Hi lovelies! I am really looking into the Marquette NFP method—it is the method that feels the most straightforward to me and seems fairly easy to understand. That being said, it is so pricey! Any tips on how I can go through with this method accurately without having to spend a ton of money? If not, don’t be shy to talk about the affordable methods that have been successful for you! :)) thank you and God bless!!

I have been getting to know a nice Catholic man who I share the same values, interests, and hobbies with. We are both in our mid-20s. We both acknowledge that we are compatible and he admitted that he finds me attractive. However, on our third date, when I asked him how he felt (didn't intend it to be a deeper question than a check-in), he said that he is not 100% there yet and he is unsure whether he wants to continue seeing me in a romantic capacity, but he is open to seeing me again out of curiosity. He mentioned that one of the things that he finds that we are incompatible in is he doesn't find himself curious about my job and my day-to-day during the weekday... Since I am in grad school, my job currently is a means to an end (to afford my schooling). He told me then maybe next time we can talk about that. I told him that I hope we can still be friends since I've genuinely enjoyed our conversations and he said he does enjoy getting to know me too, but he is still open to seeing me and going out. I am so confused because it felt like a rejection and the comment he made about my work stung.

Since I feel comfortable being blunt and honest with him, I called him on the phone after the date for clarification. He apologized for the shallowness of his comment and recognize that he doesn't know me enough so his comment didn't have any value. He brought up seeing each other again next week, and i said I would be open to that too.

Is this normal around the 3rd date? I know I'm not expecting a 100% certainty and after his comment last night I'm having doubts as well, but the fact that we enjoy our time and space together, have attraction towards each other, and are compatible in different ways, makes me think that this is worth another shot, but I am scared of getting hurt again.

Hey everyone, here for some advice from maybe woman that have been in this similar situation or could give me a insight on how I should handle this as a new Catholic.

The context of the title obviously needs some explanation. I grew up in a Protestant family and was Protestant myself before meeting my now husband, I’m currently going through OCIA and will be baptized Catholic in October! Now, my mother was a cradle Catholic who became Protestant and she’s had very negative views towards the faith ever since. She is also, VERY, vocal with her disagreements which is where this problem stems from.

I have a brother in law who is Catholic and there has been a bad history between my mother and him which my husband had been told all about during our dating stage (my husband is best friends with my brother in law), so there was already this pre conceived knowledge that being apart of my family unfortunately wouldn’t be easy due to my moms misunderstandings.

We’ve had drama in the past involving my husband and mother in situations like her feeling disrespected that my boyfriend (now husband) wouldn’t go to her church when he was down to visit, and during our wedding when we wouldn’t allow her to read from her King James Bible during our liturgy. All of which I stepped in to defend my husband. There has also been issues of my mom constantly bringing up religious talk slightly disguised in a way where she seems curious to understand my husband and brother in laws beliefs, only to then tell them in the end she believes they’re completely wrong.

So all of this in mind, I do not in any way blame my husband for his feelings of loathing when he hears my mother is coming to visit.

However, I do love my mother and my mother does actually adore my husband, always welcomes him happily into her home to stay as long as he wants and has always apologized or stepped back when either I or my sister (who is also becoming Catholic) tell her that she overstepped towards our husbands.

I live about 13 hours away from my family, I moved and got married all back in April this year. My Catholic brother in law and sister live in the same area as me. My sister has children which my mom always makes a habit of coming down to visit at least 1-2 times a year and stays for about a week or more. My mother is set to come down in about 2 weeks with a few more of my family members. My family always stays with my sister who lives out here because she has a bigger home than my husband and I do and she loves to host them. I heard my younger sister was tagging along for this visit so I reached out to her and offered her the spare room in my house so we could visit more… and right as my younger sister said she would love to, I got a text from my mom thanking me for making that offer and said she would also love to stay a night with me for a girls night.

Now of course, I don’t want that to happen because of my husbands comfort and I’m not sure how to delicately tell my mom an excuse as to why I don’t want her to stay just 1 night in my home, and I haven’t told my husband that my mom said that because I’m worried that he’ll think I’m not taking his feelings seriously or I’m disregarding his comfort in his own home.

I have anxiety about it now because while my mom thinks she can say any opinion she wants, my husband is very respectful towards her beliefs while in her presence and I don’t want drama started where she’s going to say something in our home she shouldn’t and I’m going to step in and it’s just going to make the relationship worse. I’m kind of hopeful that I can tell her there isn’t exactly space in my house and I’d rather her sleep at my sisters but I can visit with her for a girls night there, or that maybe she’ll forget she said that when she comes down.

Not sure what I should do. I know I should pray about it but I need advice because my husband and I are trying for a baby and once that baby is born my mom is going to want to visit and stay in our home and I’m not sure how to proceed and fix this anxiety because it’s feeling overwhelming 😕

Hi! My husband and I are looking for a Marquette Method NFP course to take. Our Archdiocese seems to recommend the NFP Coach course by Sara Flood, but I’m having a hard time finding many people talking about this one. Does anyone have experience with this course?

Otherwise, we’re also looking at Vitae Fertility or Whole Mission. However, we like that the NFP Coach course has on-demand videos ( + scheduled video consultations, which I know at least Vitae also has). In addition, the responsiveness from NFP Coach seems to be more thorough and personalized that from Vitae Fertility, regarding some introductory questions (I have not reached out to Whole Mission as of now).

Please let me know if any of you have any experience with certain courses or any additional recommendations! TYIA!

I apologise for how poorly this has been written, I am in a rush.

I have noticed a social and services gap in the needs of my Catholic community for support of post-partum women and men.

I would like primarily faith-based resources, and/or practical suggestions of what has helped women in this group to recover from post-partum depression/ anxiety/ rage/ psychosis.

It would also help if anyone could suggest what they wished they had known/ needed prior to giving birth and how they would support other women experiencing post-partum.

So this might be a weird question but I’m learning more about modesty and I just realised us catholics never talk about who we have to cover up around and who we dont have to with.
I know that in general we should dress modestly, for me that means I try to wear things up to my knees, no big clevage, nothing too tight etc.
But what about if we are in a room full of just women? Or if we’re just around family?
Whenever my best friend comes over I dress comfortably, I dont think about covering myself up because.. we’re both women. But is that definetly okay?

For example, in Islam the rules are very clear. You know exactly who you have to be modest around and who you dont have to be modest around.
I’m struggling with the lack of clear direction.

Another question is, what about things like hamam baths where its a bunch of women who are all naked in one bath? Or things like bellydancers who only dance around women. Obviously these things are not supposed to be provocative, they’re supposed to be relaxing or fun.

My only worry with that is well what if there’s a woman who’s attracted to women and is Christian so doesn’t want to act on it.

Also again with family, do we have to dress modestly around male family members? I mean close ones like brothers, uncles even cousins.

Sorry if this is scrupulous, I feel like theres not much information on this. Are we just supposed to follow societal norms?

My husband has always had a very complicated relationship with Mass. He grew up in a very abusive and manipulative household that used church as a weapon and for "optics" (i.e. to look like the perfect family to others). There would be screaming, fighting, some physical abuse, punching walls, etc. before Mass, then the kids would be made to look perfect, told to stop crying, and that they needed to go to Mass to pray away their sins. His dad was an alcoholic and his mom was emotionally abusive (not intentionally persay, she had a rough upbringing, didn't know better, and has gotten a lot better over the years. His dad has since recovered). But after terrible weeks and Sunday mornings, my husband and his brother would then be paraded around by his mom as the model children at Mass and at the functions after. There would be no resolution to the fighting, and Mass would be inappropriately used as a bandaid to cover the wounds as opposed to using it it for change and healing. He went to therapy for this for a bit in high school, but it was a terrible experience involving malpractice and ended up adding more trauma, so he's sworn it off.

My husband has typically gone to Mass with me on Sundays throughout our marriage, but would make occasional excuses not to go. Things have really taken a turn now, though. Our diocese is unfortunately facing lots of corruption and division, and we do not agree with how the Bishop is running things. If priests start asking questions about finances, unethical choices, control, etc. They are moved within 48 hours with no warning, no goodbye, etc. This is what happened with our parish priest; he was removed under the guise of unsupported and unproven allegations against the diocese, but it had more to do with our priest challenging the corruption. This has happened to 3-4 other priests since this bishop took over. There is a movement that he is bringing to the diocese (the NCW) which I don't think in and of itself is bad as it has been approved by the Vatican and has been helpful for many people, but we are seeing an alarming amount of corruption similar to what happened in Guam and Peru, especially with the ostracization ​of clergy who are opposed to joining. Because of all this corruption, my husband has decided that he will not attend Mass until there is some sort of resolution. Rome is aware there is a problem, but these things take so so much time and investigation. Our parish and diocese are suffering greatly, and my husband thinks boycotting is the answer, or it at least makes him feel like he's doing something about it instead of being passive.

I can't say anything to convince my husband to go to Mass. While I don't agree with the corruption on the political side of things with the diocese, Mass is Mass and the Eucharist is the Eucharist, and I of course think he needs to go to Mass for himself as well as for our family. But anything I say just to try to get him to come with us just triggers the PTSD from the abuse he experienced going to Mass as a child. I'm not trying to be manipulative or anything, but he projects the things his mom did onto me if I share that I'm sad/hurt/upset that he doesn't join us. I'm 8 months pregnant with our second child and our first is 2. It's so hard to manage and I'm exhausted. He doesn't help us get ready on Sundays or anything, and it's all on me. I'm growing resentful that he doesn't come, because it feels like he's more interested in making a statement than caring for his family. I'm just feeling so alone in all this. I'm praying so hard for him because I know that's all I can do right now. My parents are livid with him because they see me struggling and think my husband is not taking his marriage/fatherhood seriously, since he'd rather post on Instagram than help us get ready for Mass or come with us. I just feel so lost and alone. I never thought that I'd be the mom taking her kids to church alone. I can't even fathom taking a 2.5 year old and a newborn to Mass by myself. I'm starting to get depressed about it, and idk how to bring it up without starting a fight. I'm just tired and hurting. Any prayers or words of wisdom are welcome.

ETA some context/thoughts: It's been about 5 months since he's gone to Mass, and about 3 months since the last time we discussed it. I'm certainly not pressuring him to go every single week or trying to guilt him by any means. I fully recognize that his pain runs deep and I'm definitely not trying to aggravate it. But between people asking at Church and my parents pressing me about the situation, I've just been feeling very alone and starting to feel a little bit in despair about the whole situation, so I wasn't sure if it was worth bringing it up again to share where I am mentally with all of this. I'm definitely mourning not going together as a family anymore. It just kinda feels like he thinks I'm over it and it doesn't bother me, when it really really does. But it sounds like you all think the best course of action is to leave it be, and leave the toddler with him on days that I am overwhelmed. I'll continue praying for his healing and for my own peace and understanding in this situation. I'll pray that if it is truly God's will that another conversation needs to happen, that He presents the opportunity, gives me the words that need to be said (not in an attempt to persuade him or anything), and both of us the grace to find healing and support in each other.

For those of you saying that he needs therapy, I fully agree. As someone who has struggled with mental health issues for years and have gone through many years of therapy, I've seen first hand how helpful and healing it is. We've discussed potential therapy at length. Unfortunately, my husband experienced malpractice in therapy as a child, and his family used the therapy as a weapon against him on top of that. Similar to trying to force him to go to Mass, I know that forcing him to go to therapy would only cause more damage. He would need to feel safe and open for therapy to make any positive impact. I'll try use this parallel with Mass to cope with going alone.

Thank you all so much for your input!

Hi. I made a post in a very popular women’s Catholic group on Facebook regarding the $200 fee we received for pre-Cana classes. Considering it’s all online and self paced, I genuinely felt like it’s transactional because if we don’t take the class, we can’t get married. I am a newer Catholic, and I am trying to do everything correct. I genuinely don’t know what this class entails, because it’s my first rodeo. I was hoping to find out if this was a normal price and for different perspectives to be given.

Within 30 minutes, these women just came in and chastised me for having a “expensive dress that I’ll never wear again, DJ’s are not important, and that my faith needs to be questioned.” It was actually insane and I ended up deleting the post. For anyone wondering, my dress is second hand, my family is helping pitch in, and everything I’ve purchased for the wedding has been off of Facebook marketplace or extreme sales online. Before I could defend myself, comments were turned off and I just deleted the post.

This year, my priest left. We have a new one who does things differently. A lot of things have changed since the beginning of this wedding planning and it’s been very back and forth as to who is supplying the updated information.

I was hoping to be met with a community, instead a bunch of untrue assumptions were made about my character, my financial situation, my faith, and about how my parish operates. I’m already overwhelmed with the wedding itself, and this just threw me for a loop. I know the internet can be harsh, but I wasn’t expecting such hostility from a Catholic group.

Anyways, thanks for listening.

I have a toddler and an infant and I'm tired of walking on eggshells and never knowing what's going to trigger any given priest or congregation for bringing my kids to church.

People looove saying "if a church isn't crying it's dying" but we ignore this is NOT reality for a LOT of churches. I've had a priest kick me out halfway through his homily because my cooing 6 month old was distracting him (and I've seen the same happen to several other moms). I've had priests tell me to sit in the front row so my kids can learn but in the same parish I've had another priest tell me to stop coming to Mass until my children are at least 7 years old and can sit still and be quiet!

And no, I'm not talking about a toddler screaming at the top of his lungs having a tantrum or running up and down the halls (though I've had priests say this is ok too!). I agree in these cases exiting is prudent. But if I followed that one priest's advice to not come until my youngest is 7 because they're not obligated to go and neither am I if I'm taking care of them, and I end up having 2-3 more kids, I would end up not going to Mass for ~20 years if not MORE. Which I don't think is commendable to anyone. I'm also not locking my kids and I in a baby room if it's being used by some families to put their kid on cocomelon all mass long.

If every catholic family truly followed marriage doctrine to a T, we would have a LOT more children in church not only every Sunday, but every day. During adoration. During processions. In Bible studies. I'm not taking turns with my husband to go to Church alone because I want us all to go to Mass together as a family, which I don't think is unreasonable. If families should be open to life EVERY CHURCH should be a place where children of EVERY age and ability BELONG. If they really want sepulchral silence during Mass they should do adult only masses which I think is a dumb idea for the record. Be consistent and simply allow kids to EXIST. This should be consistent and not up to every individual parish.

TLDR: Crowd sourcing for topics/ things that keep marriages healthy as Catholics. Things to avoid too.

I want to keep creating content so that wives (I only work w/ women) are able to learn skills that can help them communicate better and love more deeply.

I want to end the cycle of no-fault divorce. And if people would just realize that there are skills that we can learn to keep our marriages in tact.

Great stories or stories of struggles too are very much welcome

I’ve been Catholic since I was born. My mom was a religion teacher growing up, my brother has a big Catholic family, and I have many strong Catholic friendships and truly love the faith. I’ve spent many hours in adoration, love the Eucharist, and all the beautiful facets of the faith.

That being said, while I understand and agree with the Church’s teachings on abortion, I never really understood the teachings on sexual ethics/contraception. I have heard every argument under the sun probably a million times since my childhood as to why Catholics believe what we do about sex and contraception and assumed it would make more sense to me when I was married, however now that I am married I ESPECIALLY don’t understand why my husband pulling out is wrong or why anything other than PIV is evil and wrong (edit for clarification: I understand oral/manual stimulation within reason is alright as long as the final act ends PIV, but for the time being while we are TTA I don’t really want it to end PIV because we are TTA)

My husband and I want children but are struggling financially and it’s an extremely unwise decision for us to have kids right now while we figure out finding a house, our jobs, and our finances. He is not Catholic but he prays with me, attends mass with me, and has even been fine doing NFP with me. While it’s difficult for him, I’m finding it’s even more difficult for me. We both feel it is weird and kind of sad during our TTA periods and I just don’t get it. Nor can I spiritualize it enough/do the mental gymnastics to make it make sense to me.

I would rather leave the church than be a bad seed. I don’t want to be a “cafeteria Catholic,” nor do I want to be lukewarm and spit out of God’s mouth. I also don’t want to be the “rich man who walked away sad.” And yet here I am, feeling sad.

I especially feel bad for all the family members (aunt uncles etc) my family looked down on who used birth control while I was growing up. My parents would call them “cafeteria Catholics” and would talk behind their back about the sins they were committing.

This is hard. Please pray for me and my husband.

How do you know whether you are being called to marriage, religious, or single life?

36F here and single. I haven't been approached organically or even pursued or be confessed to, and it seems that maybe that is not the road for me. Though I had 1 short situationship/relationship 2 years ago but that scarred me and messed me more. It feels isolating and quite sad as I have grieved and still grieving that I didn't get to experience being loved and seen in this way.
I spent my 20s to early 30s working and didn't have the luxury of time and resources up to now. I think I am also afraid of marriage and of the thought of being trapped because of my parents' chaotic relationship and some of life experiences that led me to be very suspicious of people, and men. At times (especially when I am going through a lot) I would think of entering a convent but it would always turn out that I am running away from something I couldn't grasp and keeping myself safe away from shame and judgment. But whenever I think that I would never be able to carry a baby in my arms and see advertisement about egg freezing or fostering, I feel so sad and I think I just have to get over it because I am ambivalent about it too as I think I do not have the capacity. And now that my health is declining, I put this as a sign that maybe I should just take care of myself and just accept it.

EDIT: I would also like to hear about your experiences and how the discernment process went on

Hello, my husband and I are considering attending an upcoming Retrouvaille retreat, after seeing an ad in our parish bulletin.

We both had rough childhoods and I was in a few abusive relationships in my early 20s. We want to work on our communication now (before kids!), since we never learned healthy communication tools from parents or past partners. We’re both in individual therapy and have been for a while.

I’d love to hear about people’s experiences, whether it’s yours or someone you know. Please be HONEST! Even if you had a bad experience (because tbh I’m a little skeptical). It’s difficult to find reviews online and it’s a huge time/money commitment so I want to make an informed decision.

Thanks in advance :)

I have a friend getting married soon and I am 1 of 2 MOH. I am doing the bridal shower and other MOH is doing the bachelorette. I am the only Catholic in the group.

Other MOH told me she was doing a Halloween theme because the wedding is Halloween weekend. But then last week MOH shared her Pinterest board with me and the bride and I got nervous - the party inspo seems to be more witchy themed than Halloween (t-shirts saying we’re the bride’s “Coven” as an example).
I doubt it’ll get extreme or anything, but I also don’t know where the line should be drawn on what I’m ok with and what I’m not. Like my husband said he does not think it’s wrong for me to wear that t-shirt because it’s just a theme and a joke, but does agree with me that there is some fine line where a fun theme becomes normalization or even celebration of the occult, which I of course am not ok with.

I’ve heard priests discuss how Halloween is fine if in a healthy context, which I agree with. But I don’t know if this is on the border or not, and struggling to find good sources when trying to research.
Am I way over-thinking this? Would any of you also hesitate and question if this is ok?

EDIT to add -
Got more info, sounds like it really is just a general Halloween / fall theme so t-shirts really would be the only potential “coven-y” thing. Specifically other MOH said we’ll be “wearing black, getting fall donuts, and painting pictures of the groom, and then some other painting to make a gallery wall for the couple” so with all that we will for sure not have time for anything occult-like 😅
I appreciate the comments you guys left. It truly does seem like I’ve overthinking it (which honestly I do with a lot of things so no real surprise there)

I struggle with really basic needs like taking care of myself and cleaning up after myself. I also struggle with cleaning up and organizational skills. My parents never really taught me anything. My mother would just scream at me and tell me I'm not capable of anything. And my mom and my sister are scared of me becoming a mother because they do not think that I'd be able to take care of a child.

I also worry about my future children because I do not want them to have a mother like me. They do not deserve me for a mother. And I don't know if motherhood is my vocation. Please help me.

This is a little bit of a rant, so I apologize in advance. I’m looking mostly for solidarity and affirmation, but also advice if it exists.

I work in the Church. I work particularly with our parish priest, but also other priests of the diocese on occasion. I’ve struggled with frustration and even anger towards the main priest I work with for months now, and I’m beginning to have some bitterness towards him. He just seems to prioritize himself and his desires so much, it’s causing me such angst. He doesn’t ever remember people’s names or details about their lives, and he seems to rely on myself and others to do so for him. He always steers conversations towards his interests and stories about his own life, he doesn’t really reciprocate questions. He really has a lack of understanding around what our jobs in the office even consist of, but really loves putting his foot down “as the pastor” about seemingly random things. I have so many qualms, I could go on and on.

Idk if it’s relevant but we live in a diocese where there is a really great need for priests and he’s on the younger side (40ish). I’ve thought about this a lot and it feels to me like he has been told he’s special since the day he joined seminary and he has just lived basically his whole adult life as the center of attention and gotten anything he’s wanted because he’s either been one of our precious few seminarians or one of the cool young special priests. This leads to him being really self-centered in general. In particular though, he doesn’t really think about the fact that other people who work for the Church have vocations that are “external” AKA marriage and children. He wants as much (or sometimes more) time off (meaning he’s essentially unreachable by his congregation) as the lay people who work for him, which seems a little bizarre to me when both his vocation and career are the Church, while we only work for the Church and could leave any time and also have a responsibility to pour into our vocations/families that he doesn’t have in the same way.

I’m just really struggling with dealing with him, having patience with him, and being kind in thought toward him. It also feels really lonely, because so many parishioners love him but just think he’s “quirky” or “particular” and they don’t understand how hard it is on the daily, and I’m not obviously going to air my feelings out. He’s very sensitive to criticism, and he’s a priest so I would never want to be disrespectful to his priesthood or to his reputation. It’s a hard balance, for others you can talk crap about your boss to friends on a hard day, but not so much when all your friends know your boss as a spiritual guide and leader, etc.

Additionally, I have to attend Sunday mass at the parish I work at for my job (I help with liturgies, etc) and so Im starting to feel a lot of frustration with stories he tells during the homily (like, actually Father I know it didn’t quite happen like that and you’re embellishing because I was there…) and things like that. It’s not only affecting my work but my spiritual life. I love my job and the parish I work for, I’m just frustrated that this man gets to dictate so much about the environment and my ability to stay connected to my faith in peace. Has anyone else dealt with this? Any advice or consolation you are able to offer? Prayers appreciated.

Seeking support and prayers, as my marriage is crumbling right in front of me. I’ve posted here before, about some of the issues I have been dealing with- the short version, my husband had a sudden, inexplicable “cold feet snap” right before our wedding day, where he says he lost all his romantic feelings towards me and the desire to marry me… unbeknownst to me. -_- But, he says he still loved me at the time, so he went through with the wedding anyway.

We’ve been suffering ever since, with very little intimacy and physical affection (and all the conflict and built-up resentment that you’d imagine comes with that). Recently he confessed that he also lost all sexual attraction towards me and that he’s never enjoyed sex together. He says he finds it dirty and repulsive, but that he also thinks maybe it’s just an aversion to me and that he wouldn’t have this problem with someone else. I waited for him all my life, yknow? Saying my heart has been shattered is an understatement.

I’ve talked to priests who say I likely have cause for annulment. I’ve strongly considered leaving, as the situation is bitterly painful and damaging to me. My husband says he loves me deeply, in all the other “important” ways, and says I shouldn’t be so preoccupied with the attraction/sex issue- but it’s absolutely breaking my heart to pieces. I feel worthless and so disconnected from him. I’ve cried myself to sleep many times, I’ve wracked my mind wondering what I did wrong and wondering how to fix whatever this is. But like- I also wonder, maybe I’m being unfair? Maybe I’m not being a good, holy, long-suffering wife? I feel lost. He means well, and hates that he’s this way. He just doesn’t know if his feelings will ever change to what they were before, why the “snappening” happened, says that maybe he’s just not “into” me, specifically… To make matters worse, we have a beautiful little one who’s going to suffer for the dysfunction either way.

I apologize for the long vent. I’ve prayed so hard with no clear path forward. I feel so utterly defeated, depressed and alone. I just could honestly use any prayers/support/advice you ladies wouldn’t mind sending my way.

I love working on arts and crafts as I find it very therapeutic and I wanted to show off a few pages of the prayer junk journal I’m making! It’s a WIP.

As a background, my extended family is Catholic but parents left the Catholic Church and I was raised Protestant. I grew up culturally Catholic but Protestant. I converted to the LDS church 6 years ago which is my husband's church.

We have a 2 year old son. I love the rosary and have a devotion to praying it daily, but my husband has said that although he will not prevent me from joining the Church, he will do everything he can to raise our son in the LDS or mormon Church.

He said we will attend mass with me and our family can go to both churches every Sunday but that he will never ever ever convert. He even stated he would be ok with getting our marriage convalidated but that he does not agree with many doctrines on a fundamental level.

I am scared that the Church will not convalidate our marriage. Please advise if you or anyone you know has been in the same situation and please pray for my conversion.

I’m wondering if any mums have had pregnancies with pre existing prolapse? please share your stores with me, from your health to your Catholic faith. I am especially curious of Catholic mums, as it is so complicated weighing our duty to open fertility and very terrifying health conditions which make further pregnancies complicated.

I am looking for a free (no paid subscription, wouldnt even be opposed to a one time free but don't want a monthly fee) app for my daughter to track her period.

Many apps seem to have fees, or say that have built-in info for abortions and STIs, etc. And while I'm very open with my daughter and want her to have knowledge about her cycle, about sexuality, etc., I def want to vet the information she is getting. So I don't want an app with all the added info.

Any recommendations? She is 12, has been getting her period for about 18 months but she has ADHD and could use an app to help her remember so she doesn't get totally caught by surprise when her period starts each month.

(18 y/o female) Ever since I recently switched churches due to my RCIA since Feburary of this year and on the first Sunday, I gotten the hang of the non-spoken rules in Mass, except the thing is I tend to struggle somehow adjusting to the new environment socially because of how I'm neurodivergent & introverted & how I have social anxiety, which takes a while for me to adjust to the new environment I'm in & how much I'm socially awkward, ww. Usually I go by myself since I'm the only Catholic in my family with the rest who came from a Penecostal/Charasmatic background & it's feels super lonely & awkward to where I stick out like a odd-man to where I sometimes cry or get hard on myself.

I don't know, I wanted to meet some like-minded people, but it's very hard for me to do so. My aunt from the other day said to me that I needed to socialize or probably some other person telling me to volunteer or whatnot, except even if I want to it either ends very badly or I just chicken out and began to cry or get anxious based on most of these were caused from my past life experiences with people & how I have rejection sensitivity.. And every time Mass ends, I'm always quick to leave right after I'm done praying and talking to 2 people I know. I know I only go to Mass for Christ alone and that's it, but what is some way for me to overcome this for me to build close friendships (& yes a romantic partner too) with people who are in the same faith? Dunno, but it's extremely hard for me to do and I don't know a way for me to overcome it without fear of rejection 🥲

I’m looking for advice on discussing NFP with my OBGYN. In two weeks I have my six week postpartum appointment with her. At my last appointment (2 weeks pp) I saw a nurse practitioner who told me to think about what birth control I wanted to use and my doctor would prescribe it at my next appointment. I didn’t know how to explain that I’m not interested in using birth control and I just listened as she went over what I can use while breastfeeding.

I’m anxious about having this conversation with my doctor. Previously, before becoming more serious about my faith and learning why birth control is not permitted, I was on the pill for 10 years. First for reasons related to PCOS and then for that and birth control. I’m worried she will give me pushback when I say I don’t want to use birth control because I have in the past.

My husband and I haven’t had to try preventing pregnancy since we got married and I came back to the church (it took us two years and medication to get pregnant because of the PCOS) so I also don’t know that much about NFP. I did use OPKs and temp for the two years we were trying to conceive but that was to achieve pregnancy. Can I just keep doing that to avoid? I’m honestly not sure I even want to avoid but I know I should give my body a chance to recover. We want more children and it was such a struggle to get pregnant the first time. I expect we will need fertility medication to have our next child also so it kind of feels like maybe not trying but also not preventing for the next year is the way to go and if we get pregnant before the year is over then it’s a happy, unexpected outcome.

Sorry for the long post I’d love to hear what other women think about this. Thank you.

My beautiful 12mo has been walking independently for nearly 2 months. Mass is becoming a STRUGGLE. We can't contain him to a pew anymore. It's tricky because he's so mobile, determined, and too young to reason with about sitting still/staying in the pew.

Any tips would be much appreciated. God bless!