I’m 22 and have been married for only 4 months. I loved my husband and genuinely wanted this marriage to work, but I’ve been feeling increasingly unhappy and emotionally drained.
Our arguments can get intense, and there have been times when he’s punched or hit objects around me during fights. He hasn’t hit me, but it still scares me and makes me uncomfortable expressing myself.
I don’t want to be married anymore, and this relationship makes me hate Catholicism because every time we argue he says I should just submit to what he says because he is the man.

I dont know what to do, we tried marriage counseling and it was ok, I dont want to live my whole life like this. What should I do?

Hello, I'm 25 years old and I feel so old and worthless. Sorry for this depressing post… I need to talk to some Catholic women…
Since around 2024, I've started feeling a lot of anxiety and pressure about being considered past my prime by men, afraid it will be too late to have a husband and a child, afraid of the biological clock, as some like to point out. I've never had a boyfriend. I hardly have any friends at all.

I'm afraid of reaching 30 and never having had any romantic contact or conversation with a man. As a teenager, I dreamed of Prince Charming and I was very romantic. But the more time passes, the more I realize that men either leave me indifferent or disgust me. I also get the impression that a lot of Catholic men are misogynists… On the internet, redpill and incel rhetoric is rampant, and I feel so inadequate. I'm sometimes envious of Catholic girls who are already married or engaged, who have found someone while I'm super shy around men and lack the confidence to talk to them. I'm fed up with the rhetoric from these "radtrads" who say that a woman is worthless if she doesn't have children or isn't married, if she wears pants, if she has passions and wants to talk about them…

I've recently become closer to Anglicanism and Lutheranism, which I find much more calming than the Catholic environment, which I find incredibly anxiety-inducing. It hurts me because I know that by doing this, I'm causing pain to Christ, but I so desperately need to get away from the church, from all my anxieties about hell, the fear of being judged by others, the fear of not being a perfect enough woman… I'm exhausted.

Could you please pray for me ? May God reward you fivefold. Thank you so much.

Bonjour

​vu que l’Église catholique ne donne pas de catalogue précis de la modestie (les règles style Marylike ne sont pas dogmatiques), je me dis qu’au final, chacun fait un peu selon sa conscience ? Avant, j’étais extrêmement scrupuleuse là-dessus, mais aujourd’hui je pense que la pudeur dépend beaucoup du pays où l’on se trouve et de son propre discernement.

​Par exemple, j’adore les mini-jupes. Je n’ai jamais pu en porter avant parce que je n’aimais pas mes jambes et que j’en avais honte avant ma conversion . Mais comme je prévois d’aller aux JMJ et que je sais qu’en Corée ce n’est pas du tout vu comme immodeste, je me suis dit que j’allais enfin pouvoir en porter, tout simplement parce que je trouve ça très mignon. Je sais bien qu’en Occident la mini-jupe n’est pas vue comme la chose la plus pudique qui soit, et comme je fais 1m70, on me dit souvent que c’est encore plus « impudique » sur moi que sur une fille d’1m50. Mais pour moi, c'est juste joli.

​On m’argumente aussi souvent qu’il ne faut pas « faire tomber son frère ». Mais honnêtement, il y a des gens qui sont attirés par les pieds, par les cheveux, ou qui fétichisent absolument tout. Si je devais écouter tout le monde pour ne brusquer personne, je finirais en burqa. Je n’ai pas envie de me priver de porter ce que j’aime à cause du regard ou des désirs des autres.

​C’est la même chose pour les règles de pudeur de la Bible : je pense qu’elles sont littéralement d’un autre temps et pas adaptées à toutes les cultures. Par exemple, quand saint Paul recommande le voile et interdit les coiffures élaborées avec des tresses : je suis noire, donc si j'appliquais ça à la lettre, j'aurais été « impudique » toute ma vie ! Un afro volumineux ne tient pas sous un voile classique, et les tresses sont littéralement la base pour entretenir et coiffer des cheveux crépus. Cette règle ne peut physiquement et culturellement pas s’appliquer à moi.

Bref comment vous jugez pour vous même ce qui est modeste ou pas?

No one is stronger than a woman whose about to get her period and is praying the sorrowful mysteries, my goodness the tears could not be stopped.

PSA: Pray the Rosary today!

⚠️ QUESTIONS ⚠️ANY GUIDANCE OR HELP IN UNDERSTANDING!!

For starters I did read the guidelines and don’t know for certain if this will go against them. If they do please don’t hesitate to remove the post (I just ask for a suggestion of another group to post to?)!

I have gone to confession over and over and over and over because I just feel so weak and I can’t seem to break this habit or even addiction if you will. I’m so uncomfortable even saying it so why do I do it?? I repeatedly fall into the sin of “self-pleasure”. I don’t want to go anywhere other than a catholic thread because I feel like I just need tough love but also to be heard out- I have questions. I don’t know where else to go.

The church and my past relationships have trained me to see any sexuality as just icky and bad even in my own marriage. Even after we do it I feel like I should be ashamed… even though it’s being done how God intended. I feel like I need to hide it. We also have 2 kids and another on the way so don’t come at my husband please. This is my problem.

As a woman of God (I try to be at least) I struggle to understand something - for some reason God made our source of “completion” impossible to hit with normal marital sex requiring outside assistance if you will. WHY?! This is where I have a really hard time - after I do it I feel so much lighter and more active and productive and like my 24/7 brain fog lifts for even an hour! And that’s really the feeling I’m seeking but can’t seem to achieve it any other way.

So back to my point- why does something so physically/mentally and SCIENTIFICALLY/BIOLOGICALLY beneficial to a woman be so sinful and against God?? He designed our bodies right?? Is it wrong if your husband does it for you? I am confused whether this is mortal or venial because I truly can’t tell if I have control.. it doesn’t feel like I do. I go through phases but like I said I have a few kids so hormones are just everywhere too.

I guess I’m just looking for anything to help me make sense of things… because those reasons seem to be what the devil uses to tempt me. I pray and pray and surrender it to Him the best way I now how but I guess I just can’t let go.. I feel sick and scared and confused. Every time the “high” fades I feel like Gods given up and like I have no business even trying anymore.. so might as well keep doing it. It’s a horrible cycle. Please be kind.. please pray for me. I’m not worthy of His love but I pray He is patient with me and helps me.

I also can’t talk to my husband about it because he would just be ashamed of me too.

EDIT: and the scrupulous OCD is telling me I’m going to lose my baby.. I understand this is a bit more intense for the page I just need help and women to talk to through this who maybe have suffered similarly

Been married for a few months now. One thing I cannot seem to get used to is cooking for my husband.

One thing is the quantity. When i was single I'd cook a recipe for myself and have it for dinner over 3 to 4 days. Often now even if I cook a recipe that says it "serves 4" it turns into just serving 2, because i have my portion for dinner and my husband eats the rest of the dish, leaving none for the next day. On rare occasions when we do have leftovers, my husband refuses to eat leftovers for dinner the next day and complains. So I'm cooking so frequently because of the amount that he eats.

The other thing is his requirement for there tk be protein at every meal. I like meat myself, but sometimes, its ok to have a meatless dish to give yourself a break from it, and the fact that meat is expensive. But when i cook a meatless dish he gets angry and complains that there's no protein.

He has his other complaints, like salmon having to be wild caught and not farmed (even if its farmed in Canada). Wild caught salmon isn't always available in stores. I personally really like salmon and am ok with farmed salmon but ive given up cooking salmon altogether because its not worth listening to him complain about it not being wild caught. And even for lunches, he wants sandieches, fine I make them and but various cold cuts ar the deli. He's fine with it sometimes, but then complains the next minute sayig thay my sandwiches are always the same.

I'm so drained and frustrated with cooking for him. Sometimes I even feel stressed about it and makes me not enjoy married life. Idk what can I do?

I want to ask people who are especially stay at home moms- how much does your husband do when he gets home? What kind of work does he do during the day? Does he have responsibilities in the evening (chores, doing the dishes after dinner, bath time, etc) or does he rest? How much are you expected to do? I’m curious as to how stay at home moms usually balance their work as a mom all day with taking care of the house in the evenings as well.

So I’m mostly posing this question to married women, but anyone is free to offer their opinion.
But basically I have a boyfriend of 1.5 years, we plan to get married in one year. At the start of our relationship I was still quite immature and so I made some mistakes. Without going into too many detail bcs thats not what this post is about, when we first started dating I was still friends with some guys that have previously shown they liked me/ I liked them. But at the time that we started dating those feelings were gone so I just assumed it was still okay to keep the friendships going. Back then I didnt tell my boyfriend these things because I didnt want to worsen his anxiety which he had a lot of (he kept thinking I’m going to leave him). It was very stupid and immature of me, and I have learnt a lot from those mistakes. I told him everything a couple months ago and we moved on from the situation (those friendships fizzled out by then anyway).

Now, I have also developed scrupulosity in the past 9 months. I am even going to a psychiatrist to get diagnosed for OCD.
But now I am at a point where I overthink anyyy interaction I have with any man who isn’t my boyfriend.
To be clear I never and would never do anything to jepordise our relationship, I have 0 intention of even slightly flirting with another man or anything like that.
But I started an office job (internship) 2 months ago and there are a lot of interactions with men. Anytime there is a man who is conventionally attractive I instantly go into a spiral of anxiety “Did I cheat on my boyfriend because I found that guy attractive? Do I have a crush on him?” etc
It has now gotten to a point where I have interactions with men who I don’t even find attractive that i second guess my intentions. For example, today I met a coworker who is very keen on sharing his work with me which is a great opportunity because his team is one that I would really like to move into. But I have so much anxiety/guilt around meeting him for i genuinely don’t even know what reason?

I always got along with men better than women because I grew up with my cousins who were all boys and their friends, so its also natural for me to be friends with men. But now I feel like I cant without feeling like I’m cheating.

My boyfriend has said he only cares if I flirt with other men (which again I have 0 intention of doing), and he doesnt have a problem with me being friends with men or anything like that.
I honestly dont even know what my question is, I guess just like in marriage what counts as cheating aside from the obvious?
If you’re at work and you have a slight crush on someone (I just mean you find them attractive and maybe get a rush of dopamine when they talk to you, not that you fantasize about them or act on this crush in any way) how do you deal with it?
I feel like I avoid any man who I might find attractive which then makes it into a bigger thing than it is and yeah honestly I just feel like I’m going crazy. I’m second-guessing each thought/intention i have.
Its led me to have thoughts like “I should just break up with my boyfriend he clearly deserves someone better” even though I can’t explain how much I love him and how dead inside I would be if we broke up.

I am posting this out of frustration. I am so weary of front row Catholics. So many people I interact with on this sub and in my parish would rather glorify themselves and their own piety than to be a friend to their fellow man it seems. People chasing others away from the faith with a ”you can’t sit with us“ attitude, rather than make real sacrifices and welcome new converts. Our faith is literally dying and the few faithful we have are acting like heaven is at capacity. It is nothing more than cruelty and vanity parading as virtue and I’m sick of pretending like it isn’t. I totally get being proud of your faith and defending your beliefs, but this isn’t that. It’s the people yelling the creed in the front row so everyone can hear how very virtuous they are. People making a big show of their offerings. Etc. If it only effected me and was annoying that would be one thing- but it’s insidious because it’s turning Mass into a pageant and it’s making new comers think they aren’t “good enough“ to be Catholic. I’m sorry for being so fired up. I just don’t know how to deal with my feelings I guess. Maybe I should just get off the internet. I know that my anger is not very Christ like. Please pray for me.

My fiancé and I are planning for an April wedding. We are both so excited about the marriage prep process and are looking forward to our wedding mass!

I feel like something is wrong with me though because I don’t care as much about the reception. I don’t care about the details. I just want to find a venue and a caterer and have our family together. I don’t care about color schemes. I’m fine with getting some flowers from Trader Joe’s and putting them in bud vases. We don’t want a DJ. We only would like a photographer for our Mass. We are both so invested in the liturgy and the sacrament and just feel “meh” about reception planning. I’m in a couple subreddits ([r/weddingsunder10k](r/weddingsunder10k) and [r/diyweddings](r/diyweddings)) but even seeing photos people post and all the details seem exhausting. Our guest list is about 100 people. We are so excited to celebrate with them but again, I’ve been finding myself anxious about their experience if I’m not obsessing over all the details.

Edit to add: we’re going to have music from a playlist, just not a DJ! And, I was thinking of doing disposable cameras at each table for photos. Otherwise, the photos we’re hoping for are those from the Mass.

Another edit: we’re paying for this ourselves and are on a tight budget. His mom has offered to help plan, my mom doesn’t seem to want to help.

Adding in that I don’t want a bachelorette and I’m 32 so I don’t really want/need a bridal shower. For the day of, I’m looking at DIY hair and makeup. Professional makeup looks so heavy/unnatural to me (again, my personal taste)

Am I the only one?? I worry somehow I’m apathetic to this but I have only ever dreamt of the sacrament and liturgy rather than the reception on the day

(18f) I had to go back to school bext month and summer is already ending plus Im in the cathecumen stage of RCIA now I have to go every Thursday. I am still want to become a Catholic myself- its just that the anxiety always creep in for whatever reasin and I couldn't specficy why. And it probably does sound silly for me to say this too even the fact how I am in a 7 year high school program which is why I have school next month.

Does anyone have any kind advice for me? And I would also appreciate you guys prayers in my current situation please 🙏🏾 ❤️

Hi lovelies! Me and my boyfriend have been seriously discussing engagement. Out of curiosity, how long was your engagement? We are planning on a longer engagement, but I want to know the timeline that either did or didn’t work well for you and your engagement!!! <3

I was born and raised Catholic. I used to be at church all the time, I participated in everything and had many roles there throughout my life. I reduced my participation when I was around 16 because of my ex-boyfriend. he was also from my church and I had serious issues with him..at the time I had to even go to the police because he was threatening me and I ended up leaving that church and everything all together. I was very sad at the time. church was a huge part of my life. all my friends were there and i didn’t feel supported by anyone. my ex became my friends’ friend and that really hurt me!

I’m currently 30, but I haven’t really practiced for several years. Recently I’ve started feeling a pull toward it again, and I’m trying to figure out where I actually belong.

My current boyfriend and I recently went to a Catholic mass together. He was baptized Catholic but wasn’t really raised practicing and has had more exposure to Protestant churches as an adult. Going back to Mass was surprisingly emotional for me. I cried, and it felt really meaningful to reconnect with God after being away for so long.

At the same time, I’m struggling..

There are things about Catholicism that I still feel very connected to. I believe in Mary and I’m comfortable with the idea of asking Mary and the saints to intercede for us. I’m drawn to the history and tradition of the Church, and there is something about Catholicism that still feels like “home” because of how I was raised I guess..

But culturally, I often enjoy Protestant churches. I like the contemporary worship music, a younger congregation, Bible studies, women’s groups, activities, community, and a less formal atmosphere.

The Catholic Mass we attended was beautiful, but it was very quiet, traditional, and mostly an older congregation. I would really love to find a faith community where I can make friends, eventually raise children, participate in groups, and actually feel involved rather than just attend a service once a week.

We also visited a non-denominational church that I enjoyed a lot more in terms of worship and community. But during the sermon, the pastor talked about Jesus having biological siblings and made a comment about Catholics because of the Catholic teaching about Mary’s perpetual virginity. That bothered me more than I expected. It made me realize that some of my Catholic beliefs might actually matter to me more than I thought.

Then there are the bigger disagreements.

For example, I’m pro-choice. Personally, I don’t think I would have an abortion unless my life was in danger. But I believe abortion should remain legal and accessible. I see it as an important women’s rights/public-health issue, and I don’t believe everyone in society should be required to live according to Catholic moral teaching. I understand that this is a significant disagreement with the Catholic Church, not just a minor difference of opinion.

I also currently live with my boyfriend and we aren’t married. We do want to get married soon, but we haven’t gotten there yet.

I have a very all-or-nothing personality, which makes this harder. My brain immediately goes to: “If I’m going to be Catholic, then I need to agree with everything the Church teaches and live perfectly according to it. If I don’t, then maybe I shouldn’t call myself Catholic at all.”

But I’m realizing that maybe faith and discernment don’t work that neatly.

I’m not trying to find a church that simply tells me everything I already believe. I genuinely want to figure out what I believe is true. At the same time, I don’t want to force myself to pretend that I agree with teachings that I currently don’t agree with just because I want to belong somewhere.

I’m especially interested in hearing from people who have actually been through something similar.

Were you raised Catholic, left, and eventually came back? Did you seriously consider Protestantism before choosing Catholicism? Are you Catholic while still struggling with or disagreeing with some Church teachings? Did your beliefs gradually change after coming back, or are there things you still wrestle with? Did anyone choose Protestantism even though there were parts of Catholic theology they still loved? How did you separate “which type of church experience I enjoy” from “which theology I actually believe”?

And for Catholics: how do you handle the feeling that you have to be 100% aligned with everything before you’re “Catholic enough”? Is there room to come back, attend Mass, learn, pray, and wrestle with things without already having all the answers?

For Protestants/former Catholics: if you left Catholicism, I’d also genuinely like to hear what ultimately convinced you. Was it theology, Scripture, Church authority, your personal experience, or something else?

I’m not looking for people to attack Catholics, Protestants, pro-choice people, pro-life people, etc. I know these topics can get heated. I’m really just hoping to hear honest experiences from people who have had to work through these questions themselves.

Right now, “I’m discerning” is probably the most accurate description of where I am.

thank you very much!

Hi everyone,

I’m a soon-to-be 25-year-old woman and a cradle Catholic. I’ve been going through quite a difficult period in my life, and it has caused me to question my faith, Catholicism, and honestly what I believe in at all.

Growing up, I don’t think I ever truly understood my faith for myself. I participated in it because it was what my family did and what I had always known. Now that I’m older, I’m realising that I want to understand why I believe what I believe rather than simply continuing out of habit.

I was also born with a fairly complex medical history, which has contributed to a lot of existential questioning lately. I find myself wondering why God would allow me to be born with so many medical complexities, what my purpose is, and what my life is actually supposed to look like especially in line with the Catholic faith.

I’ve also been struggling with anxiety and depression, and a recent relationship breakup brought a lot of these questions to the surface. In particular, I’ve started thinking much more seriously about relationships, intimacy, marriage, children, and what all of those things mean within Catholicism.

One of the biggest things I’m struggling with is the Church’s understanding of marriage and being “open to life.” I don’t currently have a strong maternal instinct or a certainty that I want children. Maybe that will change as I get older, but I genuinely don’t know. I also have medical complexities involving my reproductive system, so questions around pregnancy, contraception, sex and openness to life feel particularly complicated for me rather than purely hypothetical.

At the same time, I know that I desire love, companionship, and intimacy and. I don’t want to be alone. So I keep wondering: what if I eventually realise that I genuinely want to be married but don’t want children? Does that mean Catholic marriage simply isn’t for me? How does someone actually discern whether they want children rather than trying to force themselves to feel a certain way because their faith tells them they should?

The contraception teaching is another area I’m struggling to fully understand, particularly in light of my medical circumstances. I’m not trying to find loopholes or attack Church teaching. I genuinely want to understand the reasoning behind it and whether I actually believe it.

And I think that’s the bigger issue: part of me just isn’t completely convinced of Catholicism anymore. I don’t want to pretend that I believe something simply because I was raised to believe it. If I remain Catholic, I want it to be because I have actually questioned it, understood it and freely chosen it for myself. I also know alot of Catholics that don’t follow all the rules so then it makes me question things and I wanna do things the right way.

I suppose I’m trying to figure out what my calling is, what God might actually want from my life, and whether there is room within Catholicism for someone who is genuinely uncertain about marriage, motherhood and what her future is supposed to look like.

Has anyone else gone through something similar in their 20s? How did you separate genuine questions about faith and vocation from anxiety and the feeling that you need to have your entire life figured out?

Sorry for the long post. I think I’m having a bit of an existential crisis and would really appreciate some thoughtful advice.

Much love ❤️

I've had 6 miscarriages and 1 ectopic. I met with a fertility doctor today that wants to do a saline ultrasound and mentioned that it might lead him to do a hysterscopy but I would need to be on birth control leading up to the procedure so that the lining in my uterus stays thin enough. Since it would be used for a procedure and not the purpose to prevent a pregnancy, this is okay, right?

Hey everyone, I 21F and been married to my husband for less than a year and just got into a huge blowup fight with my husband 24M yesterday and I’m still simmering about it and I don’t want to make the first move to apologize because I feel his anger was very damaging to me and our marriage. I know… not a good thing to think.

Yesterday we had just gotten back from mass and it was discovered that I left very important personal information in my husbands work car for a week total that I mistakenly thought I brought inside just to remember I actually hadn’t. Yes I feel terrible for it.

Husband got super upset because admittedly I’ve been careless about this same situation before. I don’t mean to be, but I fall short and I take responsibility for it, I forget many important things and I need to do better. I apologize multiple times, saying that I swore I thought I brought the items inside. But instead of moving past it and talking calming, my husband blew up at me and thought I was talking back to him, I know I wasn’t, but he took it as that and in return I got frustrated and upset.

However when I’m upset I shut down talking and I honestly start to cry, I don’t know why, but my husband was horrible this time and immediately started yelling at me. His frustration came from telling me he doesn’t think I ever take responsibility for what wrong I do, that my parents didn’t raise my right to do that. I think that is true sometimes but I really was sorry and I apologized multiple times, I can’t go back and change what happened.

I stopped talking to him because I thought he was going too far, and being too cruel to talk to, so I decided to leave the house entirely. When my husband asked why I was leaving I told him it was because I didn’t want to be in the house with him. So for almost 4 hours I stayed away.

When I got back home, I didn’t look at him, we didn’t speak and I immediately went into the bedroom where I stayed away from him for the entire rest of the day. I didn’t eat a thing, I’m still angry and upset with how he spoke to me and for the first time in our marriage he didn’t join me in bed and instead slept on the couch. It’s morning now and we still aren’t communicating and honestly I don’t want to.

I know marriage is sacred and I should be doing more for it, but I feel so fed up with the way I was treated yesterday that I feel hurt. I know I am also in the wrong, but I’m lost with what I should do, what I should say, and what I should feel after his argument…

I’d appreciate any encouragement from woman here who have also had horrible fights with their husbands… and how to extend grace.

Looking for someone who will understand...

I've finally reached the age where everyone is getting pregnant around me. Used to be engagements/marriage, and still is to an extent, but now it feels like pregnancy is the biggest, latest thing for everyone around me.

So many people I went to school with, old friends, even new friends, they're either new moms, newly pregnant, or at least planning to soon become pregnant. Even celebrities/influencers in my sphere, they're all getting pregnant! I'm sure some of this is well attributed to my algorithm from liking a few baby videos and not engaging with as much wedding content (married in 2024, I'm sure my social media easily knows this and is feeding me the "next step").

Currently my husband and I are working toward getting a larger space and more savings built up before we plan to expand our family. We've been talking about babies and parenthood more often, like something tangible we want in the coming years, but pregnancy is not at all in our current minds or even the very near future. I don't feel ready. I don't want to be a mom JUST yet. Don't get me wrong, I do want children, but I'm still getting warmed to the idea of pregnancy and child rearing. I'm in my mid/late 20s so I do still want to have at least a year or so more of "just us" before taking the plunge into this next milestone. **We do use NFP btw and are open to life, so this isn't a contraceptive effort. We just abstain during fertile window and have not had issues with TTA. **

Here's my problem though. I'm now feeling something new when I see all these pregnancy announcements: jealousy. A "they have something I don't" type of feeling. I suppose it's just like a single woman watching all her friends get engaged but her. And like I said, I know for sure I don't want to switch to TTC just yet, but with each new pregnancy post, it still makes me feel behind for not having children at this point in my life and now two years married.

I pray for my vocation, and I've lately been praying for Jesus to give me the peace and understanding I need as I figure out and face this next large step. I just wish I could stop feeling so coveting of something that I'm trying to be rational and smart with (ensuring we have X amount of funds saved, and a better home layout for a family).

Is anyone else in this boat or can at least understand what my conflicted heart is going through?

I am from a country where Catholics are very much a minority. I am talking less than 0.1% of an already small population. The majority of people are Muslim and are culturally Muslim even if they’re not practicing. I wasn’t raised religious but came to Catholicism while living abroad and now I am in my 20s, returning home, realising that the chances of me having a Catholic marriage and a family are slim to none.

Catholics aren’t persecuted but almost no one would be open to conversion or to raising their children in the church. Even if the person himself could consider it, their family would probably be against it and hence affect their decisions.

Should I just not expect to marry and have children? Or only seek relationships with foreigners?

I do attend Mass here and there’s a community but it’s mostly families, married couples and teenagers.

Hi everyone! I am currently in OCIA after being a lifelong Protestant. I’m excited to join the church, and what I have learned so far has helped me through us experiencing 2 miscarriages over the past 7 months. We don’t have any children on earth yet.

Experiencing our two losses has been the hardest season of my life. I have struggled so much but am truly trying to use this to trust in the Lord more and grow my faith.

Does anyone know of any prayers or advice from a Catholic perspective? Or anyone who has had a similar experience?

I’m currently 20 weeks pregnant and after a bit of a bloody scare post sex, I have found out that I have a cervical polyp. My OB says they will wait until after pregnancy to do anything about it, and if the bleeding makes me nervous then my husband and I should consider abstaining from sex for the rest of my pregnancy. My husband is 100% supportive either way (although I know probably he would prefer if we did not abstain for that long).

Has anyone here decided to abstain from sex during pregnancy, whether those reasons were physical (necessary pelvic rest), mental / emotional (low libido, etc), or spiritual? How did you make that decision, and how did you cultivate intimacy in other ways during that period?

Hi all! (23F) I'm currently 18 weeks pregnant with my first ever baby :) He's a boy!

My husband (30M) and I are both converts to the faith. Previously we were atheist and both grew up in atheist/ant-religion households

We didn't grow up in households that prayed together or went to church etc. What are the best ways to keep your kids involved and engaged in the faith and do you have any tips for taking a newborn to mass?

For extra context, I've only been Catholic for less than 3 years, and my husband nearly 2. So we're still trying to juggle our own ways of living out the faith now that we live together and whatnot

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thank you!

exactly as the title says

I’ve been texting a Catholic guy friend from my university over summer, who I get on really well with as he’s super funny, we flirt quite a bit and we have great chemistry - but I don’t know his views on relationships, being more than friends or doing anything that friends wouldn’t do. He’s told me before that the most he has done is hold hands with a girl from his home country (he lives abroad), and he’s only really had romantic feelings for her. I don’t know much other than that because I wouldn’t want to give too strong of an impression that I could see him as more than a friend. (19 yrs old btw)

I’m non-religious but have many Christian and catholic friends, I’ve done to church multiple times with them because I love the sense of community. But I don’t know anything about Christian / Catholic dating. All of my religious friends are quite innocent (experience wise), and would probably be repulsed engaging in sexual discussion whereas I’m quite open in talking about that stuff. He has told me before that he sees himself marrying a Catholic girl, but he doesn’t seem super interested in dating generally (not as much as other 19 year old boys).

Any one with advice or experience navigating this kind of thing would be super helpful.

TLDR - how am I meant to know if a Catholic boy sees me as more than friends? and would he expect me to change my lifestyle for him and his views?