Couple to Couple League

Join us for a Free Theology of the Body Virtual Conference

Last year, more than 77,000 men and women from 160 countries registered for the inaugural TOBVC, making it the largest Catholic Conference in 2020! Hosted by Theology of the Body Institute, the TOB Virtual Conference April 30-May 2 will feature 80+ of the most prominent speakers and artists! Even better, because CCL is an affiliate…

Our daughters deserve better

It happens way too often. I’ll hear from one of the young women learning NFP from CCL who would like help reviewing their chart. That’s the good part. The frustrating part is that they often don’t know enough to help me answer their questions. Our daughters deserve better. One example is a 29-year-old woman who…

Teen fertility awareness: Helping our daughters reclaim the true meaning of their bodies

Many parents, and I was one of them, dread having to have “the talk” as their child approaches puberty. We aren’t quite sure what to say about teen fertility awareness, and we fear what questions we may get. Looking back, I see that practicing fertility awareness helped my husband and me grow comfortable talking about…

Alphonsus Liguori united two purposes of marital act

Many of us know that the teachings of the Church on marital love are founded on the inseparable connection between the two meanings of the conjugal act: the unitive meaning and the procreative meaning (HV #12). Less well-known is that it took centuries and the teaching of several doctors of the Church for this foundational…

More than just a fertility awareness method

I love that the Couple to Couple League (CCL) has never just taught the Sympto-Thermal Method. Why? Because to practice a fertility awareness method of family planning successfully, you need more than head knowledge. CCL has always been structured to provide whatever couples need live out the call to marital love as God designed. And…

More evidence that periodic abstinence is good for marriage relationship

New research confirms that despite the challenge of periodic abstinence, the use of natural family planning can be beneficial for marital relationships. The study, “Natural Family Planning and Marital Chastity: The Effects of Periodic Abstinence on Marital Relationships” (Linacre Quarterly, June 12, 2020) by Richard J. Fehring, PhD, RN, and Michael D. Manhart, PhD, found…

Learning NFP? Start with Sympto-Thermal

OK, you’ve been hearing about fertility awareness-based methods. You like that they are safe and healthy. But how do you know which method to learn? You could search online to find advice or surveys that help match a method to your personality, lifestyle or needs. There’s good logic behind that. But I recommend everyone start…

Growing in devotion to St. Joseph as my spiritual father

As I help prepare for our family’s Father’s Day celebration this weekend, my thoughts happily keep turning to the foster father of Jesus, thanks to recently working on a Consecration to St. Joseph. I must admit my sorrow at neglecting a deeper relationship with him before now. As a woman, I pretty much relegated St.…

We have lost a treasure

Anyone who has followed CCL for any amount of time is likely familiar with our best-selling book, Fertility, Cycles & Nutrition by Marilyn Shannon. The 5th edition was just released a few months, and was a complete re-write (not just an update) with as much solid, new information on the connection between nutrition and fertility…

Eucharistic Abstinence and NFP

Guest post by Theology of the Body enthusiast Katrina J. Zeno, MTS This also appears in the May/June 2020 issue of Family Foundations. A funny thing happened on the way to Easter this year – Lent became even more penitential. Without our consent, public Catholic masses were suspended in many dioceses in the U.S. and…