QUINCY -- Separation and divorce can be a traumatic event for any family and bring lasting feelings of pain.

To help bring healing to those in that situation, the archdiocese's Family Life Team held a special event on March 28 at St. John the Baptist Church: "Come to the Waters, a healing Mass for those impacted by divorce or separation."

Father Matt Williams was the main celebrant and homilist for the Mass, with Father Tom DiLorenzo concelebrating. Confessions were available in the lower church for the first hour of the event, and afterward, the clergy prayed over attendees individually.

Liz Cotrupi, the director of family life and ecclesial movements, and Emily Elliott, a family life consultant, handed out books and brochures as people arrived, including a list of resources, such as counselors, support groups and programs.

Elliott told The Pilot, "One of our goals each year is to hold a special event in support, in love, in solidarity with those undergoing divorce and separation or adult children of divorce and separation."

This year, she said, they felt called to make the grace of the sacraments and the beauty of the Mass available to those who have experienced, or are currently experiencing, the pain of divorce.

"The Church supports and loves and wants to offer her healing to anyone that is going through a divorce," Elliott said.

Addressing the assembly before the Mass began, Elliott told those in attendance, "If we can ever be of any service to you, we work for you. This church is for you."

Andrea Alberti, the director of outreach and evangelization for the Collaborative of St. John the Baptist and St. Joseph, shared a witness talk about her own experience as a divorced Catholic.

She told the attendees that she knows firsthand the pain of betrayal and loss of family life.

"I want to stand here as a witness that Jesus has done it all, he can do it all, and he will do it all," she said.

Alberti's marriage lasted seven years, during which she had three daughters. The youngest was six months old when her husband left and wanted to divorce.

Alberti recalled some of her most powerful feelings from that time in her life. She wondered whether she had discerned wrongly when she chose whom to marry and doubted whether she even knew the Lord. She only wanted to live long enough to raise her children, after which she hoped the Lord would take her to heaven to be with him.

A few different but interrelated experiences helped her to move forward. At one point, she read "The Courage to be Chaste" by Father Benedict J. Groeschel, who said the Church needs divorced saints. When Alberti read that line, she knew she wanted to be one of those saints.

On Saturday nights, while her daughters had visits with her ex-husband, she would go to Adoration and pray the rosary. She wept during those times, telling Jesus what was in her heart, and gained a new intimacy with him. She also went to confession frequently and talked to her spiritual director about her struggle with unforgiveness.

Alberti emphasized the importance of having spiritual friends -- even though, she acknowledged, it can be difficult to trust another person after experiencing betrayal from a spouse.

Her spiritual director helped her to understand that she had not necessarily discerned incorrectly when she married. Rather, her experience was evidence of living in a fallen world.

Another friend helped her understand that "Your job isn't just to go to heaven, it's to bring heaven to Earth." That led to a paradigm shift for Alberti.

She referred to the collaborative's acronym JOY, standing for their order of priorities: Jesus, Others, and Yourself.

"If I could commit my life to being a gift of self to those around me, maybe be that spiritual friend to someone else, and be a joyful mother to my children, that would bring me joy," Alberti said.

Over the last decade, she said, she has "sought the kingdom first." She called her and her daughters' lives "a miracle," citing various ways they have experienced God's providence.

She closed with words of encouragement and invitation: "Let's be the saints that are divorced, and let's help those people around us, as well."

Information about the Office of Family Life is available at bostoncatholic.org/familylife. Their resources related to divorce can be found at bostoncatholic.org/familylife/divorced-separated.