Pontifical Council for the Family's Preparation for the Sacrament of Marriage (5/13/1996)

Preparation for the Sacrament of Marriage recognizes that groundwork must begin with "remote preparation" in earliest childhood, followed later by "proximate" and "immediate" stages: 

• "It is in the family, the domestic church, that Christian parents are the first witnesses and educators of the children both in the growth of 'faith, hope and charity', and in each child discovering his or her own vocation."  

During the "proximate" stage, Preparation for the Sacrament of Marriage speaks of instruction in natural family planning (i.e., fertility awareness):  

• "Today the scientific basis of the natural methods for the regulation of fertility are recognized. Knowledge about these methods is useful. When there is just cause, their use must not only be a mere behavioral technique but be inserted into the pedagogy and process of the growth of love (cf. EV 97). Then the virtue of chastity will lead the spouses to practice periodic continence (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, nos. 2366-2371)" (The Pontifical Council for the Family's Preparation for the Sacrament of Marriage, 5/13/96)