As you know the Anglican Ordinariate just issued new guidelines for the Rite of Marriage. This is one part of the rite below:
At the day and time appointed, the persons to be married come into the body of the Church with their friends and neighbours, and there stand together, the man on the right hand and the woman on the left.
The Admonition and Scrutiny follow immediately
.
Admonition and Scrutiny
The Priest shall say:
Dearly beloved, we are gathered here in the sight of God and in the
presence of this congregation, to witness the joining together of this man and this woman in Holy Matrimony; which is an honourable
estate, instituted of God himself, signifying unto us the mystical union that is betwixt Christ and his Church; which holy estate Christ adorned and beautified with his presence, and first miracle that he wrought, in Cana of Galilee, and is commended in Holy Writ to be honourable among all men; and therefore is not by any to be
enterprised, nor taken in hand, unadvisedly, lightly, or wantonly; but reverently, discreetly, soberly, and in the fear of God, duly considering the causes for which Matrimony was ordained.
First, it was ordained for the increase of mankind according to the will of God, and that children might be brought up in the fear and nurture of the Lord, and to the praise of his holy Name.
Secondly, it was ordained in order that the natural instincts and
affections, implanted by God, should be hallowed and directed aright; that those who are called of God to this holy estate, should continue therein in pureness of living.
Thirdly, it was ordained for the mutual society, help, and comfort, that the one ought to have of the other, both in prosperity and adversity. Into which holy estate these two persons present come now to be joined.
Therefore if any one can show any just cause, why they may not
lawfully be joined together, let him now speak, or else hereafter for ever hold his peace.
Speaking to the persons that shall be married the Priest shall say:
I require and charge you both, as you will answer at the dreadful day of judgment when the secrets of all hearts shall be disclosed, that if either of you know of any impediment, why you may not be lawfully joined together in Matrimony, do you now confess it. For be you well assured, that so many as are coupled together otherwise than God's Holy Church doth allow are not joined together by God; neither is their Matrimony lawful in the sight of God.
At which day of Marriage, if anyone does allege and declare any
impediment, why they may not be coupled together in Matrimony,
by God's law, or by the laws of the nation, then the solemnization
must be deferred, until such time as the truth be ascertained.
If no impediment has been alleged, Mass begins with the Introit,
and the Greeting.
Introit
Greeting
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the
communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
People: And with thy spirit.
The Kyrie eleison is sung or said. The Gloria in excelsis follows when not proscribed.
The Collect follows.
MY MOST HUMBLE RECOMMENDATION FOR THE REFORM OF THE REFORM OF THE ORDINARY FORM NUPTIAL MASS:
1. The wedding procession as is customary
2. At the foot of the Altar the priest gives the exhortation as above or similar to what the EF Latin Rite has a prescribed homily.
3. Skipping the just cause part in the Anglican Use, after
4. After the exhortation, the priest goes to kiss the altar and then to his chair as the Official Introit is chanted.
5. The Mass begins with the Sign of the Cross, Greeting and immediately into the sung Kyrie and Gloria, then Collect.
14 comments:
I like that a lot. Would be cool if you had a staff to pound the floor at the beginning and end of the paragraph "I require you both..." Sort of makes it clear this is a proclamation. Really cool.
Why not just go back to doing it the way it was always done?
Holy Mother Church, in whom I am in humble servitude, has not deemed the Ordinary Form of the Nuptial Mass be abrogated nor has she completely reformed it yet, but the days are coming. Notwithstanding that, the EF is an option, but of the couple's choosing, not the priest's.
I mean, you're hypothesizing about ways to fix the current Novus Ordo Rite, right? I'm suggesting the simplest solution: why not just go back to doing it the way it was always done?
Presumably, there are already books and what not with it all printed out. All the guess work is removed! Problem solved!
Are you speaking, Marc, of the OF or the EF? The OF Nuptial Mass is in the process of being revised, but the rite has not been published although the Roman Missal has the reformed translation for the Nuptial Mass in terms of the Collect, blessing of rings, Prayer over the Gifts, Post Communion, Prefaces and Nuptial Blessings and Final Solemn Blessing, but it hasn't revsied the English rite of marriage yet, so the three questions before the vows and the vows themselves are the older English.
The conundrum is that the new English Missal now states for the first time that there is not Penitential Rite and does not indicate even a stand alone Kyrie, it simply has the Greeting and then to the Gloria.
I'm thinking of a return largely to the EF version. The groundwork is already there - obviously it needs to be translated properly. But, aside from that, what exactly needs changing?
If the EF is to influence the OF, it seems like this is the sort of scheme the revisers should be using...
It is truly bizarre that there is no Penitential Rite in the Novus Ordo marriage rite - wasn't it formerly customary for people to make a general confession prior to getting married?
Hey Father, what about the EF Exhortation, as quoted over on Father Z? I know of many priests who have inserted this into the OF on grounds of mutual enrichment.
By the way, you should be getting your Parsch books today or very soon.
Marc: "It is truly bizarre that there is no Penitential Rite in the Novus Ordo marriage rite - wasn't it formerly customary for people to make a general confession prior to getting married?"
Precisely. No doubt, it is assumed that the couple have made general confessions the previous day, and have remained chaste overnight, and therefore they need no penitential rite in their nuptial Mass.
Seriously, I wonder how many people are beginning to be repulsed by incessant discussion of liturgical revisions. Is it not possible for the Church to admit forthrightly that a grievous pastoral and liturgical failure occurred after Vatican II, one that necessitates going back and starting over at the point when the wrong fork in the road was taken, with tens or hundreds of millions of the faithful led astray?
I look at the Penitential Rite this way: Just because you are in the State of Grace doesn't mean you can stop saying Acts of Contrition until you happen to sin again...
So, even assuming a general Confession the day before, there should still be a Penitential Rite.
The following is just an observation on something that generally might affect this discussion:
It seems like in former times, the structure of the Mass was always retained. Sometimes painful lengths were taken to make everything conform, as in the Good Friday Liturgy of the Presanctified, for example.
In the current times, everything has to conform to a "Liturgy of the Word" model. This probably has something to do with the idea of the "Word of God" being a sort of "Presence" equal to the Sacramental Presence of Christ in the Eucharist.
Henry, in theory if V2 had not happened it would be possible for the Church to "admit forthrightly" that a mistake had been made and correct it, but the Pope has surrendered all his authority to the new Legislative Church. Now he can only suggest, and suggest I might add to the Secretary of State, who is the Vicar of the Vicar of Christ, and all Church Offices answer to he. The Popes authority ends at his apartment door, and he is beset on all sides by those who despise his agenda. We are truly blessed by his courage and that he has accompishled as much as he has.
What I'd really like to see changed about Marriage in the Church for them to take Canon Law seriously. I have a good friend, raised Catholic, now Baptist. Has been living with a woman for just under 5 years and they are now engaged. She is Catholic, was married for 10 years, and has not gotten a divorce but has been seperated for these 5 years. So my fiend, ex-Catholic instinctively knows that they can not get married in the Catholic Church....but wait...his fiance the actual Catholic has a 15 minute meeting with a Priest in this Diocese and is told, for $450 I can get you an annullment.
Forget about changing the words of the Rite, lets worry about doing what's Right.
Marc, surely you did not take seriously my suggestion that an assumption of general confession was behind the omission of the penitential rite from the OF nuptial Mass. Who ever heard of a couple going to general confession before OF marriage rites?
Templar, that story shows exactly what has happened since V-II. People fuss about the selling of indulgences, but rather than correct it, they make it safe legal and common. Reminds me of the Dennis Miller line about people feeling bad for selling their souls in the '90s: at least they got out when the market was high.
Henry, I missed your sarcasm. I think I used all my sarcasm detection dealing with Pater Ignotus on a different thread here.
Templar, the Popes did it to themselves.
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