Case XXIV: The Rite of the Nuptial Blessing

What are the special rites, prescribed by the Roman Missal, to be observed in giving the nuptial blessing to the bridal pair during the Nuptial Mass?

Answer. 1. During the Nuptial Mass, the bridal pair should be seated some place near the Altar, in loco honestiori propius ad Altare, and while the priest is saying the Pater noster in the Mass, they should leave their place and approach the Altar, where they remain kneeling.

2. When the Pater Noster is finished, the clerk answers Sed libera nos a malo, and the priest, having said Amen, genuflects and retires to the Epistle side of the Altar, where he turns around toward the bridal pair, who are kneeling before him, and with hands joined, he reads from the Missal, which the clerk has taken from the Altar and holds before him, the two prayers: Oremus, Propitiare, Dme., etc., and Oremus, Deus qui potestate virtutis, etc. When he pronounces the words Jesum Christum in concluding these prayers, he bows his head profoundly toward the Sacred Host, reposing on the Altar. As soon as the celebrant has finished these two prayers, the bridal pair return to their places, and the celebrant, turning toward the middle of the Altar and genuflecting, purifies the paten and continues the Mass.

3. After the priest has consumed the precious Blood, he gives Holy Communion to the bridal pair, observing the customary rite. By a decree of the Congregation of Rites, March 21, 1874, the nuptial blessing may be given in the Mass, even though the bridal couple do not receive Holy Communion during the Mass. The Sacred Congregation, however, admonishes the pastors to exhort the faithful who are about to be married, that they approach Holy Communion during the Mass in which they receive the nuptial blessing.

4. As soon as the Post Communions have been said, the bridal pair again approach the Altar and remain kneeling before it. The celebrant says Benedicamus Dmo. or Ite Missa est, according to the Mass of the day, and then turns or remains turned toward the bridal party, and reads the prayer from the Missal, which the clerk has again taken from the Altar and holds before him: Deus Abraham, Deus Isaac, etc., with his hands joined before him and bowing his head profoundly at the name Jesu Christo.

After this, says the Missal, let the priest admonish the pair "in a serious discourse, that they preserve fidelity to one another; that during times of prayer, and especially of fasts and solemnities, they remain chaste; that the husband love the wife, and the wife the husband; and that they remain in the fear of God." Then the priest takes the aspersorium and sprinkles the bridal pair with holy water "in the middle, at their right and at their left, saying nothing meanwhile."

5. After this, the bridal couple return to their seats, and the priest, turning to the Altar, says the Placeat and gives the blessing as usual, and finishes the Mass.