Liturgical Information
Wedding Mass – Format A

Liturgical Color: White

Themes: love, commitment, Christ & the Church

Entrance Antiphon [Introit]:

May the Lord send you help from the holy place
and give you support from Sion.
May he grant you your heart's desire
and fulfill every one of your designs (T.P. alleluia). Psalm 20:3,5 [Roman Missal]

Deus in loco sancto suo: Deus, qui inhabitare facit unanimes in domo: ipse dabit virtutem et fortitudinem plebi suæ.
Ps. Exsurgat Deus, et dissipentur inimici eius: et fugiant, qui oderunt eum, a facie eius. Ps 68:6,7,36,2 [Graduale Romanum, p.310]

Nuptiæ factæ sunt in Cana Galilææ, et erat ibi Iesus cum Maria matre sua (T.P. alleluia). [Graduale simplex, p.379]

Collect:

Be attentive to our prayers, O Lord
and in your kindness uphold
what you have established for the increase of the human race,

so that the union you have created
may be kept safe by your as- sistance.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Ho-ly Spirit,
one God, for ev-er and ev-er. A-men.

— or —

O God, who in creating the human race
willed that man and wife should be one,

join, we pray, in a bond of inseparable love
these your servants who are to be united in the covenant of Mar-riage,

so that, as you make their love fruitful,
they may become, by your grace, witnesses to chari- ty it- self.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Ho-ly Spirit,
one God, for ev-er and ev-er. A-men.

Lectionary Readings:

There are many options given in the Lectionary from which to select readings for the Marriage Ceremony. These are merely suggestions.

Genesis 1:26-28,31 [Male and female He created them. /v.27]
Psalm 128:1-2 / 3 / 4-5 [R. Happy are those who fear the Lord. /v.1]
I Corinthians 12:31-13:8 [Love is patient, love is kind. /v.4]
Gospel Verse: I Jn 4:8b,11 [God is love. If God loved us, we also must love one another.]
Mark 10:6-9 [They are no longer two, but one flesh. /v.8]

Offertory Antiphon:

The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him to deliver them. Taste and see how good the Lord is. Psalm 34:8-9

Immittet angelus Domini in circuitu timentium eum, et eripiet eos: gustate et videte, quoniam suavis est Dominus. [Graduale Romanum, p.325]

Immittet angelus Domini in circuitu timentium eum, et eripiet eos: gustate et videte, quoniam suavis est Dominus. [Gregorian Missal, p.530]

Qui exspectant Dominum ipsi hereditabunt terram (T.P. alleluia). [Graduale simplex, p.382]
Verses of Psalm 37 can also be sung between repetitions of the antiphon.

Prayer over the Offerings:

Re- ceive, we pray, O Lord,
the offering made on the occasion
of this sealing of the sacerd bond of Mar-riage,

and, just as your goodness is its origin,
may your providence guide its course.

Through Christ our Lord. A-men.

Preface for the Celebration of Marriage: [The dignity of the marriage covenant]

It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation,
always and everywhere to give you thanks,
Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God.

For you have forged the covenant of marriage
as a sweet yoke of harmony
and an unbreakable bond of peace,
so that the chaste and fruitful love of holy Matrimony
may serve to increase the children you adopt as your own.

By your providence and grace, O Lord,
you accomplish the wonder of this twofold design:
that, while the birth of children brings beauty to the world,
their rebirth in Baptism gives increase to the Church,
through Christ our Lord.

Through him, with the Angels and all the Saints
we sing the hymn of your praise,
as without end we acclaim:

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of hosts…

Nuptial Blessing:

Dear brothers and sisters,
let us humbly pray to the Lord
that on these his servants, now married in Christ,
he may mercifully pour out
the blessing of his grace
and make of one heart in love
(by the Sacrament of Christ's Body and Blood)
those he has joined by a holy covenant.

O God, who by your mighty power
created all things out of nothing,
and, when you had set in place
the beginnings of the universe,
formed man and woman in your own image,
making the woman an inseparable helpmate to the man,
that they might no longer be two, but one flesh,
and taught that what you were pleased to make one
must never be divided;

O God, who consecrated the bond of Marriage
by so great a mystery
that in the wedding covenant you foreshadowed
the Sacrament of Christ and his Church;

O God, by whom woman is joined to man
and the companionship they had in the beginning
is endowed with the one blessing
not forfeited by original sin
nor washed away by the flood.

Look now with favor on these you servants,
joined together in Marriage,
who ask to be stengthened by your blessing.
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.

May the grace of love and peace
abide in your daughter N.,
and let her always follow the example of those holy women
whose praises are sung in the Scriptures.
May her husband entrust his heart to her,
so that, acknowledging her as his equal
and his joint heir to the life of grace,
he may show her due honor
and cherish her always
with the love that Christ has for his Church.

And now, Lord, we implore you:
may these your servants
hold fast to the faith and keep your commandments;
made one in the flesh,
may they be blameless in all they do;
and with the strength that comes from the Gospel,
may they bear true witness to Christ before all;
(may they be blessed with children,
and prove themselves virtuous parents,
who live to see their children's children).

And grant that,
reaching at last together the fullness of years
for which they hope,
they may come to the life of the blessed
in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Communion Antiphon:

Christ loved the Church and handed himself over for her,
to present her as a holy and spotless bride for himself. Eph 5:25,27 [Roman Missal]

Beati mundo corde, quoniam ipsi Deum videbunt: beati pacifici, quoniam filii Dei vocabuntur: beati qui persecutionem patiuntur propter iustitiam, quoniam ipsorum est regnum cælorum (T.P. alleluia). [Graduale Romanum, p.514]

Ecce sic benedicetur homo, qui timet Dominum (T.P. alleluia). [Graduale simplex, p.383]
Verses of Psalm 128 can also be sung between repetitions of the antiphon.

Prayer after Communion:

By the power of this sacrifice, O Lord,

ac- company with your loving favor
what in your providence you have in-sti-tut-ed,

so as to make of one heart in love
those you have already joined in this holy union
and replenished with the one Bread and the one Chalice.

Through Christ our Lord. A-men.

Solemn Blessing: [For the Celebration of Marriage]

May God the eternal Father
keep you of one heart in love for one another,
that the peace of Christ may dwell in you
and abide always in your home.
Amen.

May you be blessed in your children,
have solace in your friends
and enjoy true peace with everyone.
Amen.

May you witness in the world to God's charity,
so that the afflicted and needy who have known your kindness
may one day receive you thankfully
into the eternal dwelling of God.
Amen.

And may almighty God bless all of you, who are gathered here,
the Father, and the Son, + and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.

** An official, approved English translation of the Offertory Antiphon has never been published. The offertory antiphon used here is from the New American Bible, a Scripture translation approved for liturgical use in the United States.

The English translation of the Entrance Antiphon [Introit], Collect, Psalm Refrain, Gospel Verse, Prayer over the Offerings, Preface, Nuptial Blessing, Communion Antiphon, Prayer after Communion and Solemn Blessing from The Roman Missal, © Copyright 2010, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corp. All rights reserved.

Excerpts from the First Reading, Second Reading and Gospel are taken from the New American Standard Bible ® © Copyright 1973 The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Liturgical InformationWedding Mass – Format A