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THE RITE OF MARRIAGE

I. INTRODUCTORY RITES

Commentator: Today we come together to celebrate and witness with joy


the union of N.______ and N. ______ in the love of Christ in the holy
Sacraments of Matrimony. Let us offer our prayers for them that
God may shower upon them graces as they begin their new life
together. Let us all witness this momentous event in the life of N.
_____ and _____. We now welcome the bridal couple and their
wedding entourage.

PRIEST: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
PEOPLE: Amen.

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

PRIEST: Dearly beloved N._____ and N._____, God is love and has in a
mysterious way, drawn you together in love. But He leaves you
free to make that love grow or to let it wither and die. The Lord
will help you make it grow, if you do your share, and stand to the
commitment in the covenant which you are about to seal.

Penitential Rite
PRIEST: Brethren (brothers and sisters), coming together as Gods family,
with confidence, let us call to mind our sins and ask for the
Fathers forgiveness for He is full of compassion and love.
PRIEST &PEOPLE:I confess to almighty God and to you my brothers and
sisters, that I have greatly sinned, in my thoughts and in my
words, in what I have done and in what I have failed to do,
Through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous
fault;
Therefore I ask blessed Mary ever-Virgin, all the Angels and
Saints, and you, my brothers and sisters, to pray for me to the
Lord our God.

PRIEST: May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins and bring
us to everlasting life.
PEOPLE: Amen.
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Kyrie: sung
Collect
PRIEST: Let us pray.
Father, you have made the bond of marriage a holy mystery, a
symbol of Christs love for His Church. Hear our prayers
for(N.______&N.______) 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. We ask you this Through our Lord Jesus Christ,
your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy
Spirit, one God for ever and ever.
PEOPLE: Amen.
II. LITURGY OF THE WORD.
Commentator: Let us be seated.

First Reading:(Sirach 26:1-4,13-16)


Reader: A reading from the Book of Sirach
Happy is the husband of a good wife; the number of his days
will be doubled. A loyal wife brings joy to her husband, and he will
complete his years in peace. A good wife is a great blessing; she will be
granted among the blessings of the man who fears the Lord. Whether rich
or poor, his heart is content, and at all times his face is cheerful.
A wifes charm delights her husband, and her skill puts flesh
on his bones. A silent wife is a gift from the Lord, and nothing is
soprecious as her self-discipline. A modest wife adds charm to charm, and
no scales can weigh the value of her chastity. Like the sun rising in the
heights of the Lord, so is the beauty of a good wife in her well- ordered
home.

The Word of the Lord.

PEOPLE: Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm:
RESPONSE: The Lord is kind and merciful.

Reader: Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy
name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits. R/
Reader: The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in
mercy.

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Reader: As the father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has
compassion on those who fear Him. R/
Reader: But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon
them that fear Him, and His righteousness unto childrens
children; to such as keep His covenant, and to those that
remember His commandments to do them. R/

Commentator: We all stand to acclaim the gospel.

Gospel Reading: John (15:9-12).


PRIEST: The Lord be with you
PEOPLE: And with your spirit.

PRIEST: A reading from the Holy Gospel according to John


Jesus said to his disciples: As the Father has loved me, so I have
loved you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments
you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Fathers
commandments and remain in his love. I have told you this so
that my own joy may be in you and your joy be complete. This is
my commandment: love one another, as I have loved you.
The Gospel of the Lord.
PEOPLE: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ.

Commentator: Let us all be seated for the homily.

III.RITE OF MARRIAGE:
Allocution
PRIEST: Dearly beloved Groom and Bride, you are here today to seal your
love with an eternal bond before the Church. I assure you of the
prayers of our community that God may pour His abundant
blessings on your love and help you to carry out the duties of the
married state.
And you, dear brothers and sisters, may I ask you to help them
with your prayers and accept them as a new couple in our
Christian community.
Scrutiny
PRIEST: May I now ask you to answer truthfully the following questions.

PRIEST: Bride, Did you come here of your own free will to bind yourself
forever in the love and service of your husband?
BRIDE: Yes Father.

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PRIEST: Groom, Did you come here of your own free will to bind yourself
forever in the love and service of your wife?
GROOM: Yes Father.

PRIEST: Are you both ready to raise as good Christians the children whom
God will give you?
GROOM & BRIDE: Yes Father.
Exchange of Consent
PRIEST: Groomand Bride, since you wish to contract holy matrimony,
please join your right hands and express your intentions before
God and His Church.

PRIEST: Bride, do you take Groom,here present, for your lawful husband
according to the rite of our holy Mother, the Church?
BRIDE: Yes I do.

PRIEST: Do you give yourself to him as his wife?


BRIDE: Yes I do.

PRIEST: Do you accept him as your lawful husband?


BRIDE: Yes I do.

Then the priest asks the groom:


PRIEST: Groom do you take Bride,here present, for your lawful wife
according to the rite of our holy Mother, the Church?
GROOM: Yes I do.

PRIEST: Do you give yourself to her as her husband?


GROOM: Yes I do

PRIEST: Do you accept her as your lawful wife?


GROOM: Yes I do

PRIEST: Now, please say together the prayer.

BRIDE & GROOM: Grant us, O Lord / to be one heart and one soul / from
this day forward / for better, for worse / for richer, for poorer / in
sickness and in health until death do us part.

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Confirmation of Marriage Bond
PRIEST: And I, by the authority of the Church, calling on all those present
here as witnesses, confirm and bless the bond of the marriage
which you have contracted. In the name of the Father, and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit.
PEOPLE: Amen.
Blessing of the Arrhae and Rings
PRIEST: (Groom &Bride) we shall now bless your rings and arrhae.
Our help is in the name of the Lord.
PEOPLE: Who made heaven and earth.

PRIEST: Let us pray,


Bless O Lord, these rings so that your servants (N & N) who wear
them may ever live in mutual love and in unbroken loyalty.
Through Christ our Lord.
PEOPLE: Amen.

PRIEST: Bless O Lord, your servants (Groom &Bride) with sufficiency of


material possessions which these arrhae symbolize so that they
may use them to attain eternal life. Through Christ our Lord.
PEOPLE: Amen.

Giving of the wedding rings and the arrhae


PRIEST: The wedding ring is the outward and visible sign of a spiritual
bond which unites two loyal hearts. It is a seal of the vows which
you N.____ and N._____ have made. Now give these rings to one
another.

GROOM: (N), wear this ring as a sign of my love and loyalty. In the name of
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

BRIDE: (N), wear this ring as a sign of my love and loyalty. In the name of
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

GROOM: I give you these arrhae as a pledge of my dedication to your


welfare. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Spirit.
BRIDE: And I accept them.

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Blessing of the Bible
PRIEST: O God, you inspired men to write Holy Scriptures. Bless this bible
which contains your word that all who read it, especially N.____
and N. ____, may know the truth and live by it. In the name of the
Father, and of the Song and of the Holy Spirit.

Giving of the Bible


PRIEST: GROOM & BRIDE accept this holy Bible, the living Word of God.
May his word be the source of your living and giving together for
life.

GROOM & BRIDE: We accept Gods word with humility and fervent prayer
that God reigns in our married life, in the family we will raise and
in the home we will build together.

Presentation of the newlywed couple to the assembled community


PRIEST: Brothers and sisters in this assembly, It is my honor to present to
you N. and N. as a new married couple in our community. Let us
give them a warm applause.

Commentator: We all stand for the prayers of the faithful.

PRAYERS OF THE FAITHFUL


PRIEST: My brothers and sisters, let us now pray for the Church and for
our newly married couple, (N.) & (N.), whose marriage reflects her
union with Christ. For every petition we say: LORD GRACIOUSLY
HEAR US.

1. Let us pray for the Church spread all over the world; for its leaders
and for the rulers of our nation. Let us pray to the Lord.
2. Let us pray that the Lord, who graced the wedding at Cana with his
presence, may keep this couple faithful to the covenant of
marriage. Let us pray to the Lord.
3. Let us pray that their love may be fruitful and perfect, that they
may support each other in peace and mutual help and, as
Christians, bear lasting witness to the Gospel.
4. Let us pray that all Gods people may grow in virtue day by day
and that all who are weighed down by hardship may find strength
in Gods holy grace. Let us pray to the Lord.
5. Let us pray for each married couple here today, that the sacrament
of their marriage may be renewed by the Holy Spirit.
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PRIEST: Almighty, eternal God, look down with favor upon your servants.
Grant them to remain faithful to you and to one another. And at
the end of a long and well-spent life, reward them with eternal
happiness together with (their children) and with all those who
love them, through Christ our Lord.
PEOPLE: Amen.

Commentator: Please be seated


IV. LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST
Preparation of the Gifts (Presentation Song)
Putting-on of veil and cord

Commentator: May we request the newly wedded couple to kneel.


May we ask the candle sponsor to light the candle beside the
couple.
To be followed by the veil sponsor to put the veil, and the cord
sponsor to place the yugal. We all stand.

PRIEST: Pray, brethren, that our sacrifice may be acceptable to God, the
almighty Father.
PEOPLE: May the Lord accept the sacrifice at your hands for the praise and
glory of his name, for our good and the good of all his holy
Church.

Prayer over the Gifts


PRIEST: Show favor to our supplications, O Lord, and received with a
kindly countenance the oblations we offer for these your servants,
joined now in holy covenant, that through these mysteries they
may be strengthened in love for one another and for you. We ask
this through Christ our Lord.
PEOPLE: Amen.

Preface: Matrimony as a sign of Divine Love


PRIEST: The Lord be with you
PEOPLE: And with your spirit

PRIEST: Lift up your hearts.


PEOPLE: We lift them up to the Lord

PRIEST: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.


PEOPLE: It is right and just
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PRIEST: It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation,
always and everywhere to give you thanks, holy Father,
almighty and eternal God.
For you willed that the human race,
created by the gift of your goodness,
should be raised to such high dignity
that in the union of the husband and wife
you might bestow a true image of your love.
For those you created out of charity
you call to the law of charity without ceasing
and grant them a share in your eternal charity.

And so, the Sacrament of holy Matrimony,


as the abiding sign of your own love,
consecrates the love of man and woman,
through Christ our Lord.
Through him, with all the Angels and all the Saints,
we sing the hymn of your praise, as without end we acclaim:

Sanctus: sung

PRIEST: You are indeed Holy, O Lord the fount of all holiness.
Make holy, therefore, these gifts, we pray,
by sending down your Spirit upon them like the dewfall,
so that they may become for us
the body and+ Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.
At the time he was betrayed and entered willingly into his Passion,
he took bread and, giving thanks, broke it,
and gave it to his disciples, saying:

TAKE THIS, ALL OF YOU, AND EAT OF IT,


FOR THIS IS MY BODY WHICH WILL BE GIVEN UP FOR YOU.

(He shows the consecrated host to the people, places it on the paten, and genuflects in
adoration)
In similar way, when supper was ended,
he took the chalice and, once more giving thanks,
he gave it to his disciples, saying:

TAKE THIS, ALL OF YOU, AND DRINK FROM IT,


FOR THIS IS THE CHALICE OF MY BLOOD,
THE BLOOD OF THE NEW AND ETERNAL COVENANT,
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WHICH WILL BE POURED OUT FOR YOU AND FOR MANY
FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS. DO THIS IN MEMORY OF ME.

(He shows the chalice to the people, places it on the corporal, and genuflects inAdoration)
PRIEST: The mystery of faith:

Mystery of faith: Sung

PRIEST: Therefore, as we celebrate the memorial of his Death and


Resurrection,
we offer you, Lord, the Bread of life and the Chalice of salvation,
giving thanks that you have held us worthy to be in your presence
and minister to you.

Humbly we pray that, partaking of the Body and Blood of Christ,


we may be gathered into one by the Holy Spirit.

Remember, Lord, your Church, spread throughout the world,


and bring her to the fullness of charity,
together with N. our Pope, and N. our Bishop and all the clergy.

Be mindful also, Lord, of N. and N.,


whom you have brought to their wedding day,
so that by your grace they may abide in mutual love and in
peace.

Remember also our brothers and sisters


who have fallen asleep in the hope of the resurrection,
and all who have died in your mercy:
welcome them into the light of your face.
Have mercy on us all, we pray,
that with the blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God,
with Saint Joseph her spouse, with the blessed Apostles,
and all the Saints who have pleased you throughout the ages,
we may merit to be coheirs to eternal life,
and may praise and glorify you through your Son, Jesus Christ.

Through him, and with him, and in him,


O God, almighty Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
all glory and honor is yours, forever and ever.
Great Amen: sung

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V. The Communion Rite
PRIEST: At the Saviors command and formed by divine teaching we dare
to say:

Lords Prayer: Sung


The Nuptial Blessing
PRIEST: Let us pray to the Lord for this bride and groom, who come to the
altar as they begin their married life, that (partaking of the Body
and blood of Christ) they may always be bound together by love
for one another.
And all pray in silence for a while. Then the priest with hands extended over the
bride and bridegroom, continues:
Holy Father, who formed man in your own image, male and
female you created them, so that as husband and wife, united in
body and heart, they might fulfill their calling in the world;
O God, who, to reveal the great design you formed in your love,
willed that the love of spouses for each other should foreshadow
the covenant you graciously made with you people, so that, by
fulfillment of the sacramental sign, the mystical marriage of Christ
with his Church might become manifest in the union of the
husband and wife among your faithful;
Graciously stretch out your write hand over these your servants
(N.&N.), we pray, and pour into their hearts the power of the Holy
Spirit.
Grant, O Lord, that, as they enter upon this sacramental union,
they may share with one another the gifts of your love and, by
being for each other a sign of your presence, become one heart
and one mind.
May they also sustain, o Lord, by their deeds the home they are
forming (and prepare their children to become members of your
heavenly household by raising them in the way of the Gospel).
Graciously crown with your blessings your daughter N., so that, by
being a good wife (and mother), she may bring warmth to her
home with a love that is pure and adorn it with welcoming
graciousness. Bestow a heavenly blessing also, o Lord, on N., your
servant, that he may be a worthy, good and faithful husband (and
a provident father).

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Grant, Holy Father, that, desiring to approach your table as a
couple joined in marriage in your presence, they may one day
have the joy of taking part in your great banquet in heaven.
Through Christ our Lord.
People: Amen.
Sign of Peace
PRIEST: Lord Jesus Christ, you said to your apostles: I leave you peace, my
peace I give you. Look not on our sins, but on the faith of your
Church, and grant us the peace and unity of your kingdom where
you live for ever and ever.
People: Amen.
PRIEST: The peace of the Lord be with you always.
PEOPLE: And with your spirit

PRIEST:Let us offer each other the sign of peace.


Lamb of God(sung).
Commentator: We all kneel.

PRIEST: Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of
the world. Blessed are those called to the supper of the Lamb.
PEOPLE: Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but
only say the word and my soul shall be healed.
Commentator: Be seated for Holy Communion

Communion Song
Commentator: (After Holy Communion) May we request the cord sponsor to
remove the cord to be followed by the veil sponsor. We
all stand.

Prayer after Communion


PRIEST: Let us pray
Lord, in your love, you have given us this Eucharist to unite us
with one another and with you. As you have made N. ____ and
N._____ one in this Sacrament of Matrimony, and in the sharing of
one bread and the one cup, so now make them one in love for
each other. We ask this through Christ our Lord.
PEOPLE: Amen.
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VI. CONCLUDING RITE
Final admonition
PRIEST: N. &N., now that you have received the holy sacrament of
matrimony, I admonish you to remain faithful to one another.
To the bride
PRIEST: N., love your husband and be a good housewife; persevere in faith
and love and holiness.
To the groom
PRIEST: N., love your wife as Christ loves His church and live with her in
the holy fear of the Lord.
-The Lord be with you.
PEOPLE: And with your spirit.

Solemn blessing
PRIEST: Bow your heads and pray for Gods blessing.
May He unite your hearts in an enduring bond of pure love and
devotion.
PEOPLE: Amen.

PRIEST: May you be blessed with children and may the love that you
lavish on them return a hundredfold.
PEOPLE: Amen.

PRIEST: May the peace of Christ dwell always in your hearts and in your
home; may you have true friends to stand by you, both in joy and
in sorrow.
PEOPLE: Amen.

PRIEST: May the Lord grant you fullness of years, so that you may reap
the harvest of good life.
PEOPLE: Amen.
PRIEST: And may almighty God bless all of you, who are gathered here,the
Father, and the Son, +and the Holy Spirit.
PEOPLE: Amen.
PRIEST: Go forth, the Mass is ended
PEOPLE: Thanks be to God.
Final Song
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