Saracino’s celebrate 63 years of marriage

By Josh Low

Commitment, unity, and trust in God are key aspects of a successful marriage, according to Mauro and Maria Saracino, who next month celebrate 63 years of marriage.

Having renewed their vows at the Marriage Mass held by the Archdiocese on 11 February in Hobart, longtime Cathedral parishioners Maria and Mauro Saracino spoke to the Catholic Standard about their 63 years as husband and wife.

Having first met as teenagers in their hometown in southern Italy in the 1950s, Maria’s family then migrated to Australia while Mauro continued his studies at university in Italy.

After three years of keeping in touch through writing love letters to each other from across the world, Mauro himself moved to Australia, and the couple married on 3 April 1961 at St Mary’s Cathedral in Hobart.

Over the course of their marriage, they welcomed daughter, Ida, and son, Anthony, into their lives.

Now 63 years on, Maria remembers fondly the day they got married.

“Those were beautiful words, what we said to each other on the day. I believe it’s important to renew those words, those vows every year, until death separates us,” she said.

Mauro and Maria said their love for each other and faith in God has helped them to get through the hard times, with the most difficult being the loss of their daughter to cancer in 2019.

“All these years we have had our ups and downs of course. Married life is not all roses. There are thorns as well,” Maria said.

“But if you make those vows, you keep them. Renew them every now and then together, even through bad times, and try to work together in the best way possible.

“I want to do everything for Mauro, whatever I can,” she said.

“If one day my health is not good anymore, well, we leave that to God. But since I am able, I do.

“When you love someone, you give everything. Put it that way. When you love someone, you really give everything.”

Mauro added that united in both joy and grief, a good marriage also requires commitment and sacrifice, with faith in God being of paramount importance.

“Commitment and union; being united and respecting each other. Even if we have disagreements, sometimes one must swallow his or her pride.

“It is also very important to rely on God, and to know he is there to help you and to help you overcome any difficulties that you might encounter,” he said.

Along with faith, Maria said authentic love is the most important.

“I respect his ideas and he respects my ideas, working always together in the good and the bad. Love is fundamental,” she said.