By Katie Vasquez
Josephine and Cristobal Rodriguez pray the rosary every morning, then watch the Spanish mass on NET-TV.
The Brooklyn couple, who also celebrate mass every Sunday at Holy Family-St Thomas Aquinas parish in Park Slope, believes their faith is part of the reason they have stayed married for 71 years.
“God is so good to us that I get up in the morning and say thank god for another day,” said Josephine Rodriguez. “I have a lot of faith. And that’s the first thing I do in the morning is thank god for this day.”
“She can’t listen to mass without me; if I’m drinking coffee, I have to leave the coffee and come and listen to the mass,” said Cristobal Rodriguez.
They met in Moca, Puerto Rico, when she was 13, and he was 16, but the sparks didn’t fly until they moved to New York in 1951 and reconnected in Brooklyn.
“We met again. and then we started dating, and then we married,” said Josephine.
They married on July 3, 1953, at Queen of All Saints Church in Fort Greene. While the day looked picture-perfect, it did have some hiccups.
“We borrowed a camera from my friend,” said Josephine. “My friend, a flower girl, grabbed and dropped the camera.”
However, they will be able to celebrate their marriage again at the Diocese of Brooklyn’s wedding anniversary mass on Saturday, Sept. 28.
Josephine says seeing the other couples together and being blessed by Brooklyn Bishop Robert Brennan will be inspiring.
“That makes me feel like it’s something that going into our heart because we see all these people held together or marry for a long time, for a short time, but still felt good to be there and special,” said Josephine.
So what do the Rodriguezs’ say is the secret to a happy marriage?
“Well, I believe that love, respect, and communication are the most important things in a marriage,” said Josephine. “When you have that, you can survive.”
“And never go to bed and go to sleep, never go mad,” said Cristobal. “Never.”
Plus, they thank god every day for each other.