Rowena Crist is Co-Founder of Faithful Fiat, a ministry that opens women’s hearts and minds to the true meaning of femininity through the teachings of St. John Paul the Great and the science of Fertility Appreciation. “ For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11 This verse is evident in Rowena’s story. Today, she educates women and couples on the truth about a woman’s body and the gift of her fertility from the scientific point of view. Rowena is a wife and mother of six beautiful young women, a former high school religion and psychology teacher, Physician Assistant, and a trained FertilityCare practitioner, medical consultant and FACTS (Fertility Awareness Collaborative to Teach the Science) speaker. There are obvious milestones in her journey as a “beloved daughter of God” that have led to the work she does today. At the age of 9 years old, Rowena’s father died suddenly from a brain aneurysm. It was then that her mother taught her young family the rosary. They prayed the Rosary every night as a family for many years. This was the beginning of Rowena’s relationship with the Blessed Mother. During her youth, Mary kept Rowena close to her. Rowena attended Notre Dame Prep School. She searched for what the Lord wanted her to do. During her college years, she found an interest in wanting to help others and felt that there was a connection with her faith and counseling but struggled to know how. Her professor in graduate school helped her get her first job as a high school religion and psychology teacher. Soon after, Rowena and Michael married. During the dedication to the Blessed Mother at the Sacrament of Matrimony, there was an unforgettable moment between Rowena and the Blessed Mother as she asked for many children and to be a mother like her. Coming from parents who were both physicians, Rowena pursued education as a Physician Assistant. She was expecting their fourth daughter at her graduation. Rowena has practiced Pediatrics for 15 years. When her sixth daughter was 3 years old, Rowena suffered a ruptured brain aneurysm. Her husband tells her that when he returned home from her admission to the hospital at midnight, he found their daughters by candlelight praying the rosary. Our Lady never left their side. Rowena consecrated herself to Jesus through Mary. In 2011, Rowena was introduced to the CreightonModel of FertilityCare. She attended the Saint Paul VI Institute for the Study in Human Reproduction in Omaha and studied in the FertilityCare Practitioner program as well as the Medical Consultant program.
As a fertility care practitioner, Rowena worked at the Diocese of Raleigh as the Natural Family Planning Coordinator and Marriage Prep Coordinator. It was here where she worked closely with Suzanne in the Marriage Office. Through that office, she became trained as a speaker for FACTS, a group of physicians, healthcare professionals and educators working together to provide information about natural or fertility awareness based methods of family planning with the medical community. It became clear that the presentation on Natural Family Planning was not complete unless presented with Saint John Paul the Great’s Theology Of the Body. Science is only part of what women and couples need to know. Understanding God’s beautiful plan for women and married couples along with knowing the physiology of fertility is the fullness of truth. This is the truth Rowena wants to share today---through the ministry of Faithful Fiat! This is the plan God had in mind for Rowena. This is why she is full of hope for the future, the future for her six daughters and her seven grandchildren (to date), the future of our world, one person at a time. We have entered into the Era of the Triumph of Mary’s Immaculate Heart and Rowena is excited to be a small part of Our Lady’s triumph of God’s kind and merciful love! “ For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11