Natural Family Planning - It's about love. It's about life. It's about freedom. It's about gift.
“Celebrate and reverence God's vision of human sexuality.”
VIEW THE DIOCESAN NFP FAITHFULLY YOURS BOOKLET
Take a look at our newest articles and real life stories from real life couples.
Articles -
Marriage: The Gift of Life, by the Most Rev. Victor Galeone, retired Bishop of St. Augustine, offers a reflection on the 40th Anniversary of Humanae Vitae.
Why Natural Family Planning Differs from Contraception, Excerpts from a 1998 letter by John Paul II commemorating Humanae Vitae by Josh Noem.
Redeemed Sexuality, Theresa Notare, Ph.D., Assistant Director of the USCCB's NFP Program, provides a popular explanation of the theology behind NFP (En Español)
Videos - Couple’s Stories
Bob & Jackie - are a married couple who have filmed a series of great down to earth videos on chastity, using NFP (e.g., how to live periodic abstinence, etc.), and dating for Ascension Presents which is a pastoral educational series from Ascension Press.
Bob & Tricia - One of seven video testimonials about NFP from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, this video features spouses Brian and Tricia Borg who discuss the benefits of NFP on their marriage, physical health, and faith life.
ADDITIONAL PRESENTATIONS, PAMPHLETS AND BROCHURES
EVENTS IN & AROUND NFP WEEK July 23-29, 2023
World Grandparent’s Day! “Grandparents are the ring linking generations, to transmit to young people the experience of life and faith.” In January 2021, after praying the Angelus, Pope Francis declared the fourth Sunday in July as World Day for Grandparents. The date has been chosen to be near the liturgical memorial (July 26) of Saints Anne and Joachim, grandparents of Jesus. Since the date of the memorial falls within the week devoted to raising awareness of Natural Family Planning and Church teaching which support its use in marriage due to the anniversary of Humanae vitae (July 25), it is appropriate for all NFP Week celebrations to include reflection upon the vital role that grandparents play in the lives of their grandchildren.
Diocesan NFP Ministry in the “Early Days”—Donna Dausman and Mary Pat Van Epps — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hYfUOJItGo&t=1104s —- This NFP conversation explores the ministry of two former diocesan NFP coordinators who began their work in the early years of the world-wide NFP movement. Donna Dausman is the former director of the Office of Marriage and Family Life in the Diocese of Springfield (IL). Mary Pat Van Epps is the former NFP coordinator of the Diocese of Memphis. Both women are master teachers of the Billings Ovulation Method®. In the late 1980s, Bishop James T. McHugh, the founder of the U.S. Catholic bishops’ NFP Program, invited Dausman and Van Epps to join a working committee of other NFP experts that would write the bishops’ Standards for Diocesan NFP Ministry.
NFP Pioneers—Hanna Klaus, MD — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGBrenyjCrw&t=354s —- Many of you may know Dr. Hanna Klaus, an Ob/Gyn and Medical Missionary Sister, who is a pioneer in NFP and fertility education. Dr. Klaus specifically has been devoted to education about the Billings Ovulation Method® and adolescent fertility appreciation. As founder of the curriculum Teen STAR, a global adolescent fertility appreciation program, Dr. Klaus sees that as her most important work.
NFP Pioneers—Mary Shivanandan —- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5X7z0bt485U —- Mary Shivanandan, STD, is a pioneer in general outreach education about the methods of NFP and the philosophy/theology which supports their use in marriage. Dr. Shivanandan is a Roman Catholic consecrated widow, mother, and grandmother. She is professor emeritus of the John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family (Washington, DC), and a well-known speaker, and author.
Diocesan NFP Ministry, Leading with Church Teaching — Alice Heinzen and Cindy Leonard —- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j71C1QwpF-4&t=568s —- Alice Heinzen is the former director of the Office of Marriage and Family Life in the Diocese of La Crosse. Cindy Leonard is the former coordinator of Natural Family planning in the Diocese of Phoenix. Heinzen and Leonard discuss the importance of promoting NFP methods as a support to God’s gifts of married love and life.
CREIGHTON MODEL FERTILITY CARE
July 20-22, 2023 — AAFCP Annual Meeting: Gateway to the Best: Creighton Model FertilityCare System and NaPro Technology
Good for the Body.
Good for the Soul.
The privilege of husband and wife to bring new life into the world is a gift from God. It is a sacred responsibility through which they participate in God's creative power. Natural family planning (NFP) helps the couple understand the beauty of this creative power by defining the scientific, natural, and moral aspects of family planning that allow couples either to achieve or postpone pregnancy. NFP is both life-giving, as it brings forth new life in the marital relationship, and love-giving, as it deepens and enriches the bond of love between husband and wife. It truly is good for body and soul!
Catholic Teaching
Discover the beauty of God's gift of marriage and its ability to give you a share in his creative love and power -- a love that brings new life into the world and increases and deepens the love of spouses.
What is NFP?
Learn about one of today's best kept secrets.
Current Medical Research
Research includes the areas of: NFP, human fertility, and related issues. Great resource for promoting NFP or for your own education and understanding.
Featuring the NFP Teachers of the Diocese of New Ulm
Resources
The what, why, and who regarding NFP for couples, clergy, teachers, health care professionals, and anyone promoting the good of the family.
Who Are We?
What NFP was, is, and will be.
couples' stories
Catch a glimpse into real-life stories by real-life people! Discover how Natural Family Planning can affect your marriage . . .
articles
- Programs available in diocese that teach two of the major NFP methods
- Why Natural Family Planning Differs from Contraception
- Responsible Parents are Open to Life
- My Slogan: "Practice Saved Sex!"
- Celebrating the Richness of Church Teaching
- Marriage: The Gift of Love and Life
prayer resources
Natural family planning, or NFP, is an umbrella term for methods that allow a couple to achieve or avoid a pregnancy by monitoring the wife's fertility.
There are many different programs that provide methods of NFP. Each program teaches either the ovulation method or the sympto-thermal method. Each is a safe, natural, and reliable way of timing pregnancy.
In the Diocese of New Ulm, both NFP methods are being taught with three programs represented: FertilityCare (ovulation), NFP International (sympto-thermal), and Couple to Couple League (sympto-thermal).
For a list of NFP physicians, practitioners, and trainers in the Diocese of New Ulm, click here.
For more information on what NFP is, check out the July 2012 issue of The Prairie Catholic, page 10.
For more information on NFP and the programs in the diocese, contact Sr. Candace Fier, (507) 233-5328.