Newly-married couple connected thanks to Our Lady of Fatima

By ROB HERBST
The Catholic Week
Olivia Stewart and Thomas Snyder firmly believe that Our Lady of Fatima is the perfect matchmaker. 
The couple married Aug. 5 at St. Martin of Tours Parish in Troy and one of the guests of honor was a statue of Our Lady of Fatima – only appropriate since she holds a major role in their love story. 

Their connection to Our Lady of Fatima
Both Olivia and Thomas had a strong connection to Our Lady of Fatima prior to their marriage. 
For Olivia, this meant participating in the Pilgrim Virgin apostolate in Troy organized by St. Martin of Tours Parish. A statue of Our Lady of Fatima graces a residence for one week and the statue is placed prominently in the home and those at the home pray each day in front of it before the statue is taken to another home. 
For Thomas, his connection dates back to his birth – May 13 – the Feast Day of Our Lady of Fatima
Olivia: “Our relationship started off based on prayer, the Rosary and the beautiful statue of Our Lady of Fatima. My senior year of college, my roommates and I picked a week to host the Pilgrim Virgin Mary statue in our home. I had heard of miracles happening when having her in your home and praying the Litany of Our Lady and other prayers for her intercession, so I was eager to see where the Holy Spirit wanted to take me.”
Thomas: “Our Lady of Fatima and I go way back, all the way back in fact. She had been a significant part of my life since the day I was born, literally. I was born on May 13, the feast day of Our Lady of Fatima. As soon as I developed a faith of my own, it was clear that she was watching out for me.”

Our Lady's 
intercession
When the Our Lady of Fatima statue was in Olivia’s home she took to prayer. Our Lady of Fatima also helped Thomas with patience.
Olivia: “With my Rosary in hand, I heard the Lord ask me to pray for the intention of having a man pursue me. Surprised, since I had never actively done this, I said, “What the heck, I’ll do it!” A week later, after we finished the prayers, one of my dear guy friends called me from Texas and asked me out on a date. Little did I know that this was the beginning of my love story with Thomas!”
Thomas: “(Our Lady of Fatima) has been so gentle in leading me back to her Son when it was difficult to go directly to Him, and she has always been so encouraging in my darkest times. This brings me to a particular dream I had when I was very young, coincidentally enough around the time of my first heartbreak. I won’t get into much detail, but I remember Mama Mary speaking to me ever-so-gently, reminding me to be patient and to trust. The words she used to encourage me were ‘Not yet, little one.” Fast forward through many years of middle school, high school and college, through good friendships, short relationships and a deepening of my faith, and many times I thought I was encountering the love God had in store for me. Yet each time, I heard the words from my dream with Our Lady: “Not yet, little one.”

The first date
Thomas eventually asked Olivia out on a date. The two originally met in Michigan in summer 2021. Olivia was serving with FOCUS with summer projects and Thomas’ family owned a summer home there. He later traveled from Texas to Troy for their first date. They went to an outdoor food patio, where Olivia said they ate hot dogs. They also discovered the impact of Our Lady of Fatima.
Olivia: “During the weekend of our date we were asking intentional questions to get to know each other better (like you should do on a first date)! One of the questions I asked Thomas was ‘When’s your birthday? He casually says ‘Oh it’s May 13, which is the feast day of Our Lady of Fatima. Instantly my jaw dropped and a smile came across my face, for I knew Mama Mary was behind this all along!”
Thomas: “It was far from love at first sight; in fact I had to persevere with Mary’s help while Olivia was discerning the religious life, but there was just something about her. Come that next spring, God finally gave me the boldness to ask her on a date. While I was in Alabama on our first date, she shared with me something I should have seen coming: Our Lady of Fatima wasn’t just interceding for me directly, she was also interceding for Olivia!”

Aug. 5, 2023
With Our Lady of Fatima’s help, the relationship blossomed. Thomas asked Olivia to be his girlfriend in February 2022. They got engaged on Dec. 5, 2022, and were married on Aug. 5 at St. Martin of Tours Parish and now live in Texas where Thomas is an aerospace engineer for Axiom Space and Olivia is a middle school youth minister.
Olivia: “Throughout our relationship we have continued to build our devotion through the Rosary and asking for Our Lady of Fatima’s intercession every day. So we were grateful to have the same blessed statue that was brought into my home my senior year of college here with us on our wedding day, Aug. 5, 2023!”
Thomas: “You know what the most beautiful part is? As I’ve been journeying these past almost two years, loving and being loved by Olivia, Mary hasn’t once said, ‘Not yet, little one.’ She prepared our hearts for this moment, for this love and is right here by our side as we journey toward Heaven together.”