"To love is to be suffering." said Sister Caterina, who came from Milano, Italy. According to Statistics and Census Service Macao SAR Government (DSEC), the statistics of divorce is two times more in comparison to that of 2004. "People are just looking for pleasure, this is not love," said Sister Caterina. The reason is most likely because the change of values in recent years. "Love is more like a transaction nowadays," said Crystal Ho, a civil servant who works in an electrical firm.

Usually, there are almost five to six couples each day who go to Church Lourenao in order to take marriage pictures. They dress up floridly, having what people call "the most beautiful moment." Unfortunately, a marriage is also said to be "the grave of love".

"Marriage does not have any relationship with love, it is just like a transaction," Ho insisted, arguing that if a girl gets married to a rich man, it helps to save 20 years striving for materialistic needs. Furthermore, a marriage seems like a ticket to be a wealthy person. In contrast, Patricia Wong, who is married to a mainlander, does believe that her marriage with her husband is the promise of love. It is in terms of spirit not money. "Marriage should not relate to money," Wong said.

In Chinese values, marriage is the symbol of happiness. A Chinese character "?" means a person's happiness. After they get married, both persons' happiness joins together which has the meaning of "double happiness". Unfortunately, this doe not seem to be true in recent years. According to the Policy Address for the Fiscal Year 2011 presented by Macao SAR, the government has almost 1.2 billion Patakas in surplus, the real growth rate in 2008 was 13.5%, the highest rate in Asia. However, the economic growth does not declare that people are happier than before. According to the Happy Index research by the Macao Polling Research Association (MPRA), when people stay with their family members, they seem to be the happiest. However, the statistics also indicate that when people feel sad, they will not talk to their family. "Love is more like a shelter for people as the city rapidly changes," said Ho, "...but they feel lonely afterward."

In the Catholic tenet, people cannot divorce. "God used man's rib to create woman, this is the reason why people should be faithful to their companion," said Sister Caterina. Contrarily, in the perspective of Ho, a companion can help not in love but in terms of economic benefits. The concept of marriage has rapidly changed in recent years. Outside Church Lourenao, there are still a lot of people taking their wedding photos. Unfortunately, how much happiness can be sustained?