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Views from the Choir Loft

The Rite of Marriage, Second Edition

Fr. David Friel · March 13, 2016

MPLEMENTATION of the revised rite of marriage has been set. The text, now entitled the Order of Celebrating Matrimony, is mandatory for use beginning December 30, 2016, the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. The new texts may optionally be used beginning September 8, 2016.

So, what is actually new in this second edition? There are a number of revised elements, as well as a couple of new additions.

First, as noted above, the name of the ritual book has been changed from Rite of Marriage to Order of Celebrating Matrimony. Additionally, the opening notes (or Praenotanda) have been significantly expanded to further explain the theology of Holy Matrimony (now composed of 44 paragraphs, compared with the 18 in the first edition).

Following the entrance procession, the ritual now calls for an introduction to be given by the celebrant. Two sample addresses will appear in the ritual. Just over a year ago, I attended a workshop by Msgr. Richard Hilgartner, executive director of the USCCB Secretariat for Divine Worship. During the workshop, he read to us one of these sample addresses, and it impressed me as a very beautiful and understandable précis on the theology of Holy Matrimony.

The new order makes it clearer that the Penitential Act is to be omitted and that the Gloria is always included at a nuptial Mass. This latter change originally came into force with the 2011 Roman Missal, but it is now being clarified.

The exchange of consent will incorporate two changes. First, there will be a new alternate form that calls upon Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, together with Adam and Eve. Additionally, immediately after the consent is given, a dialogue has been added between the priest & people. The celebrant will say, “Let us bless the Lord,” and the whole assembly will be invited to respond, “Thanks be to God.”

The special remembrance of the newly married couple that was already supplied for the Roman Canon has been matched by similar inclusions for Eucharistic Prayers II and III. There will also be two separate sets of recommended general intercessions included in the rite.

Finally, within each of the four nuptial blessings, there will now be an explicit epiclesis that says: “Send down on them the grace of the Holy Spirit and pour your love into their hearts, that they may remain faithful in the Marriage covenant.”

HIS NEW EDITION will also incorporate two new appendices and two new adaptations. The first new appendix is called an “Order of Blessing an Engaged Couple.” This might be used with benefit as part of parish Pre-Cana programs. The other new appendix will be called the “Order of Blessing a Married Couple within Mass on the Anniversary of Marriage.” Included herein will be sample formulae for the renewal of vows and the blessing of rings (either for the original rings or for new rings).

The two new adaptations will be in addition to the one adaptation already approved in the present ritual (the optional phrasing for the exchange of consent that mentions “for richer or poorer,” etc.). The new adaptations will be for the blessing and giving of the arras (coins) and the blessing and placing of the lazo (veil), both traditions that are popular among couples of Mexican, Filipino, and Spanish descent.

For more information on the significance of the arras and lazo traditions, I highly recommend a very informative article by Michael P. Foley published in Antiphon, journal of the Society for Catholic Liturgy. His article appears in Vol. 18 (2014), no. 2, pp. 115-143, coincidentally two articles before my own article on the Propriety of the Propers.

Apart from the rubric concerning the singing of the Gloria, which has been in force for some time now, these new changes do not seem to affect much regarding the music at nuptial Masses and ceremonies. The changes are, however, significant. It remains to be seen what the published versions of this second edition will look like.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Catholic Wedding Nuptial Mass Music, Nuptial Mass, Society for Catholic Liturgy, USCCB Secretariat of Divine Worship Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Fr. David Friel

Ordained in 2011, Father Friel is a priest of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and serves as Director of Liturgy at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary. —(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    PDF Download • “Polyphonic Extension” (Kevin Allen) for Gloria III
    EVIN ALLEN was commissioned by Sacred Music Symposium 2025 to compose a polyphonic ‘middle section’ for the GLORIA from Mass III, often denoted by its trope name: Missa Kyrie Deus sempiterne. This year, I’m traveling from Singapore to serve on the symposium faculty. I will be conducting Palestrina’s ‘Ave Maria’ as well as teaching plainsong to the men. A few days ago, I was asked to record rehearsal videos for this beautiful polyphonic extension. (See below.) This polyphonic composition fits ‘inside’ GLORIA III. That is, the congregation sings for the beginning and end, but the choir alone adds polyphony to the middle. The easiest way to understand how everything fits together is by examining this congregational insert. You may download the score, generously made available to the whole world—free of charge—by CORPUS CHRISTI WATERSHED:
    *  PDF Download • Gloria III ‘Middle Section’ (Kevin Allen)
    Free rehearsal videos for each individual voice await you at #24366. Related News • My colleague, Jeff Ostrowski, composed an organ accompaniment for this same GLORIA a few months ago. Obviously, the organist should drop out when the polyphony is being sung.
    —Corrinne May
    “Booklet of Eucharistic Hymns” (16 pages)
    I was asked to create a booklet for my parish to use during our CORPUS CHRISTI PROCESSION on 22 June 2025. Would you be willing to look over the DRAFT BOOKLET (16 pages) I came up with? I tried to include a variety of hymns: some have a refrain; some are in major, others in minor; some are metered, others are plainsong; some are in Spanish, some are in Latin, but most are in English. Normally, we’d use the Brébeuf Hymnal—but we can’t risk having our congregation carry those heavy books all over the city to various churches.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Yahweh” in church songs?
    My pastor asked me to write a weekly column for our parish bulletin. The one scheduled to run on 22 June 2025 is called “Three Words in a Psalm” and speaks of translating the TETRAGRAMMATON. You can read the article at this column repository. All of them are quite brief because I was asked to keep within a certain word limit.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Antiphons Don’t Match?
    A reader wants to know why the Entrance and Communion antiphons in certain publications deviate from what’s prescribed by the GRADUALE ROMANUM published after Vatican II. Click here to read our answer. The short answer is: the Adalbert Propers were never intended to be sung. They were intended for private Masses only (or Masses without music). The “Graduale Parvum,” published by the John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music in 2023, mostly uses the Adalbert Propers—but sometimes uses the GRADUALE text: e.g. Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    When to Sit, Stand and Kneel like it’s 1962
    There are lots of different guides to postures for Mass, but I couldn’t find one which matched our local Latin Mass, so I made this one: sit-stand-kneel-crop
    —Veronica Brandt
    The Funeral Rites of the Graduale Romanum
    Lately I have been paging through the 1974 Graduale Romanum (see p. 678 ff.) and have been fascinated by the funeral rites found therein, especially the simply-beautiful Psalmody that is appointed for all the different occasions before and after the funeral Mass: at the vigil/wake, at the house of the deceased, processing to the church, at the church, processing to the cemetery, and at the cemetery. Would that this “stational Psalmody” of the Novus Ordo funeral rites saw wider usage! If you or anyone you know have ever used it, please do let me know.
    —Daniel Tucker

Random Quote

“We decided to entrust this work to learned men of our selection. They very carefully collated all their work with the ancient codices in Our Vatican Library and with reliable, preserved or emended codices from elsewhere. Besides this, these men consulted the works of ancient and approved authors concerning the same sacred rites; and thus they have restored the Missal itself to the original form and rite of the holy Fathers.”

— ‘Pope St. Pius V (Quo Primum, 1570)’

Recent Posts

  • PDF Download • “Polyphonic Extension” (Kevin Allen) for Gloria III
  • “Booklet of Eucharistic Hymns” (16 pages)
  • PDF Download • “Text by Saint Francis of Assisi” (choral setting w/ organ: Soprano & Alto)
  • “Yahweh” in church songs?
  • “Music List” • Pentecost Sunday

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