Couples usually use their honeymoons as an opportunity to go to fancy places to spend memorable time with each other.
A Spanish couple, however, chose to spend their honeymoon in prayer and serving others, in the company of nuns who followed Saint Mother Teresa's example.
Lourdes and Chema spent four summers helping the Missionaries of Charity, the Roman Catholic congregation established by Mother Teresa in 1950.
During their first summer with Mother Teresa's nuns, the Spanish couple stayed in separate homes for the mentally ill in Romania.
"We lived their daily life with the sisters, their life of prayer and their outside work in the homes. Every Saturday for example they went to a psychiatrist to get help for the patients," Lourdes told The Catholic News Agency.
The next year, the couple flew to Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia, to serve in a home where there were a thousand sick and dying people, including young children.
"We went to participate in their spirituality and also to help those children with a childhood development program," Lourdes shared.
Chema, for his part, recalled how spending time with nuns from the Missionaries of Charity deepened his faith, and the faith of the people he served.
"Every day we had Mass early in the morning and then each person went to their place of work. Then we gave them (the children) their food until it was time for then to take their nap and then we went to lunch ourselves. Then we gave them their therapy again, played with them and we went to the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament they had every day," he shared.
Chema also expressed admiration for the missionaries, whom he said always wore a smile on their faces.
"They never complained and they were constantly working. We never saw them idle. They were very affectionate with us," he said.
