The Rite of Marriage (outside of Mass)

The Introductory Rites

All stand

Greeting the People

Priest: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
All: Amen.

Priest: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
All: And with your spirit.

Opening Prayer (Collect)

Priest: Let us pray.
Father, you have made the bond of marriage a holy mystery, a symbol of Christ’s love for his Church. Hear our prayers for [Bride] and [Groom] With faith in you and in each other they pledge their love today. May their lives always bear witness to the reality of that love.
All: Amen.

The Liturgy of the Word

First Reading

from the Old Testament

Psalm

Second Reading

from the New Testament (non-Gospel)

Alleluje or Gospel Acclamation

Gospel

Sermon (Homily)

The Rite of Marriage

Address Formulary

Bride and Bridegroom and their witnesses stand. Priest addresses them.

[N.] and [N.], you have just heard the word of God which has reminded you of the dignity of human love and marriage. And so, in the presence of the Church, I ask you to state your intentions.

[N.] and [N.], have you come here freely and without reservation to give yourselves to each other in marriage?

The Bride and Bridegroom: Yes, we have.

Do you intend to stay in this bond in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, until death parts you?

The Bride and Bridegroom: We do.

Will you accept children lovingly from God, and bring them up according to the law of Christ and his Church?

The Bride and Bridegroom: We will.

Hymn Veni Creator Spiritus…

All stand and sing three stanza of the hymn to Holy Ghost Spirit.

Declaration of Consent

Since it is your intention to enter into marriage, join your right hands, and declare your consent before God and his Church.

The Bride and Bridegroom join their right hands.

The Bridegroom says after the Priest:

I, [N.], take you, [N.], to be my wife.
I promise you love, fidelity, marital honesty
and that I shall not part from you until death.
So help me Almighty God and all the Saints.

The Bride says after the Priest:

I, [N.], take you, [N.], to be my husband.
I promise you love, fidelity, marital honesty
and that I shall not part from you until death.
So help me Almighty God and all the Saints.

 

Receiving their consent, the Priest says:

„What God has joined, men must not divide” (Mt 19:6).
On behalf of the Catholic Church I confirm this marriage which you have contracted between yourselves and I bless it in the name of the Father and of the Son † and of the Holy Spirit.

All: Amen.

Blessing and Exchange of Rings

May the Lord bless † these rings which you give to each other as the sign of your love and fidelity. All: Amen.

Priest: Accept these rings as the sign of the marital bond you have contracted.

Husband:

[N.], take this ring as a sign of my love and fidelity.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Wife:

[N.], take this ring as a sign of my love and fidelity.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

The Prayers of the Faithful (Bidding Prayers)

The Bidding Prayers are said. Each petition ends:

Reader: Lord, hear us.
All: Lord, graciously hear us.

The Conclusion of the Celebration

The Lord’s Prayer (Our Father…)

The Nuptial Blessing

After the Lord’s Prayer, the prayer Deliver us is omitted. The priest facing the bride and bridegroom says, with hands joined:

My dear friends, let us turn to the Lord and pray that he will bless with his grace this woman (or [N.]) now married in Christ to this man (or [N.]) and that (through the sacrament of the body and blood of Christ), he will unite in love the couple he has joined in this holy bond.

All pray silently for a short while. Then the priest extends his hands and continues:

(a) Father, by your power you have made everything out of nothing. In the beginning you created the universe and made mankind in your own likeness.
You gave man the constant help of woman so that man and woman should no longer be two, but one flesh, and you teach us that what you have united may never be divided.

(b) Father, you have made the union of man and wife so holy a mystery that it symbolizes the marriage of Christ and Church.

(c) Father, by your plan man and woman are united, and married life has been established as the one blessing that was not forfeited by original sin or washed away in the flood.

Look with love upon this woman, your daughter, now joined to her husband in marriage. She asks your blessing. Give her the grace of love and peace. May she always follow the example of the holy women whose praises are sung in the scriptures.

May her husband put his trust in her and recognise that she is his equal and the heir with him to the life of grace. May he always honour her and love her as Christ loves his bride, the Church.

Father, keep them always true to your commandments. Keep them faithful in marriage and let them be living examples of Christian life. Give them the strength which comes from the gospel so that they may be witnesses of Christ to others.
Bless them with children and help them to be good parents. May they live to see their children’s children.
And, after a happy old age, grant them fullness of life with the saints in the kingdom of heaven. We ask this through Christ our Lord.

All: Amen.

W tym momencie Liturgii można stronie katolickiej udzielić Komunii św.

Solemn Blessing and Dismissal

Priest: God the eternal Father keep you in love with each other, so that the peace of Christ may stay with you and be always in your home.

All: Amen.

Priest: May your children bless you, your friends console you and all men live in peace with you.

All: Amen.

Priest: May you always bear witness to the love of God in this world so that the afflicted and the needy will find in you generous friends and welcome you into the joys of heaven.

All: Amen.

Priest:

May almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, † and the Holy Spirit.

All: Amen.

The dismissal follows as usual.