Sample comprehensive Order of Service for a Catholic Nuptial Mass
“Over the years, Rev. Schulte has been asked dozens of times for a Catholic “light” ceremony.”
BRIDAL PARTY PROCESSION
Parental Blessing
Who gives their blessing? Response can be: Our family does; or something similar.
INTRODUCTORY RITE:
Father Steve: In the name of the Father, and the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. All: Amen
Father Steve: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. All: And with your spirit.
OPENING PRAYER
Father Steve: Eternal God, our creator and redeemer, as you gladdened the wedding at Cana in Galilee by the presence of your Son, so by his presence now bring your joy to this wedding. Look in favor upon ____________ and __________ and grant that they, rejoicing in all your gifts, may at length celebrate with Christ the marriage feast which has no end. Amen
LITURGY OF THE WORD (please be seated)
FIRST READING (here is one possible reading) – 1 Corinthians 12.31 and 13.4-8
31But strive for the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.
4Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant 5or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. 7It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8Love never ends.
This is the word of the Lord. All: Thanks be to God.
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION:
(Please Stand)
GOSPEL (here is one possible Gospel text) – Matthew 19.6
6So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
Fr. Steve: The Gospel of the Lord. All: Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
THE RITE OF MARRIAGE
Father Steve: ________ and ________________ the promise you make to each other today is serious, because it will bind you together for life in a relationship so close and so intimate that it will profoundly influence your whole future. That future, with its hopes and disappointments, its successes and its failures, its pleasures and its pains, its joys and its sorrows, is hidden from your eyes. You know that these elements are mingled in every life and are to be expected in your own. And so, not knowing what is before you, but trusting in God’s companionship, you take each other through the best and worst of what lies ahead, until death. Join your hands, and commit yourselves to each other for life.
_________and ________________ have you come here freely and without reservation to give yourselves to each other in marriage?
___________ & ________________ We have.
Father Steve: Will you love and honor each other as ______ and ______ for the rest of your lives?
_____________ & ________________ We will.
DECLARATION & CONSENT
Father Steve: ____________ & ________________ since it is your intention to enter into marriage, please join your right hands and declare your consent before God and His Church.
Couple: I, ________________, take you, __________ to be my _______ . I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will love you and honour you all the days of my life.
BLESSING OF RINGS
Father Steve: Let us pray: Lord, bless these rings which we bless in your name. Grant that those who wear them may always have a deep faith in each other. May they do your will and always live together in peace, good will, and love. We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Response: Amen.
EXCHANGE OF RINGS
_________, 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.
PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION –
Father Steve: These are the Prayers of the Faithful
Response of the people: “Lord, hear our prayer.”
We have listened to the word of God. Let us now ask God to listen to us, to bless our words of prayer which we offer for the people of the world.
Response: “Lord, hear our prayer.”
For all married people: For those who married yesterday, for the new couple _________ and _________, married today, for those who will marry tomorrow… that they may savor the joy of being together, warm love, , a long life, wine, and friends, and a new day, everyday let us pray to the Lord.
Response: “Lord, hear our prayer.”
For all young single people who look forward to a vocation full of life and full of love- let us pray to the Lord.
Response: “Lord, hear our prayer.”
For the lonely old and the lonely young, for the hungry rich and the hungry poor, for the sick, in body, mind, and spirit, for the weakness in all of us- let us pray to the Lord.
Response: “Lord, hear our prayer.”
For our relatives and friends who walk with us on life’s journey and for those who have gone before us to the other side of life. For the fulfillment of all their unfulfilled desires – let us pray to the Lord.
Response: “Lord, hear our prayer.”
These are our words of prayer today for ourselves and all human beings. Tomorrow there will be others. Lord God the beloved of humankind who has first loved us, give our words by your listening the power of your word so that all things may be accomplished sweetly and gently for the happiness of all.
Through Christ our Lord.
Response: Amen
FINAL BLESSING & PRAYER – (Please stand)
Father Steve: May almighty God, with his word of blessing, unite your hearts in the never-ending bond of pure love.
Response: Amen.
May the peace of Christ live always in your hearts and in your home. May you have true friends to stand by you, both in joy and in sorrow. May you be ready and willing to help and comfort all who come to you in need. And may the blessing promised to the compassionate be yours in abundance.
Response: Amen
May you find happiness and satisfaction in your work. May daily problems never cause you undue anxiety, nor the desire for earthly possessions dominate your lives. But may your hearts’ first desire be always the good things waiting for you in the life of heaven.
Response: Amen
I now pronounce you as _________ and ________.
You may kiss.
Couple may be introduced: ______________________________
RECESSIONAL –