"Missa pro sponso et
sponsa", the last among the votive Masses in the Missal. It is composed
of lessons and chants suitable to the Sacrament of Matrimony, contains
prayers for persons just married and is interwoven with part of the
marriage rite, of which in the complete form it is an element. As the
Mass was looked upon as the natural accompaniment of any solemn
function (ordination, consecration of churches, etc.), it was naturally
celebrated as part of the marriage service. Tertullian (d. about 220;
ad Uxor., II, 9) mentions the oblation that confirms marriage
(matrimonium quod ecclesia conciliat et confirmat oblatio). All the
Roman Sacramentaries contain the nuptial Mass (The Leonine, ed. Feltoc,
140-142; The Gelasian, ed. Wilson, 265-267; The Gregorian, P. L.,
LXXVIII, 261-264), with our present prayers and others (a special Hanc
Igitur and Preface). The Gelasian Sacramentary (loc. cit.) contains,
moreover, the blessing now said after the Ite missa est, then said
after the Communion, a Gallican addition (Duchesne, "Origines du
Culte", Paris, ed. 2, 1898 n. 417). Pope Nicholas I (858-867) in his
instruction for the Bulgars, in 866, describes the whole rite of
marriage, including the crowning of the man and wife that is still the
prominent feature of the rite in the Byzantine Church; this rite
contains a Mass at which the married persons make the offertory and
receive communion (Rasp. ad cons, Bulgarorum, iii, quoted by Duchesne
op. cit., 413- 414).
The present rules for a
nuptial Mass are; first, that it may not be celebrated in the closed
time for marriages, that is from Advent Sunday till after the octave of
the Epiphany and from Ash Wednesday till after Low Sunday. During these
times no reference to a marriage may be made in Mass; if people wish to
be married then they must be content with the little service in the
Ritual, without music or other solemnities. This is what is meant by
the rubric: "claudun tur nuptiarum solemnia "; it is spoken of usually
as the closed season. During the rest of the year the nuptial Mass may
be said at a wedding any day except Sundays and feasts of obligation,
doubles of the first and second class and such privileged ferias and
octaves as exclude a double. It may not displace the Rogation Mass at
which the procession is made, nor may it displace at least one Requiem
on All Souls day. On these occasions its place is taken by the Mass of
the day to which commemorations of thenuptial Mass are added in the
last place and at which the blessings are inserted in their place. The
nuptial blessing is considered as part of the nuptial Mass. It may
never be given except during this Mass or during a Mass that replaces
it (and commemorates it) when it cannot be said, as above. Thenuptial
Mass and blessing may be celebrated after the closed time for people
married during it. So nuptial Mass and blessing always go together;
either involves the other. One Mass and blessing may be held for
several pairs of married people, who must all be present. The forms,
however, remain in the singular as they are in the Missal. The Mass and
blessing may not be held if the woman has already received this
blessing in a former marriage. This rule only affects the woman, for
whom the blessing is more specially intended (see the prayer Deus qui
potestate). It must be understood exactly as stated. A former marriage
without this blessing, or the fact that children had been born before
the marriage, is no hindrance. Nor may the nuptial Mass and blessing be
held in cases of mixed marriages (mixta religio) inspite of any
dispensation. According to the Con stitution "Etsi sanctissimus
Dominus" of Pius IX (15 November, 1858), mixed marriages must be
celebrated outside the church (in England and America this is
understood as meaning outside the sanctuary and choir), without the
blessing of the ring or of the spouses without any ecclesiastical rite
or vestment, without proclamation of banns.
The rite of the nuptial
Mass and blessing is this: The Mass has neither Gloria nor Creed. It
counts as a votive Mass not for a grave matter; therefore it has three
collects, its own, the commemoration of the day, and the third which is
the one chosen for semi-doubles at that time of the year unless there
be two commemorations. At the end Benedicamus Domino and the Gospel of
St. John are said. The colour is white. The bridegroom and bride assist
near the altar (just outside the sanctuary), the man on the right.
After the Pater noster the celebrant genuflects and goes to epistle
side. Meanwhile the bridegroom and bride come up and kneel before him.
Turning to them he says the two prayers Propitiare Domine and Deus qui
potestate (as in the Missal) with folded hands. He then goes back to
the middle and continues the Mass. They go back to their places. He
gives them Communion at the usual time. This implies that they are
fasting and explains the misused name "wedding breakfast" afterwards.
But the Communion is strict law (S.R.C., no 5582, 21 March, 1874).
Immediately after the Benedicamus Domino and its answer the celebrant
again goes to the Epistle side and the bridegroom and kneel before him
as before. The celebrant turning to them says the prayer Deus Abraham
(without Oremus). He is then told to warn them "with grave words to be
faithful to one another". The rest of the advice suggested in the
rubric of the Missal is now generally left out. He sprinkles them with
holy water; they retire, he goes back to the middle of the altar, says
Placeat tibi, gives the blessing and finishes Mass as usual.
In the cases in which the
"Missa pro sponso et sponsa" may not be said but may be commemorated,
the special prayers and blessing are inserted in the Mass in the same
way. But the colour must be that of the day. During the closed time it
is, of course, quite possible for the married people to have a Mass
said for their intention, at which they receive Holy Communion. The
nuptial Blessing in this Mass is quite different thing from the actual
celebration of the marriage which must always precede it. The blessing
is given to people already married, as the prayers imply. It need not
be given (nor the Mass said ) by the parish priest, who assisted at the
marriage. But both these functions (assitance and blessing) are rights
of the parish priests, which no one else may undertake without
delegation from him. Generally they are so combined that the marrige
takes place immediately before the Mass; in this case the priest at the
marriage in Mass vestments, but without the maniple. In England and
other countries where a civil declaration is required by law, this is
usually made in the sacristy between the marriage and the Mass. Canon
Law in England orders that marriages be made only in churches that have
a district with the cure of souls (Conc. prov. Westm. I, decr. XXII,
4). This implies as a general rule, but does not command absolutely,
that the nuptial Mass also be celebrated in such a church.
Publication information
Written by Adrian Fortescue. Transcribed by Joseph P. Thomas. Dedicated to Mary Augustine
The Catholic Encyclopedia,
Volume X. Published 1911. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Nihil
Obstat, October 1, 1911. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John
Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York
