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Pope Saint Paul VI (3 April 1969): “Although the text of the Roman Gradual—at least that which concerns the singing—has not been changed, the Entrance antiphons and Communions antiphons have been revised for Masses without singing.”

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Views from the Choir Loft

Mutuality vs. Male Headship within Marriage

Fr. David Friel · January 7, 2018

LENTY OF discussion has taken place within the Church over recent years on the topic of marriage. Some of this discussion was occasioned by the new English translation of the marriage ritual (published in 2016). Certainly much of the conversation has also been prompted by the 2014-2015 extraordinary synod on the family and Pope Francis’ post-synodal apostolic exhortation, Amoris laetitia (2016).

Recently, my research interests took me in the direction of marriage, also. I decided to study a host of liturgical rites for marriage throughout history in order to assess their approach to the relationship between husband and wife. In particular, I looked for evidence of rites that stress mutuality between spouses versus rites that stress the headship of the husband.

The result of my research is an article published in Antiphon: A Journal for Liturgical Renewal (vol. 21, no. 3, 252-289; full article available here). Antiphon is the journal of the Society for Catholic Liturgy, which bills itself as a multidisciplinary association of Catholic scholars, teachers, pastors, and professionals (including architects, musicians, etc.) that promotes scholarly study and practical renewal of the Church’s liturgy in the Anglophone world.

The title of my article is Mutuality and Male Headship: Liturgical Evidence from Marriage Rituals throughout History. It begins with consideration of the marriage rituals of the Roman Empire and Judaism before proceeding to those of the Christian East and West.

Summarizing the findings of this research is quite difficult, on account of the number of rites consulted and the widely disparate approaches they take. Nevertheless, the following paragraph from the article’s conclusion helps to convey some of what I discovered in concise fashion:

Generalizing quite broadly, the earliest Christian rites could be characterized by their ability to accept differentiation of roles together with equality. The rites of the middle period tend to stress the differences of roles to the exclusion of equality. Finally, in the more modern rites, there is a propensity toward the rejection of role differentiation in the name of total equality.1

As I have noted elsewhere, the marriage rite has historically proven itself to be very adaptable. This exploration of so many marriage rituals revealed to me anew the great richness of the Church’s liturgical theology on marriage.

The same issue of Antiphon also features:

1. An important analysis of Magnum principium by Msgr. Maurizio Barba, S.L.D. (“The Motu Proprio Magnum Principium on the Edition of Liturgical Books in the Vernacular Languages”)

2. An interesting argument for restoring proper order to the Sacraments of Initiation by Joshua Madden, Ph.D. (“‘Circa Aetatem Discretionis’: A Proposal in Favor of Restored Order Confirmation”)

3. A scriptural-liturgical approach to St. John’s Apocalypse by Ian G. Coleman, M.A. (“The Rubrics of Revelation: A Liturgical Reading”)

Access the full articles by becoming a subscriber to Antiphon or by requesting single issues of the journal here.




NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   David M. Friel, “Mutuality and Male Headship: Liturgical Evidence from Marriage Rituals throughout History” Antiphon 21, no. 3 (2017): 287.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Antiphon Journal, Marriage Synod, Nuptial Mass Last Updated: January 22, 2021

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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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President’s Corner

    “What Martin Luther Said…”
    My pastor asked me to write little columns for the bulletin each week. The article for 20 July 2025 has been posted, and it’s called: “What Luther Said…” Martin Luther (an ex-priest and apostate) was an infamous heretic whose ignorance of JESUS CHRIST was only exceeded by his filthy and disgusting vulgarity.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Music List” • 15th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I prepared for the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (13 July 2025). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. As always, the Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation, and propers for this Sunday are also provided at the the feasts website.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    This coming Sunday—13 July 2025—is the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). All the chants have been conveniently assembled and posted at the feasts website. The OFFERTORY, Ad Te Levávi, is particularly beautiful.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Pope Pius XII Hymnal?
    Have you ever heard of the Pope Pius XII Hymnal? It’s a real book, published in the United States in 1959. Here’s a sample page so you can verify with your own eyes it existed.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    “Hybrid” Chant Notation?
    Over the years, many have tried to ‘simplify’ plainsong notation. The O’Fallon Propers attempted to simplify the notation—but ended up making matters worse. Dr. Karl Weinmann tried to do the same in the time of Pope Saint Pius X by replacing each porrectus. You can examine a specimen from his edition and see whether you agree he complicated matters. In particular, look at what he did with éxsules fílii Hévae.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
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    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

Random Quote

“In case of urgent danger of life anyone may baptize, even a heretic or pagan. It is sufficient that he administer the essential matter and form and have the implicit intention of doing what Christ instituted. Naturally a Catholic must be preferred, if possible. A man is preferred to a woman; but anyone else to the parents.”

— Father Adrian Fortescue (1917)

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