Story by Olivia Martin
Photos by Sydney Pitchford and Ben Ackley
Christina Armola is a senior at Central Michigan University. Growing up Armola was raised in a Catholic home but, as an adolescent, her religion was not always brought up on her.
Brandon Martin, Armola's fiance, was a cradled Catholic, which means that he was baptized as an infant when he was a couple of months old. Martin went to Catholic school when he was younger and he enjoyed it. From that moment forward, it started to shape his love and devotion to Christ.
“I actually went to Catholic schools for grades 1-8. I loved it. I wouldn’t be nearly as happy and successful as I am not. It is great to have so many resources at a young age and you hear hundreds of others’ faith journeys by the time you graduate,” Martin said.
As Armola got older and made her way to college, she met her fiancé and decided that she’d commit to her religion because he’s Catholic as well. Armola then went on a journey with God and her religion.
“Growing up, my whole family was Catholic before but, as a baby, my mom didn’t baptize me and at that point, my family didn’t go to church," Armola said. "My mom kind of faded off of not going to church and not taking us to church either but the rest of my family still actively goes to church though. I guess I can say I converted because of my fiancé."
Martin had a whole life of religion before he met Armola. He learned who he was, what weight his religion holds on him and what his religion means to him. Martin knew that he wanted to share that knowledge with someone else.
Armola had to undergo returning back to Catholicism and had to take a series of classes to strengthen her relationship with God once more and Martin was there right beside her helping her through this journey.
“Since Christina wasn’t technically ever catholic, it meant that she would have to take classes to familiarize herself with the religion. It was great to see her faith develop. I learn from her everyday,” Martin said. “If Christina was catholic but publicly renounced her faith to a witness, she would have had to do the same process. However, if Christina had been raised Catholic and taken part in the Sacrament of Confirmation which is received at around 13, she would have just had to go to Confession once.”
Getting back in touch with her religion has been a journey for Armola but it’s been a great one. Armola said the many struggles of getting back in touch with her religion, Lent, and how she has been enjoying even the toughest of moments.
“Since I just became Catholic, I was doing this whole eight month process of going to classes, learning about what religion is, and also giving up something for 40 days which is Lent. I know Allah came back to the Earth for 40 days and I think that is what Lent is about. For a month, I gave up, not swearing, not eating out, and not eating meat on Fridays either,” Armola said. “It was a little rough because this was my first time doing it and it was all different. I didn’t think it was going to be hard but it was kind of a rough process but my fiancé has helped me. I’m a slow learner and he’d help me with domain stuff and he’s been really supportive too.”
It has been a long process for Armola but from this process she has strengthened her relationship with God, her fiancé, and herself. This journey has been a tough one for her but overall, there isn’t anything that she’d take back from it.
“This process taught me that I really needed it in my life. There’s a lot going on right now like senior year and I felt like it was going to be rough. Sometimes, you hear a lot about the negative stuff but it depends on where you go and whom you’re showing yourself with. This process was definitely a big eye opener to a lot of stuff and I wouldn’t take it back,” Armola said.
Martin is glad he learned about his faith at a young age because it gives him something to have faith in. He’s also glad he met and fell in love with Armola because he was able to help her grow with her faith as well. Not only does he enjoy doing these things, he enjoy giving advice to others about being catholic and their journeys as well.
“If someone is seeking to join a church that is truly universal, then they should start by attending church in a local area. From there, you can understand any Catholic Mass on any continent. For someone that isn’t quite sure if a church is what they are looking for, a perfectly fine place to start is by asking yourself what the purpose of life is,” Martin stated. “From there, if you assume it is to be happy then you can ask yourself what causes happiness. Psychology tells us that purpose and community are great places to start. A church is a community of followers of God, who welcome any non-believers or unsure believers. We do this because Jesus ate and shared time with people who had little in common with him and showed us that treating each other as he treats us.”
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