‘The Secrets of a Fantastic Marriage’

By D.a. Wilkinson

SALEM — Greg Violi and his wife, Marie, have taken their Christian ministry across the country and around the world. The Salem couple hope their ministry will help improve troubled marriages.

Violi said he wrote his latest book, “The Secrets of a Fantastic Marriage,” because he saw marriage was “in pitiful condition, inside the church or outside the church.”

It’s his fourth book but the first to be published. He self-published the previous three.

Many of the problems the couple had in their own lives stemmed from their childhoods in dysfunctional families.

Violi wrote that his memories of his early life were “comprised of great tension, fear, screaming, a lot of joking and mocking with no memory of kind words spoken within the hope.”

Marie was raised by an alcoholic father and a mother who had problems because of the alcoholism.

Violi and his wife married in 1980. Since then, he wrote, their marriage and family life has been heaven on earth. Marie said they have four girls, two sons-in-law and three grandchildren. Two more grandchildren are on the way.

Violi said that the things people told them they would need for a marriage — including money and a job — were not what they needed. Instead, they turned to their faith.

“God is love,” Violi said.

Violi pointed out that the Bible made it clear that men should have a wife. In other words, people should not be alone.

He said that people who are struggling with issues should turn their problems over to God.

The biggest problem in marriages, he said, is pride. There are no positive references to pride in the Bible, he said.

Selfishness is also a marriage-killer, he said.

Viola has a list of eight common problems with marriage. They include doubt, traditional but empty values, severe problems in life, the fight between good and evil, unhealed issues, being judgmental, vows to one’s self and self-reliance rather than trusting God.

Viola ends the book with a checklist of attitudes to guide the reader.

The author said he has existed on freewill donations. They have services in their home Wednesdays and Saturdays that attract 30 to 35 people.

The book is available at www.tatepublishing.com and amazon.com.

wilkinson@vindy.com