Among the many blessings that God has showered upon us in Christ is the blessing of marriage, a gift bestowed by the Creator from the creation of the human race… It is a source of blessing to the couple, to their families, and to society and includes the wondrous gift of co-creating human life. Indeed, as Pope John Paul II never tired of reminding us, the future of humanity depends on marriage and the family.”
U.S. Catholic Bishops, Pastoral Letter: Marriage: Love and Life in the Divine Plan
Catholic Teaching About Marriage
Catholics believe that marriage comes as a gift from the hand of God. The Catholic vision of marriage is rooted in Sacred Scripture and is expressed in the teachings and practices of the Church. It has these main elements:
- Marriage unites a man and woman in faithful and mutual love
- Marriage opens a couple to giving life
- Marriage is a way to respond to God’s call to holiness
- Marriage calls the couple to be a sign of Christ’s love in the world
The links below provide more information about specific dimensions of Catholic marriage:
Natural Family Planning
Natural Family Planning(NFP) is a nearly 100-percent effective, easy-to-learn, natural approach to planning your family. Couples who practice NFP understand the biology and the theology of their bodies and can successfully promote or postpone pregnancy. While married couples are called to be generous and open to life, NFP empowers them to responsibly postpone pregnancy or limit the size of their family. To find out more information and for a schedule of upcoming NFP seminars in the diocese, visit the Office of Faith Formation’s website here.
Videos
Gianna Center of Long Island Natural Family Planning
The Gianna Center of Long Island for Women’s Health & Fertility offers an exciting approach to women’s health care.
Why We Love Natural Family Planning
Far from being just a more difficult form of contraception, NFP works in accordance with God’s design for life. While admitting some of the struggles that come with practicing NFP, Jackie and Bobby also talk about the joy and authentic freedom it has brought to their marriage.
Here’s what the Catechism has to say about NFP, or “periodic continence”:
“Periodic continence, that is, the methods of birth regulation based on self-observation and the use of infertile periods, is in conformity with the objective criteria of morality. These methods respect the bodies of the spouses, encourage tenderness between them, and favor the education of an authentic freedom. (CCC 2370)
Contraception
“God is love and in himself he lives a mystery of personal loving communion. Creating the human race in his own image . . .. God inscribed in the humanity of man and woman the vocation, and thus the capacity and responsibility, of love and communion.”115
“God created man in his own image . . . male and female he created them”;116 He blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply”;117 “When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them Man when they were created.”118 – Catechism of the Catholic Church on Contraception (6th Commandment)
For Church Documents and Teachings, Articles, Columns, and Fact Sheets on contraception click here.
Videos
Contraception and a Catholic Marriage
Jackie and Bobby give their reasons for not using contraception in their marriage. While sharing the Church’s beautiful teaching on sex and marriage, they explain why sex is more than recreational.
Further resources:
- Read more about Pope Paul VI’s prophetic predictions in Humanae Vitae here.
- “These two meanings or values of marriage (the unitive and procreative) cannot be separated without altering the couple’s spiritual life and compromising the goods of marriage and the future of the family. The conjugal love of man and woman thus stands under the twofold obligation of fidelity and fecundity” (CCC 2363).
Reasons To Stop Taking The Pill
Jackie lists five reasons to stop taking the pill:
- The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies the Pill as a Group 1 Carcinogen, along with asbestos, smoking, and mustard gas.
- It’s been cited by studies to cause weight gain, depression, and blood clots, and it increases the risk of breast, liver, and cervical cancer.
- It makes you more attracted to men who are genetically similar to you.
- It releases estrogen into natural water sources.
- It can act as an abortifacient, not just as a contraceptive.
Gianna of Long Island Center for Women’s Health & Fertility
Comprehensive, Cooperative: A Unique New Approach to Women’s Health and Wellness
Our mission is simple—to acknowledge dignity and to provide women with exceptional medical care. Listening and offering genuine medical advice are our goals. Treatments are holistic and include nutritional, sleep-related, weight-related, endocrinological, behavioral, spiritual and medical components.
We provide preventive and specialized obstetrical and gynecologic care to women, honoring their dignity and the sanctity of human life. While we are successfully able to address male infertility as well, we are uniquely qualified to care for women of all ages and at all stages of life. More information here.
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National Gianna Center Womens Health Fertility
The Gianna Center of Long Island for Women’s Health & Fertility offers an exciting approach to women’s health care. Our highly skilled team provides preventive and specialized fertility, infertility and other related women’s health needs, honoring their dignity and the sanctity of human life.
Gianna Center of Long Island Women’s Health & Fertility
Comprehensive, Cooperative: A Unique New Approach to Women’s Health and Wellness Our highly skilled team is delighted to offer an exciting approach to women’s health care.
Gianna Center of Long Island Natural Family Planning
The Gianna Center of Long Island for Women’s Health & Fertility offers an exciting approach to women’s health care.