Issue: March 2026
Fr. John Fullerton
Large Catholic families are cornerstones of civilization, standing out as marriage becomes rarer. When couples give each other their life-giving powers unconditionally, accepting whatever children God sends, they create stronger unions, virtuous children, and rebuild dying society. These families prefer the wealth of offspring to material goods—a beautiful flower blooming in our cultural wasteland.
Large Family Life: Savoring the Flowers of God’s Love
Amanda Evinger discovers the SSPX chapel by its parking lot full of family vans. Through stories like Becky Gerads’s fifteen children and Fr. Dominic May’s reflections on growing up eldest of ten, she explores how large families develop responsibility, charity, and self-sacrifice. Marriage’s primary purpose is procreation; its secondary purpose is mutual union. Sacramental grace provides necessary helps.
Multi-Generational Households
Scripture shows Jacob, Moses, and Ruth living in multigenerational households. Before industrialization, families operated as home economies where all contributed. Today’s 66.5% dual-income families fuel a $65 billion childcare industry. Strong family households build resilient society through charity, sacrifice, and practicing corporal works of mercy together—the domestic church shapes hearts and minds in Christ-centered community.
Grant Us Many Holy Catholic Families: Doing Courtship Correctly
Fr. Ian Palko outlines Catholic courtship principles: dating is for marriage (not entertainment); marriage is for making saints; dating without marriage possibility within two years constitutes grave sin. Practical requirements include appropriate age, financial readiness, virtue mastery (especially chastity), spiritual maturity, and public accountability. Proper courtship transforms natural attraction into supernatural mission for making saints.
Catholic Families in Turbulent Times
Robert Lazu Kmita examines challenges facing Catholic families in non-Christian culture. The husband is family “head,” though hierarchy is marginalized today. The critical battleground: transmission of life. Contraception represents rebellion against God’s kingship. Demographic collapse stems not from economics but soft persecution of mothers and careerism. Prayer remains supreme when parents have no other means.
Little Generations Under One Roof
Miranda Eberlein explores successful parenting in large families dealing with every life stage simultaneously. Parents must have mental energy for all children, prioritizing older ones whose needs are complex. Education means leading forth unique individuals, not molding copies. Daily family meditation seals spiritual unity. Large families are microcosms of the Church—the future depends on generously raised children.
The Image of God’s Image
Dr. Jonathan Wanner analyzes Shakespeare’s first seventeen sonnets promoting fatherhood. Main arguments: Nature mercifully lends existence—we repay by multiplying it. Children are natural temporal solution to Fall’s mortality, our best physical response. Reproduction is immortality analog—family trees extend through time. Barrenness is self-murder conspiring against own image. Children are beautiful in themselves—innate goodness from God. Shakespeare: patron poet of large families.
Does Refusing Children Make a Marriage Invalid?
Marriage validity requires giving perpetual exclusive rights to the body for generation. Refusing this right (even temporarily) invalidates marriage. However, refusing the use while granting the right itself (like Mary and Joseph’s chastity vow) maintains validity. Contraceptive-only marriages: if couples exchange rights intending guilty use, valid; if exchanging rights only for non-generative acts, invalid.
Flowers in the Desert
In 2000, a young lady established an orphanage in India, later relocating 400km to be near daily Tridentine Mass. As Sr. Maria Immaculata, she built a thriving apostolate: 60 children, 15 elderly, sparking nine Indian sisters’ vocations. The Consoling Sisters grew from 8 to 95 professed members. Over 120 volunteers served 2007-2018, seventeen later pursuing vocations. A work of Divine Providence transformed desert into flowering garden.
The Large Family
Pope Pius XII addresses large family associations, calling them the Church’s most precious treasures. They offer triple testimony: physical/moral health of Christian people, living faith in God and trust in Providence, fruitful holiness of Catholic marriage. He condemns birth control propaganda, praises obedience to Creator’s laws. Large families are splendid flower-beds where happiness flowers and sanctity ripens.
The Spouses
St. Thomas teaches loving neighbors “on account of what he has of God” and “that he may be in God.” True spousal friendship means loving what is of God in the other, not fostering defects. Love requires sacrifice as Our Lord demonstrated on the Cross. Christian families must welcome children—large families are the Church’s glory. Marriage is a school of continence requiring priests’ chastity example.
Our Life in Tradition
Dennis came to Tradition in 1974; Gabrielle at eighteen in 1975. They met at St. Mary’s, Kansas, as volunteers in 1981, marrying in 1983 after Archbishop Lefebvre blessed their engagement rings. Of nine children, four pursued religious vocations—one Benedictine monk, three daughters joining SSPX Sisters. The other five married traditional Catholics, producing eighteen grandchildren. Essential practices: daily rosary, frequent Mass, regular retreats.
On the Instruction of Laymen
Jonas of Orléans’s medieval text teaches parents must rear children in fear of God, teaching chastity and worship. Many love children more in flesh than spirit, teaching worldly rather than heavenly laws. Imitate Job who sanctified sons; heed David teaching Solomon; follow Tobias instructing from infancy. Proverbs commands correction. All governing households are pastors, feeding spiritual flocks with Scripture, guarding against unclean spirits.
A Genealogy of Transhumanism
Fr. Florent Marignol traces transhumanism from ancient myths through Gates, Musk, and Page. Transhumanists seek to transcend biological limitations through NBIC technologies, creating “enhanced” humanity. Historical precursors include Pico, Bacon, Condorcet, Darwin, and Huxley. Three motivations drive it: Darwinian evolution’s necessity, fear of AI surpassing humans, global warming requiring space exodus. Behind refined masks hides humanity’s immemorial hubris.
Redeemed by the Paschal Sacrifice
This liturgical analysis examines Sunday Mass orations following Easter Octave, showing progression toward Ascension. The 2nd Sunday focuses on God raising fallen world through Christ’s abasement. The 3rd shifts to our active role co-operating with grace. The 4th emphasizes uniting faithful in single purpose. The 5th gathers Eastertide threads, reiterating all good comes from God whose grace enables us.
The Patriarchs: Abraham—The Man Called by God
After Babel dispersed humanity, God called 75-year-old Abram from Ur to unnamed Canaan—1000 miles on pure faith. He built altars while living in tents: transient earth versus permanent heaven. His 318 men rescued nephew Lot. Melchizedek brought bread/wine, blessing Abram, prefiguring Christ’s priesthood and Eucharist. God promised descendants outnumbering stars; Abram believed, was credited righteousness. God swore covenant oath.
Questions and Answers
Birth control is gravely sinful because it’s contrary to nature. God created the conjugal act primarily for begetting children. Deliberately frustrating its natural power sins against nature, is intrinsically vicious. Contraception defeats both primary (procreation) and secondary (mutual love) purposes, reducing union to selfish using. Post-1965 legalization, U.S. fertility plummeted while out-of-wedlock births skyrocketed. Contraceptives pose significant women’s health risks.
The Last Word
Fr. Yves le Roux warns that having big families isn’t an end in itself—marriage’s end is procreation and education of children for heaven. Beware mistaking sacred duty of giving physical/spiritual life for pseudo-duty of maximizing children. Family worth depends not on number but parents’ spirit of consecration, passing on God’s sense, honor, and effort. We need many truly Catholic families, adorers of the Father.
Current Issue
