BOSTON -- For Gerard and Catherine Pelletier, it was love at first sight.

The two met at a holiday party in Connecticut in 1989, and Catherine fell in love with Gerard's "genuine nature" right away. They've been married for 34 years.

"We know God is there all the time, and if you give it up to him, everything will be fine," Catherine said.

"He walks with us every day, by our side, guiding us through every day," Gerard said.

The Pelletiers were one of 21 couples of all ages who fully entered the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony during the Celebration of Convalidation at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross on Feb. 14, St. Valentine's Day and the final day of National Marriage Week. This year's class of 21 couples was a significant increase from 15 couples in 2025 and nine in 2024. Convalidation is a ceremony for couples, at least one of whom is Catholic, who married outside of the Catholic Church. When a couple's marriage is convalidated, their union is officially recognized by the Church. The Pelletiers always wanted to have their marriage convalidated.

"For various reasons throughout life, it took this long, but we're thrilled," Catherine said.

The Pelletiers agreed that getting their marriage convalidated, surrounded by friends, children, and grandchildren, was the most romantic way to celebrate Valentine's Day.

"Everything about tonight, this evening, exudes love," Catherine said.

Bishop Cristiano Barbosa presided over the ceremony.

"We are here to pray," he said in his homily. "We are here to witness love in front of our eyes, that these couples here are going to exchange to each other promises that talk about love."

He cautioned that the couples are not entering a contract ("Contracts we do somewhere else," he said). Instead, they are entering a sacrament, a sacred covenant.

"Love is always a mystery," he said. "Mysterion, in Greek, is the same word that we use in Latin to describe the life of the Catholic Church, sacramentum. Sacramentum and mystery, they remain the same reality, the reality that depends not on us but on God."

The sacraments, Bishop Barbosa explained, turn ordinary objects into "things we cannot even imagine."

"Today, your words and your bodies, something that we see, are about to contain the unseen," he said. "The mystery of God's love for the whole humanity is represented in your lives. This covenant mirrors God's love for us."

St. Paul told the faithful to love their spouses the same way Jesus loves his Church. Bishop Barbosa told the brides and grooms that it is their duty to care for one another and lead them on a path of holiness.

"Thank you for this beautiful adventure of giving yourselves to one another, of accepting the duty to sanctify one another and to bring one another to Heaven," he said.

James and Laura Burns attended the convalidation ceremony with their eight-month-old daughter, Scarlett.

"It was beautiful," James said.

"It's always something I wanted to do, be seen in the eyes of God as being married together," Laura said.They met online in 2020. Laura loved that James was a man who "lived life to the fullest."

"I realized real quick she started making my life a whole lot easier," James said. "Everything made sense."

Conor and Michaela Dennin met in Boston in 2017. They became friends, then started dating.

"Michaela is my best friend, and it seems like the best way to spend a life is to spend it with your best friend," Conor said.

"I didn't want to spend any time without him," Michaela said.

Their faith has kept them together through hard times.

"I think it's so special that there were so many couples celebrating their marriage and receiving the Sacrament of Marriage all together," Michaela said. "It really highlighted the romance on this beautiful day. Grateful to have been a part of it."