To the good folks at Ave Maria Singles,

I am writing to you as a former member, and as a newlywed. I did NOT meet my wonderful husband online. However, I credit Ave Maria Singles for my being able to "recognize" him when I saw him.

I joined Ave Maria Singles as an annulled woman in her mid-thirties. When it came to dating, I thought I knew it all. I had a lot to learn. For two years, I had the pleasure of writing hundreds of e-mails to members who either I had written to first, or who had reached out to me. In that time, I dated many men from all over the U.S. Through reading their profiles, correspondence, and dating these beautiful Catholic men, I was able to fine-tune my expectations of what I needed in a spouse, and I learned to trust the Holy Spirit in leading me on this path...something I had not done previously which resulted in a marriage that was not a sacrament!

Through it all, I learned to really pray over every letter, every word and every date. I also learned not to listen to the world's point of view regarding men. There really are guys out there who are not self-centered, and who, just like me, viewed marriage and the raising of a holy family as a way to glorify God, sanctify our lives, and reach heaven. I wasn't alone. That was a revelation!

When, in God’s good time, the love of my life did come along, we both knew it right away. In fact, we met in front of the Tabernacle and were married on the Feast of the Assumption of Mary! So please pass this information along to your members: even if you don’t meet your spouse on-line, these are fruitful efforts, that when prayerfully done, result in discernment. And when it comes to vocations, discerning God’s will is everything! I am grateful to you for all you’ve done in my life, and I will pray for this very important ministry.
-- Tara from Michigan
 

Dear AMS,

At our Pre-Cana table, there were three couples who had met online, and all of them had met at Catholicsingles.com. They didn't strike me as deeply devote Catholics. Honestly, this didn't surprise me. After a year with Ave Maria Singles, I tried Catholic Singles because there were more people in my area on it (I'm in Monmouth County, NJ). I also did a trial membership at Catholic Match. The problem that I found with both of these services was that while there were larger amounts of people, there were more men who were not as fully involved in their faith lives. In fact, I was very surprised at how many men I'd corresponded with who were not in agreement with church teachings. I went back to Ave Maria Singles convinced that was the place to be. While there weren't as many members, the quality was there. I found the folks on Ave Maria to be far more sincere about their commitments to the faith. There were fewer surprises, I believe, because of the OUTSTANDING initial profile. The questions are so well crafted, that even if someone chose to be less honest about one or two questions, you'd still be able to see an inconsistency in other answers. Ave Maria also seemed to be more about ministry, and less about profit margins. Both of the other services frequently sent me junk mail selling goods and services, and I suspect that my e-mail address was sold by at least one of them, as I started to get a lot of unsavory e-mail regarding singles looking for singles.

So if I were to share my experience with other singles, I would tell them to look for quality. It makes a huge difference. If someone is really serious about a Christ-based marriage and finding a spouse, Ave Maria is absolutely the way to go.
-- Sharon from New Jersey

Read more comments from our members!