OCM 66-67: The Blessing and Giving of Rings

The wedding ring has a fairly extensive reach in the world’s cultures today. Some archaeologists believe ancient humans, including Neanderthals, had some kind of bodily sign of a married person–if not a ring, then a binding of twigs or other natural fragments around the wrist or ankle.

The Roman Rite presumes rings, and the cleric will bless them:

66. The priest says:

May the Lord bless + these rings,
which you will give to each other
as a sign of love and fidelity.

Amen

Other formulas for blessing the rings, nos. 194-195.

67. The husband places his wife’s ring on her ring finger, saying, as the circumstances so suggest:

N, receive this ring
as a sign of my love and fidelity.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit.

Likewise, the wife places her husband’s ring on his ring finger, saying, as the circumstances so suggest:

N, receive this ring
as a sign of my love and fidelity.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit.

The priest’s formula seems convenient as a cue.

The text cited in red are rubrics and bold black are ritual text from the English translation of The Order of Celebrating Matrimony © 2013, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation. All rights reserved.