Is St Paul talking about sex within marriage in 1 Corinthians 7:5? If so, what should be the time of abstinence from physical relationship if procreation is the expected fruit of catholic marriage?

The verse in question is: “Do not deprive one another except perhaps by agreement for a set time, to devote yourselves to prayer, and then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control” (1 Corinthians 7:5). This verse may not make much sense on initial reading, especially without understanding the particular context in which St. Paul is writing. Any time we encounter a difficult Scripture passage, it’s always helpful to begin by learning more about its background, author, historical circumstances, etc.

First there is the context of 1 Corinthians itself and why Paul wrote it. The city of Corinth was a famous port city of the Greek world. As a cosmopolitan trade hub, Corinth was known as a place where all sorts of people gathered–and unfortunately not always for good reasons. Debauchery, idolatry, and various sexual practices were rife throughout the city. At the same time, there was a budding Christian community in Corinth. Paul writes his letter to the Corinthians to address the tensions and sinful practices of the Corinthian community while also instructing them and building them up in the faith. Whereas another letter like Romans is more of a theological treatise, Corinthians is more like a pastoral letter.

Now having more context, we come specifically to our verse! This particular passage is a section where Paul is addressing the sexual immorality of the Corinthian community and offering his counsel on how married couples should treat one another while protecting against immorality. Let’s follow Paul’s argument here from verse 1. He begins by saying that a man should not “touch a woman” (i.e. a man has a duty to keep himself chaste when he is around women). Then Paul says that both husband and wife have a duty to be faithful to one another and reminds them that both of them have given themselves fully to their spouses, so they should be aware of the other spouse’s “right” over their bodies. It’s a little difficult to explain (especially since it does not match our modern language) but Paul is saying that while it is in keeping with sexual purity for a man to refrain from “touching a woman,” the husband and wife have given that right to one another in marriage. Essentially, a married couple enjoys the right to conjugal love and the mere fact that a husband and wife have sexual relations with each other is not “impure.”

Then in verse 5 Paul mentions this idea of abstinence. Remember that Paul has just said that married couples have the right to sexual relations; now, he qualifies that statement by saying that there are reasons why a couple may choose to abstain from sex for a period of time. In this case, he says “to devote yourselves to prayer.” For the sake of growing closer to the Lord and pursuing intimacy with God, Paul says that a couple can choose to abstain from sex–essentially so that they can focus more intently on God during that time. However, if the couple is being tempted to sexual sin by keeping themselves apart, Paul cautions that at this point it’s better to come back together than let themselves fall into sin (e.g. through other sexual sins like infidelity, adultery, masturbation, etc.). Remember that Paul’s context here is a community of people he is trying to at least keep out of sin because immorality is so prevalent in the community. Paul, being aware of the human weakness of his letter’s audience, basically is saying “yes, you can commit yourselves to the Lord and keep apart from your spouse to pursue that relationship with God, but if doing this starts leaving you so tempted to sin, then stop.”Obviously, the theology of marriage and the human body was not as developed during Paul’s time as it is today. We benefit from a far deeper understanding of the human person and the meaning and purpose of marriage. Paul’s words do bring out an interesting point which rings just as true today, though: conjugal love requires discernment. By this I mean that a couple benefits from not just having sex indiscriminately, whenever they please. There are times where it is actually fruitful for a couple to abstain from sex. Marriage has two coequal purposes: the union of the spouses and the fostering of children. Naturally, then, conjugal love belongs to marriage, since it is necessary for procreation and also unifies the spouses–but there is more to marriage than just sex. Spouses have a right and a duty to discern the appropriate time to bring children into the world. Sometimes that means that abstinence is the better option for the time. There is no “one size fits all” answer here; each couple has to learn to communicate, share vulnerably, and pray together when it comes to discerning the right time for sex (and with it, the possibility of children). For one couple this could mean months; for another couple this could mean years. Being open to the promptings of the Holy Spirit is essential for a healthy marriage, because the Holy Spirit truly helps married couples to discern when it’s the right time for them to come together and the right time to remain apart!