The nuptial blessing which is a celebration without communion (without Eucharist)
And the mass which is a celebration with the Eucharist.
Marriage is a sacrament , that is to say a strong sign of the love of God which is therefore given to us, a sign of the covenant between God and men, which is true of any sacrament in the Church. Catholic. As we have just seen, it can be received with or without the Eucharist , that is to say with or without communion.
For a practicing Christian, communion (ie the Eucharist) is a sacrament that he wants to celebrate during his marriage in addition to the sacrament of his marriage.
Future married couples, baptized but not practicing, will prefer the celebration of the marriage without Eucharist.
We can therefore get married in church with or without the Eucharist, it is up to the bride and groom to choose.
What happens during a nuptial blessing and a wedding mass in the church?
You will find below all the stages of a mass or wedding celebration. Of course, the priest – or the lay people assigned in his place to accompany the bride and groom – are there to accompany you in the preparation of the celebration.
The welcoming ritual
During this procession, music is often played, an organ piece for example if you are lucky enough to have an organist or a piece of sacred music (see list at the bottom of this page). The guests are already in the church. Tradition has it that the future husband rides on his mother’s arm and the future wife on her father’s arm. There is a strong sign of detachment on the part of the parents: by accompanying his child to the altar and finally letting go of his arm, the parent shows that he is leaving room for the future spouse. And we know how important it is for newlyweds to chart their own course, following God’s inspirations for themselves.
Of course, depending on the situation (the spouses do not necessarily have their parents…) the procession can be different. For example, spouses can ride with a grandparent, uncle or aunt.
The entrance procession is not a “show” with the arrival of stars on the red carpet as for a film festival. Of course people are happy to discover the bride, her dress, her hairstyle… but the procession is above all for the newlyweds a moment of meditation and awareness of the commitment that will be made. Spouses can therefore move towards the altar, with an interior prayer in their hearts that may look like this: “Lord, I entrust this celebration to you, our commitment, my sometimes contradictory emotions. I also entrust to you all those in front of whom I pass: that this day unfolds in peace, friendship, forgiveness also perhaps. Yes, Lord, be present by my side at the time of our consent and throughout our lives so that we may be faithful, relying on your faithful Love. »
The word of welcome
Why are we gathered in this church? Because it’s wedding day? Yes of course. But we are in the church on this D-Day because it is God who brings us together. It is indeed God who is the source of all love; the union of a man and a woman is a magnificent reality willed by God. It is therefore the priest (or the deacon) who welcomes the newlyweds and the whole assembly in the name of the Lord. Sometimes engaged couples want a word to be said, at the start of the celebration, by friends or family. This is to do with the priest (or deacon) if this is desirable. More than putting themselves on stage, it is for the couple to turn their gaze towards God and to help the assembly to let themselves be touched by this strong celebration where God acts with force to seal their commitment as spouses.
The entrance song
The entrance song is not obligatory. If one is taken, it is best to avoid complicated or long chants when the congregation is not accustomed to chanting. You can choose it with the priest.
prayer
The introductory prayer said by the priest is called the opening prayer. It enables us to place ourselves under the gaze of God, the source of all love, to recall that the love of the spouses is a sign of the love of God for all men, and of the love of Christ for his Church. This “oration”, as it is called, is an invitation to open your heart to the all-powerful and all-loving action of God. For each of the newlyweds, it is time, while listening to the priest and in a silent prayer, to tell the Lord that they especially want to welcome him into their personal life and their future married life.
The Liturgy of the Word
Before the consents, we listen to texts from the Bible, which we call the Word of God because we believe that God speaks through it. These millennial and very current texts remind us that it is always God who takes the initiative in love, that he is the source of everything and the eternal horizon of all life. In the New Testament (this is the part of the Christian Bible where Jesus is mentioned), we discover the total gift of Christ, who died on the Cross and rose from the dead, to save us and open up a future for us. eternal. Marriage in the church is therefore a strong commitment of the spouses who rely on the love of God himself to make their love grow, to overcome the inevitable crises, to remain faithful and to follow in those of Christ.
