Roman Holiday
MIDDLESEX TWP — It's going to be hard to top Kathy and Art King's Valentine's Day date this year. It includes an audience with the pope.
For the longtime married couple and members of Holy Sepulcher Roman Catholic Church, 304 E. Cruikshank Road, the trip to the Eternal City over this Valentine's Day holiday fulfills a longtime dream to visit Vatican City.
The Kings are flying out of Pittsburgh Feb. 11 to Atlanta where they will meet Art King's cousin, Cindy Roose of Phoenix and her husband, Jerry, and then the four of them will fly to Rome.
Art King said of his cousin, “She's been there before. They have some idea of what's going on.”
It's a dream the Kings have had almost as long as they've been married, which was 40 years ago on Oct. 22, 1977.
“We met in a Spanish club at Mars High School,” Art King said. “I would have been 17 and you would have been 16.”
“It was a long courtship,” replied his wife. “We got married at 21, so it was like five years.”
The Kings have three children — Jenifer Schellhaas, Stephanie Azerkon and David King — and nine grandchildren, all of whom live within 10 miles of the family homestead.
WHO IS ART YOUNG?
Art Young, the co-owner with his brother, Larry and his son, David, of Harvest Valley Farms, said of his long marriage, “I attribute it to one, our long courtship; two, farm life and working together; and three, our faith.”
WHO IS KATHY RICH?Kathy Rich said it was the couple's faith that spurred them to plan their trip to Rome.“We've been planning for it about two years, but we didn't finalize it until last year.“I think we've always just wanted to go to see the pope and see the churches,” she said.Art King said, “There's so much rich history there for the Catholic Church that I've always been intrigued.”“Of course, there is a certain romantic aspect in going to Rome, too,” he added.In the beginning, the Kings didn't expect to be in an audience with Pope Francis on Valentine's Day, which this year happens to fall on a Wednesday, the same day when the pope usually schedules public audiences. This year Feb. 14 is also Ash Wednesday which marks the start of Lent.During the typical papal audience, the Holy Father addresses the crowd, usually in different languages, and gives a speech, followed by prayers, a homily, and some singing. The pope may bless babies people hold up for him,At the end of the ceremony, the pope will also bless religious items.Kathy King said she's bringing rosaries for the pope's blessing, and she plans to buy more in Rome.And they hope to get a blessing for themselves. Kathy King said, “Surely, he is going to bless the couples on Valentine's Day. We'll be set for another 40 years.”Rome's the place for Valentine's Day, according to the Roman Catholic Church.Saint Valentine, officially known by the church as St. Valentine of Rome, is a third-century Roman saint commonly associated with “courtly love.”Although not much of St. Valentine's life is reliably known, and whether the stories of Valentine involve two different saints by the same name is also not officially decided, it is generally agreed that St. Valentine was martyred and then buried on the Via Flaminia to the north of Rome.Although in 1969 the church removed St. Valentine from the General Roman Calendar because so little is known about him, the church still recognizes him as a saint, listing him in the Feb, 14 spot of Roman Martyrology.Art King said he was surprised how easy it was to get a ticket for the papal audience.
“We got them last summer. We got them online. Everything is online,” he said.The most direct way to request tickets is to visit the website of the Prefecture of the Papal Household, where applicants can download a form to fill out and fax back.After the audience with Pope Francis, Art King said, “I don't know where, but I'm sure we will go out for dinner that night.”The Kings said they also plan to see the Colosseum, take a separate tour of the Vatican and St. Peter's Square, visit Florence, and travel to Germany to visit distant relatives.Kathy King said this trip will make up for many missed anniversary moments.“On the farm we are selling pumpkins every year and we are not even able to celebrate our anniversary,” she said.She said that in the past they've been content to exchange cards on Valentine's Day.“At Holy Sepulcher, Father John Maloney used to have a ceremony on Saturday where we would renew our vows and then there would be a Valentine's Day dance and dinner at the school,” Art King said.Kathy King added, “This will be the biggest Valentine's Day gift ever. It's going to be very hard to beat this next year.”Although, she said, “Maybe our 10th grandchild will be born on Valentine's Day next year.”
