Photo of Marine and bride praying goes viral

NORTH CAROLINA (KUSI) – A photo of a Marine praying with his bride-to-be quickly went viral after being posted by the wedding photographer.

According to ABC News, U.S. Marine Cpl. Caleb Earwood wanted to pray with his bride Maggie before walking down the aisle.

Earwood was led by members of the family over to Maggie, who stayed around the corner as to not break the tradition and see each other before the ceremony.

A photo of a young Marine praying with his bride-to-be quickly went viral after it was posted on Facebook by the wedding photographer.

“They hid me in a room and he stepped up on the stairwell and he stuck his hand out and I grabbed his hand,” Maggie Earwood told ABC News today.

“As soon as their hands touched he started getting emotional,” Schmidt told ABC News.

“The whole room was full of emotion,” Schmidt said. “I tried not to cry and focus on what I was doing.”

Photographer Dwayne Schmidt was able to capture the moment of emotion as Earwood prayed and Maggie tried to hold back her tears.

According to Schmidt, Caleb prayed for their marriage, asking that their union be strong enough to serve as an example for all young couples.

“It broke me down,” Maggie Earwood said, “to know that we felt the same way about God. It just made me happy.”

“There were no dry eyes in the room,” she said.

Schmidt posted the photo to Facebook on Saturday night, meant to be a sneak peek of his day’s work, but it quickly garnered more than 28,000 likes and went viral across the Internet.

“So many people are emailing me,” Schmidt said, “saying thank you for sharing this. It’s what America is supposed to be about.”

The couple is currently on their honeymoon before they return to Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, North Carolina, where Caleb is based.