We continue with the rubrics and texts of the Communion Rite in the Liturgy of the Eucharist. The RM tells us the Lord’s Prayer is shortened

33. After the Lord’s Prayer, the prayer Deliver us is omit­ted. The priest faces the bride and bridegroom and, with hands joined, says:

 

 

 

          My dear friends, let us turn to the Lord and pray that he will bless with his grace this woman (or N.) now married in Christ to this man (or N.) and that (through the sacrament of the body and blood of Christ,). He will unite in love the couple he has joined in this holy bond.

 

On to the nuptial blessing, noting that time for silent prayer:

All pray silently for a short while. Then the priest extends his hands and continues:

 

 

 

Father, by your power

you have made everything out of nothing.

In the beginning you created the universe

and made mankind in your own likeness.

You gave man the constant help of woman

so that man and woman should no longer be two,

but one flesh,

and you teach us that what you have united

may never be divided.

 

 

Or:

 

 

Father, you have made the union of man and wife

so holy a mystery that it symbolizes

the marriage of Christ and his Church.

 

Or:

 

 

Father, by your plan man and woman are united,

and married life has been established as the one blessing

that was not forfeited by original sin

or washed away in the flood.

 

And to the core text of the blessing itself:

          Look with love upon this woman, your daughter,

    now joined to her husband in marriage.

She asks your blessing.

Give her the grace of love and peace.

May she always follow the example of the holy women

            whose praises are sung in the scriptures.

          May her husband put his trust in her

            and recognize that she is his equal

            and the heir with him to the life of grace.

        May he always honor her and love her

            as Christ loves his bride, the Church.

 

 

Father, keep them always true to your commandments.

          Keep them faithful in marriage

            and let them be living examples of Christian life .

          Give them the strength which comes from the gospel

            so that they may be witnesses of Christ to others.

 

(Bless them with children

and help them to be good parents.

May they live to see their children’s children.)

 

And, after a happy old age,

grant them fullness of life with the saints

in the kingdom of heaven.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

 

Amen.

Some logical instructions for the presider follow:

 

34. If one or both of the parties will not be receiving communion, the words in the introduction to the nuptial blessing, through the sacrament of the body and blood of Christ, may be omitted.

 

 

 

If desired, in the prayer Father, by your power, two of the first three paragraphs may be omitted, keeping only the paragraph which corresponds to the reading of the Mass.

 

 

 

In the last paragraph of this prayer, the words in paren­theses may be omitted whenever circumstances suggest it, if, for example, the couple is advanced in years.

 

 

 

Other forms of the nuptial blessing, no. 120 or 121, may be chosen.

Nos. 120 and 121 correspond to options two and three in most wedding preparation materials. Our parish offers the couple the choice of which to use.

35. At the words Let us offer each other the sign of peace, the married couple and all present show their peace and love for one another in an appropriate way.

36. The married couple may receive communion under both kinds.

 

I’ve always been curious about the placement of the nuptial blessing in the Liturgy of the Eucharist in the Wedding Mass. If any scholars or other commentators wish to chime in, that’d be helpful.

 

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