I too am uncomfortable with Fr. Couture's comments.

After discussing the "health of the mother" justification for NFP by Pius XII, he abruptly slips into a discussion of homeschool mothers, and the stresses of that life.

Is he saying parental stress is justification for NFP?

He certainly seems to be saying exactly that.

Fr. Couture seems to "double-down" on his lukewarm response with a "nuanced" addition to his original answer, around 55:00. He has the nerve to bring +ABL into the nonsense, as well...

I did not know there was more, and having heard it, there is no doubt about Fr. Couture’s message:

1) Large families are bad; they cause children to lose the faith

2) Because mothers cannot school them properly

3) So because we are not as strong as previous generations (speak for yourself!), we need to have smaller families

4) And the children need to be sent to SSPX schools.

Wow.

Very disappointed to hear this kind of talk.

It contrasts sharply with Archbishop Lefebvre saying the large families of tradition are the glory of the Catholic Church.

I’ll see if I can find it.

This would probably have made the CCCC thread/book.

5. It's the father's fault, because he works too much.

Good catch.

He makes it sound as though only the women carry the cross in a large family.
Is not a father just as likely to suffer a nervous breakdown as the mother?

But what percent of trad parents wig out like Fr. Couture relates?  0.05%?  I have yet to meet a trad homeschooling mom who suffered a nervous breakdown.

These priests, under the pretext of compassion, are stealing the woman’s crowning glory.

And is it really true that because the people are weaker constitutionally/psychologically than previous generations, the bar for childbearing must be lowered?  Or is it that because the priests are weaker than their predecessors, they keep lowering the bar and weakening us?  The reforms under Pius XII (fasting/abstinence modifications, turkey indults, etc), and then the further relaxation of discipline at and after Vatican II suggest the latter.

The author of the Imitation says, “Had there been an easier way, we might have taken it.”  

But he was not suggesting shirking the essence of the married vocation.

Our priests are getting softer, and they are softening us.

The large Catholic family is the norm, and anyone who says otherwise is antichrist.

As regards SSPX schools, yes, Catholic schools are the norm.  But amidst all the compromises of the SSPX, I began to fear personal negligence in giving a group with ideas so opposed to my own (and Lefebvre’s) so much influence and time with my children.

This is NOT the same old SSPX.  This is the SSPX of “prudent” NFP, books supporting young earth theory, denial of the historicity of scripture, defending the new communion ecclesiology, and all the rest.

If Fr. Couture wants to appeal to the stress of the mother, and use that as a lever against the father against his decision to homeschool, then perhaps the SSPX priests need to take a look in the mirror, rather that at the father, and consider why fathers are not allowing their children to attend their schools.

Which is all another way of saying that it is the priests fault the mothers are burning out, if their schools aren’t catholic enough to win the trust of the fathers.

books supporting young earth theory

What's wrong with this? Most, if not all, Catholics believed in a "young Earth" until the 19th or 20th century.

What's wrong with this? Most, if not all, Catholics believed in a "young Earth" until the 19th or 20th century.

Yikes!!!!

That is a major blooper:

I meant to say “books promoting OLD EARTH THEORY.”

I believe the biblical account of a 7,000 year-old earth.

Thank you for catching that!!!!!    

To be clear, I'm not asking the people who think NFP is not allowable, for *any* reason.  I get that opinion, and this question is irrelevant for them.

This question is specifically for those who think NFP is sometimes allowable.

Is it your contention that stress is *never* a valid reason to use NFP?  Or just that its an overused reason?

Is stress a "grave reason"?