for the wedding and the reception. The long-awaited, wonderful day of our wedding came at last – less than a year since our first meeting. In the presence of God, the priest and the guests we vowed to each other love, loyalty and honesty in marriage. The priest who celebrated the Eucharist chose for us the reading about building a house on the rock. To this day, his words are ringing in my ears: “If you build your house on the rock which is Jesus, you have nothing to fear.” The wedding reception was over, the time of living together began. A beautiful time of exploring our intimacy. How they who follow the voice of this world allow themselves to be fooled – they rush everything. Those for whom entering the sacrament of marriage does not change anything, except for the appearance of rings on their fingers. Let me appeal here to you, young people, who are before this event: do not let yourselves be robbed of these wonderful moments of learning about your bodies. Either you do it before the wedding and your companion then will be Satan, or you do it after the wedding and then, being in a state of grace, your companion will be God himself. It is you who chooses which part of the spiritual world you invite into your life. There are things that cannot be repeated. My wife’s wonderful body, never stuffed with contraceptive chemicals and unregulated by any other contraception, soon received a new life, given to us by God. Less than a year after the wedding our first son, David, was born. Two years later – our first daughter – Dominika. Another two years later, the second daughter – Lucy. And again, two years later … We don’t know yet whether the baby that my wife is carrying under her heart is a boy or a girl. Nowadays families having more than two children are stigmatized, as are those who persevere in premarital purity. When a person is close to God, this kind of behaviour only reinforces their belief that they’re on the right track, “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” (Matt 7;13-14). It is beautiful to preserve purity and offer this gift to another person only after the conclusion of the sacrament of marriage. In my case it was not so – before I met Rose, unfortunately, I had managed to harm my sexuality badly … I would like to pass on words of encouragement to all those who think that they have already lost the battle for the gift of a pure heart for their future spouse. You can always cross to the side of purity, saying to Satan: “Enough! In my freedom I entrust my sexuality to Jesus and from that moment on I decide to persevere in purity until marriage.” For sure Jesus will not forget to reward you for this attitude. Self-denial is great, but the stake is also great. You will be helped by a community like MPH, whose members support each other with their presence, words and prayer. Believe me and check it out – it really works!
“Love One Another!” had turned up in the past in both my life and the life of Rose. Unfortunately, it was not part of our lives during our adolescence. This changed when we met. One day I read one issue of the magazine and its contents fascinated me. It was the same with Rose. We subscribed to this magazine, and it slowly shaped our perception of the world, and in particular it opened us up to the living presence of Jesus in everyday life. In 2014, we went with our children to a summer retreat of MPHM in Gródek. The message of the retreat went straight into our hearts. The topics touched important spheres of human life and human relations – man to man and man to God. We are still sending out links to the recordings of lectures prepared by Fr. Slawek Kostrzewa to our friends and acquaintances. We have kept in touch with a lot of friends from that time. Young people from MPH were a beautiful testimony to us. Our family, on the other hand, was a testimony to them. At the retreat, the opportunity arose to join the MPHM. We signed up without hesitation. A year later we went to a summer retreat in Gródek again. At that time we didn’t know yet that our family had already extended to six. Once again, we were encouraged to see people who believe that the words of God – the Creator of man – about sexuality and premarital purity are true. And how will God continue to guide us? He will show us in His right time. So far, this year, we are planning to start regular formation in the Krakow MPHM group. Indeed, we can see great potential in this community. Perhaps it is the lifeline thrown by Mary to young people living in the world today … Michał and Róża Klak, Members of MPHM Source: https://loamagazine.org/archive/2017/2017-38/building-a-house-on-the-rock The above article was published with permission from Miłujcie się! in April 2021. Read more Christian articles (English)
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