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…

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Alphonsus Liguori United 2 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…

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St. Joseph as a 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.…

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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…

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6 Books to Read Before you get Married

Congratulations! You’re engaged! Phew, do you have a lot of work ahead of you. It will be easy to get caught up in the details of the big day, so take it from someone who’s just a month away from her own wedding: make a point to slow down and put some preparation towards the…

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The World of Quieter Conversions

St. Paul’s conversion, with all its drama and bright lights and the booming voice of God, reads like something out of a comic book. While such film-worthy revelations of God to his people are rare, quiet conversions and reversions are far more numerous than people may believe. In NFP circles in particular, we see that…

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5 Ways to Get More Out of Marriage Prep

I’m currently four months deep in an 8-month engagement. As I write this, my fiancé is in a U-Haul moving across the country, where he’ll stay until I move and join him after the honeymoon. As we are back again in a long-distance relationship and because he is not Catholic, much of the planning and…

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New Vatican Document About Hysterectomy

Update, January 4, 2019 at 10:52 am: Due to responses, some of the wording and implications in this article have been clarified. *** On Thursday, January 3, a document further exploring the morality of hysterectomy was published by the Vatican on behalf of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF). It was released…

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My Vocation isn’t Marriage

Marriage was never an option in my discernment. I could tell from my gifts, interests, strengths and weaknesses that my calling would be something particularly unconventional. Marriage? Dull. Kids? Adorable, but spiritual motherhood fosters a much bigger family and is far more frequently neglected. The second stop for my discernment train was clearly religious life.…

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3 Truly Scary Things about NFP

It’s that spooktacular time of year and scary things are in the air. There’s bats and pumpkins and costumes for the weak-hearted, but far more terrifying things for those foolish enough to risk it. Nothing is more sinister than the dark, demanding world of natural family planning. If you’re brave enough, read on to find…

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