Meet Our Members: Maria Elena and Deacon René Burgos

Ovulation Method Instructors in the Los Angeles region, Maria Elena and René Burgos have been married for 34 years, and have five adult children, and three grandchildren. René was born in El Salvador and Maria Elena in Mexico.

They met at Christ the King Church in Hollywood, where René was in the youth group and Maria Elena in the choir, and have always served in the same parish.

During their premarital retreat they learned of an Ovulation Method class at a nearby church, and knew that it was just what they needed to start their marriage off properly. While learning the Ovulation Method, they experienced it as great blessing for couples, and an essential element for a happy marriage.

Maria Elena is an only child and René comes from a family of five siblings, and they both wanted a large family, so together they decided to have children soon. God blessed them with a beautiful little girl, Elizabeth Maria, born on Thanksgiving Day in 1991. Maria Elena breast fed her, and when she returned to work her fertility began to return. Finding it a somewhat difficult time to use the Ovulation Method, they consulted their instructors, Lilia and Alejandro Morelos.

Lilia and Alejandro invited them to attend a new course they were offering, reviewed their charts, helped them to understand their cycles during breast feeding, and invited them to prepare to become instructors themselves. Maria Elena and René gladly accepted the invitation, seeing it as an opportunity to share with other couples the blessing of knowing their own bodies and their fertility. They became certified instructors of the Ovulation Method through the Family of the Americas Foundation, founded by Mercedes Arzu Wilson.

They were honored to meet in person Drs. John and Evelyn Billings, who travelled from Australia at the invitation of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, as well as many other pioneers and warriors of natural planning, including Dr. Janet Smith. They were inspired by them all to continue their ministry, helping Hispanic couples break free from the clutches of artificial contraceptives.

They have found knowing and belonging to the CANFP family important to their ministry throughout this time.

While they continued to give group courses and information on premarital weekends in Spanish, their family continued to grow, with the addition of Stephen Rene, Martin Benedict, Monica Michelle, and Theresa Elena.

In 2017 René answered the call to the Diaconate. They reduced their group NFP classes to dedicate more time to their diaconate formation, but continued to offer premarital information. In 2022 René was ordained a Deacon for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, assigned to their long time parish of Christ the King, the same parish where they met almost four decades before.

Maria Elena and Deacon René continue their commitment to sharing the importance of Natural Family Planning, especially through providing information on premarital weekends. Having heard many married couples over the years say “no one told us” or “we have not heard about this”, they believe that if we want a healthier, happier society, the only way is for couples to know and use Natural Family Planning.