✝ FORMATION
Dad says, ‘having a baby is like winning the lottery’
National Parent’s Day is July 26 By Mary Cottingham
T
South Texas Catholic
The Gulding family spend a lot of time together. Pictured on the Corpus Christi Bayfront in the back row, from left, are Madeleine and Teresa. In the middle row, from left, are Gianna, Anna, Kathryn, Steven, Matthew, and Miriam. In the front row, from left are Bridget and Joseph. 16
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Patricia Roeser | For STC
he Gulding family live out their Catholic faith every day. Steven and Kathryn Gulding are the parents of eight children, with the eldest being 19 and the youngest three. “When we were engaged, we never put a number on how many kids we wanted,” Kathryn said. Something as reverent as praying the rosary together may look a bit messy to an outsider, but the Gulding family gets it done every day. They meet in the prayer room, which also serves as their living room. Anna, their five-year-old, plays quietly with her saint dolls, another daughter will sew, and the three-year-old may appear as a Star Wars character armed with his Nerf gun. “We often take longer than we should, because there are a lot of interruptions or someone’s in the bathroom and needs their bottom wiped – we just keep going,” Kathryn said matter of factly. “It’s not pretty.” Honoring the saints is another big deal in this family. All the Gulding children are named after saints (even their middle names.) They are Teresa (19), Madeleine (18), Gianna (15), Miriam (12), Bridget (10), Joseph (8), Anna (5), and Matthew (3). In addition to celebrating their birthdays, baptism, and confirmation days, the family celebrates their namesake’s feast day, “Anna loves the saint dolls, and she lives the saints’ stories through these dolls,” Kathryn said. “Sometimes she’ll play ‘family’ or have a confirmation, where she lines them up in a row like they’re being confirmed, and she does this quietly while we’re praying the rosary and sometimes not so quiet because the three-year-old wants his saint.” And they know what it means when they pray the rosary. Anna explained to her Aunt that when they pray the rosary, “Mary takes all their prayers to Jesus.” They also pray before meals. “When Maddy (Madeleine) was five, she made up a prayer for the souls in purgatory. ‘May the souls in purgatory be blessed into Heaven and talk to Holy Jesus and the saints,’” Steven recalls his daughter’s prayer. Besides saying their prayers and honoring saints, the family attends Mass as often as they can. Kathryn and the kids go to Mass at least twice
