In a culture where weddings can easily overshadow marriages, one course is quietly helping couples put first things first. The “Everlasting Love Marriage Preparation Course” run by the Life, Marriage and Family team, is arming them with a spiritual and practical “survival kit” designed to future‑proof their nuptials.
Attendance nearly doubled compared with last year at the recent Everlasting Love weekend, appropriately held on Valentine’s Day weekend, between 13 -14 February at St Catherine Labouré parish in Gymea.
“This year we had 13 couples, which is encouraging to see,” said Michael Jaksic, Life, Marriage and Family officer within the Sydney Centre for Evangelisation. “It shows that more couples are hungry for solid, in‑person Catholic formation before they walk down the aisle.”
The course balances “human formation, theology, and lived testimony,” over one evening and one full day.
Chris Laundy, a Catholic clinical psychologist speaking on personality, attachment styles and effective communication, helped couples “receive evidence‑based formation that can help them understand themselves, and [the] specific relationship dynamic that they have, based upon their upbringing and personalities,” said Michael.
“Many engaged couples have never had the chance to reflect deeply on how their personal history and personality shape their future marriage,” said Michael. “Everlasting Love gives them language, tools and space to do so.”
Couples were introduced to the “theological and spiritual heart of Catholic marriage”, with a talk from Fr Daniel McCaughn from St Patrick’s Sutherland, on “the theological foundations of marriage as a faithful union that is Christ‑centred.”
Marie de Leeuw, a parishioner of St Catherine’s parish and a Billings Fertility Educator, presented on natural fertility awareness, introducing the participants to the faithful way to navigate fertility and family.
The course also featured powerful testimonies from married couples.
“We had Tomasz and Sarah Juszczak, founders of Donum Ministries, give testimony on how Theology of the Body transformed their lives. We had Simon Carrington speak on conjugal chastity, and we heard from Helen and Kevin Wagner on how to keep the relationship alive after [the wedding],” Michael said. These aren’t abstract ideals: they are ordinary Catholics witnessing how God’s grace has sustained them in the daily reality of marriage.
“Far from being a simple box‑ticking exercise required by the church,” said Michael,
“Everlasting Love is drawing couples who want more. Because marriage is not easy, and we can see today that a lot of marriages don’t remain together,” Michael notes.
Couples are also invited to adoration, Mass, and the Sacrament of Reconciliation, helping them “put God in their relationship, to ground their marriage in prayer and in forgiveness and to really centre on the Mass.”
In a world that doesn’t “give much support to the marital bonds,” Everlasting Love offers something far more enduring: a Catholic survival kit of theology, formation and real‑world wisdom to help them not just reach their wedding day, but stay faithful to the vows they will make there.
The Life Marriage and Family team are holding two more Prep courses throughout the year:
- Session 2: Friday 5 – Saturday 6 June 2026 at St Joachim’s Parish Lidcombe
- Session 3: Friday 20 – Saturday 21 November 2026 at St Joseph’s Parish Moorebank
To register or for more information please follow the link.
