Article — Noldin, Summa of Moral Theology
Article One. On the Time of Celebration.
653. Declaration. 1. Matrimony can be contracted at any time of the year.1 But there is a certain determined time in which the solemn blessing of nuptials is forbidden; this is called the ferial or closed time.
- The closed time now is: a. from the first Sunday of Advent until the day of the Nativity inclusively; b. from Ash Wednesday until Easter Sunday inclusively.2
a. Therefore it is that time of the ecclesiastical year which is devoted to the recollection of the chief mysteries of the Christian religion and consequently, according to the mind of the Church, is to be dedicated especially to works of devotion, prayers, and penance.
b. In the closed time matrimony itself is not prohibited, but the solemn blessing of the bride, i.e. the votive Mass for spouses and the blessing of the bride which is contained in this Mass.
- Nevertheless, ordinaries of places can, for a just cause and with the liturgical laws preserved, permit even the blessing of nuptials in the closed time, after admonishing the spouses that they abstain from excessive pomp.3
a. The prohibition of solemn nuptials had hitherto been treated as a prohibiting impediment under the name of closed or ferial time. In some dioceses, especially of Austria and Germany, not only the solemnities of nuptials, but the nuptials themselves were prohibited. This prohibition, contrary to common law, cannot any longer be maintained after the introduction of the new Code, especially because it would be equivalent to a prohibiting impediment, which ordinaries cannot establish, unless the prohibition is supported by immemorial custom.4
b. The liturgical laws prohibit the Mass for spouses: alpha. on Sundays; beta. on feasts of the first and second class; gamma. on privileged octaves of the first and second order; delta. on privileged ferias; epsilon. on the vigils of the Nativity, Epiphany, and Pentecost.
1 Cn. 1108, 1.
2 Cn. 1108, 2. Previously, especially before the Council of Trent, the closed time was extended much more broadly.
3 Cn. 1108, 3.
4 Cf. Linneborn, p. 392.