We continue in a matrimonial mood, first hearing that like Confirmation, the Rite of Marriage is ideally celebrated with the Eucharist.
Matrimony is normally to be celebrated within the Mass, after the reading of the gospel and the homily, and before “the prayer of the faithful.” The prayer for the bride, duly amended to remind both spouses of their equal obligation to remain faithful to each other, may be said in the mother tongue.
This prayer refers to the Nuptial Blessing, and has indeed been amended to include the husband and his obligations to his wife and to the sacrament.
But if the sacrament of matrimony is celebrated apart from Mass, the epistle and gospel from the nuptial Mass are to be read at the beginning of the rite, and the blessing should always be given to the spouses.
In other words, the Scripture is never to be omitted from the wedding liturgy, and neither is the Nuptial Blessing.
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