Sample comprehensive Order of Service for a Catholic Nuptial Mass

Over the years, I have been asked dozens of times for a Catholic “light” ceremony. The following is from a wedding.

BRIDAL PARTY

BRIDESMAIDS’ PROCESSION:

BRIDE’S PROCESSION:

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

fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

All: Amen

Who gives their blessing?

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 with has no end. Amen

LITURGY OF THE WORD (please be seated)

FIRST READING (here is one possible reading) – Genesis 2.18-24

18Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.” 19So out of the ground the LORD God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. 20The man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every animal of the field; but for the man there was not found a helper as his partner. 21So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then he took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. 23Then the man said,

“This at last is bone of my bones

and flesh of my flesh;

this one shall be called Woman,

for out of Man this one was taken.”

24Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh.

The word of the Lord.

All: Thanks be to God.

SECOND READING (here is one possible reading) – 1 Corinthians 12.31-13.13

31But strive for the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.

1If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing.

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. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. 9For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; 10but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. 11When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. 12For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. 13And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.

This is the word of the Lord.

All: Thanks be to God.

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION:

(Please Stand)

GOSPEL (here is one possible Gospel text) - Matthew 19.4-6

4He answered, “Have you not read that the one who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ 5and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

All: Glory to you Lord.

After the Gospel

Fr. Steve This is 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 husband and wife for the rest of your lives?

_____________ & ________________ We will.

Father Steve: Will you accept children lovingly from God and bring them up according to the law of Christ and His Church?

____________ & ________________ 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.

Groom: I, ________________, take you, __________ to be my wife. 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.

Bride: I, ____________, take you, ________________, to be my husband. 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: 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

Groom: _________, 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.

Bride: ________________, 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: 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.”

Let us pray:

For leaders of Church and state,

for heads of institutions,

for heads of homes and household,

that they will lead us and guide us

in the search for God and the good life,

in the search for peace and joy,

in the search for love among us-

let us pray to the Lord.

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, and children,

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

Father Steve (if someone else reads the prayers, then says): God of Love, hear our prayers through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

FINAL BLESSING & PRAYER – (Please stand)

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

May the Lord bless you with many happy years together, so that you may

enjoy the rewards of a good life.

And after you have served him loyally in his kingdom on earth , may he welcome

you to his kingdom in heaven.

Response: Amen.

I know pronounce you husband and wife.

You may kiss.

Couple may be introduced: ______________________________

RECESSIONAL -

Savannah Georgia Wedding Officiant, Rev. Steven Schulte E-mail (912) 354-6815