Vatican website translation:<\/p>\n
78. Matrimony is normally to be celebrated within the Mass, after the reading of the gospel and the homily, and before “the prayer of the faithful.” The prayer for the bride, duly amended to remind both spouses of their equal obligation to remain faithful to each other, may be said in the mother tongue.<\/p>\n
But if the sacrament of matrimony is celebrated apart from Mass, the epistle and gospel from the nuptial Mass are to be read at the beginning of the rite, and the blessing should always be given to the spouses.<\/p>\n
Latin text:<\/strong><\/p>\n 78. Matrimonium ex more intra Missam celebretur, post lectionem Evangelii et homiliam, ante “orationem fidelium”. Oratio super sponsam, ita opportune emendata ut aequalia officia mutuae fidelitatis utriusque sponsi inculcet, dici potest lingua vernacula.<\/strong><\/p>\n Si vero Sacramentum Matrimonii sine Missa celebratur, Epistola et Evangelium Missae pro sponsis legantur in initio ritus et benedictio sponsis semper impertiatur.<\/strong><\/p>\n Slavishly literal translation:<\/p>\n 78. By custom, Matrimony is celebrated within the Mass, after the reading of the Gospel and the homily, before the \u201cprayer of the faithful.\u201d The prayer over the bride, opportunely so amended that it might inculcate the equal responsibilities of mutual faithfulness upon each spouse, could be said in the vernacular language.<\/p>\n If however the Sacrament of Matrimony is celebrated without Mass, the Epistle and Gospel of the Mass for spouses is read at the beginning of the rite and the blessing for the spouses may always be imparted.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Having explicitly stated in art. 77 that the principles of liturgical inculturation already provided for in arts. 37-40 may be applied to the marriage rites of the Roman Rite, the Council Fathers now turn to certain explicit reforms.<\/p>\n If I am reading the pre-Vatican II Rituale Romanum<\/em> correctly, the Marriage Ceremony proper consists of: 1) the priest\u2019s questioning of the spouses to elicit their mutual consent; 2) the joining of the spouses\u2019 right hands; 3) a declaration that the priest joins them in matrimony (!) in the name of the Triune God [\u201cEgo conjungo vos in matrimonium. In nomine Patris, et Filii, (+) et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.\u201d \/ \u201cI join you in matrimony. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.\u201d], with a sprinkling of holy water; 4) a blessing of a single ring to be given to the bride (!) through a series of versicles and responses and a collect anticipating the content of the nuptial blessing [\u201cBene (+) dic, Domine, anulum hunc, quem nos in tuo nomine benedi (+) cimus: ut, quae cum gestaverit, fidelitatem integram suo sponso tenens, in pace et voluntate tua permaneat, atque in mutua caritate semper vivat. Per Christum Dominum nostrum.\u201d \/ \u201cBless, Lord, this ring, which we bless in your name: so that when she wears it, bearing total faithfulness to her spouse, she might remain in your peace and will and always live in mutual charity. Through Christ our Lord.\u201d], with a sprinkling of holy water on the ring; 5) a placing of the ring on the ring finger of the bride\u2019s left hand by the groom, after he has received the blessed ring from the priest; and 6) the priest reciting a series of versicles and responses (including Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison, Kyrie eleison and the Lord\u2019s Prayer), concluding with a collect seeking God\u2019s assistance for the newly married couple.<\/p>\n Apparently, if Mass was to solemnize the occasion, the nuptial Mass followed<\/strong> this ceremony. The two most noticeable additions to that Order of Mass were: 1) the Nuptial Blessing (which petitions God solely for the bride, that she may be faithful to her husband and dutiful in her care for the home); and 2) a blessing of the couple before the last blessing of the congregation.<\/p>\n It is in this context that the Council Fathers called for: 1) the Marriage Ceremony to be placed normatively within a celebration of Mass, after the gospel and homily, but before the to-be-restored \u201cprayer of the faithful;\u201d 2) the Nuptial Blessing to be re-cast so that it would become a prayer articulating the mutual responsibilities of the couple rather than being simply a prayer for the bride; 3) that even when the Marriage Ceremony is celebrated outside of Mass, a Liturgy of the Word take place before the ceremony; and 4) that the use of the revised Nuptial Blessing (which had already been permitted by apostolic indult in some areas when the wedding Mass was not celebrated) be appended to the ceremony.<\/p>\n It is interesting to note that the Council Fathers apparently assumed that the single Epistle and Gospel assigned to the Nuptial Mass in the pre-Vatican II Missale Romanum<\/em> would continue to be the scriptural proclamations. Interestingly a much more extensive set of readings (Old Testament, New Testament non-Gospel, Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Verse, and Gospel) appears as the Lectionary for Matrimony when the Ordo Celebrandi Matrimonium<\/em> appeared in 1972.<\/p>\n Pray Tell<\/em> readers may wish to discuss: 1) how the reformed rite of Matrimony has been received in the areas in which they worship; 2) what further inculturation of these rites might be appropriate for those areas; and 3) the changes that appeared in the 1991 editio typica altera<\/em> of the Ordo Celebrandi Matrimonium<\/em> which we are promised we will see in official English translation soon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" “By custom, Matrimony is celebrated within the Mass, after the reading of the Gospel and the homily, before the ‘prayer of the faithful.'”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[167,3814,32],"tags":[2661],"class_list":["post-26515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-marraige","category-re-reading-sacrosanctum-concilium","category-vatican-ii","tag-sacrosanctum-concilium"],"yoast_head":"\n