By Jim Gontis, Special to the Florida Catholic
The sixth annual “Together in Holiness” Marriage Conference drew 135 couples Oct. 24, 2026, at Our Lady of Light Parish, Fort Myers.
The conference, a collaboration between the Diocese of Venice and the St. John Paul II Foundation, presented an opportunity for couples (married or engaged) to grow together in holiness.
The day included the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass with a special marriage blessing offered, three speaker presentations, a Eucharistic Holy Hour, the time for confession, lunch, and opportunities for couples to pray and talk together. There was also free time to visit Catholic vendors. Many married couples brought their children with more than 50 enrolled in childcare throughout the day.
The theme of the conference, “Family, an image of the Trinity,” was drawn from the writings of St. John Paul II. Emphasis both in the homily by Mass Celebrant and Vicar General, Father David Vidal, and by the conference speakers, was on how the love between husband and wife is called to imitate the faithful, life-giving, and permanent love of the Holy Trinity. Father Vidal and all the speakers emphasized that even through the many and sometimes great difficulties that life presents, the love of husband and wife for one another, is, by God’s grace given in the Sacrament of Marriage, to be fruitful and sacrificial toward one another, and toward any children God may grant them. This fruitful and sacrificial love is also called to flow from their family into the Church and the world.
After Mass, Dr. Maria Fedoryka, professor of philosophy at Ave Maria University, presented the morning talk entitled, “The Nuptial Meaning of the Body.” “We belong to God, and only He has the right to the deepest part of our being,” Fedoryka said. “By His permission, we come to belong to another person, and God approves of this mutual self-gift. God says, ‘he or she is mine and I entrust him/her to you.”
The first afternoon presentation was delivered by Father Eric Scanlan, pastor of Our Lady of Light. His talk was entitled, “The Crucible of Marriage: How Marriage Leads to Healing and Transformation.” Father Scanlan invited couples to recognize the woundedness in their own lives, recognizing that God wants to heal them and to do it through the intimacy of the relationship between husband and wife. He led couples in prayer, as they prayed in turn, for each other, a beautiful highlight of the day.
The capstone presentation of the afternoon, entitled “Fruitfulness and Mission: The Family’s Generative Love,” was by Dominick Albano, a nationally known marriage and family speaker. Albano’s presentation explored how the family’s identity as an icon of the Trinity bears fruit through the gift of children and through service to those in need.
The good feelings that couples had after the conference were summed up by Tim Altieri, who attended with his wife, Melissa. He said, “My wife and I are already feeling the positive effects of the added graces from God that came from this marriage conference. We plan on attending again next year.”
To learn about the “Together in Holiness” formation series, visit THFormation@forlifeandfamily.org. To learn more about other Diocese of Venice initiatives in support of marriage and family, contact Jim Gontis at 941-486-4754, or gontis@dioceseofvenice.org.
