Media Release

For Immediate Release

It’s easy to feel the love on a couple’s wedding day, but what about when the honeymoon is over and life has settled down? Is it realistic for couples to expect to keep the passion alive amid the demands and responsibilities of work, in-laws, children, and the rising costs of living?

“Yes!” say Byron and Francine Pirola, who are co-directors of the newly launched Marriage Resource Centre.

With over twenty years of experience in running the Celebrate Love marriage seminar and Embrace marriage preparation course, the Pirolas are spearheading a new initiative to propel this vital ministry into the digital age. With a fully resourced and growing online experience, e-books, apps and e-learning opportunities for couples across the life cycle, “SmartLoving” aims to help couples be smarter about staying in love.

Grounded in the Theology of the Body, the “SmartLoving” website and its resources provide practical strategies to support couples in reaching their relationship potential.

“SmartLoving makes staying in love easy” says Francine, “and by providing married couples with easy-to-access and diverse digital and print resources, our SmartLoving website equips couples to live their marriage more joyfully.

Kate and Steve were already happily married but benefitted from one of the seminars provided by the Marriage Resource Centre to promote effective communication and relationship skills. “We have gained so much, especially learning about the verbal/emotional intimacy which we didn’t specifically know about and are growing closer in intimacy” they said.

Another couple, wishing to remain anonymous, nevertheless wanted to say the SmartLoving Marriage Seminar was “simply amazing”. “It brought us an awareness of our issues and has been a platform for reconciliation. It saved our marriage from a slow death.”

“While the marriage seminar was developed as an enrichment experience for couples in loving and stable marriages, in recent years we have seen it provide an effective tonic for couples in fragile and stressed marriages,” says Francine. “The insights and frameworks of the seminar work equally well across these groups because after all ‘SmartLoving’ is simply that… a smarter way of staying in love despite the challenges we all face.”

Lin and Sam attended the SmartLoving Engaged Course (formerly known as Embrace). “We learnt so much about each other, especially our differences and how to work with them.”

The Marriage Resource Centre’s online store will over time offer a wide range of books, DVDs, CDs and downloadable resources such as e-books, audio books, mp3s, mp4s and apps. Online courses and classes will also be developed over the coming year. “The exciting thing about the world in which we live in is there are so many alternate ways to access resources today” says Byron. “The Marriage Resource Centre is a response to the growing interest in exploring alternative ways for Catholics to revitalising their Sacrament of Matrimony across our communities, and by doing so, making the Church’s vision about marriage understandable to the broader community in a real and tangible way. “It’s simply a message that’s just too good to keep to ourselves.”