Article I. On the Minister of the Sacrament of Marriage

I say. It is certain and Catholic doctrine that the Ministers of the sacrament of Marriage are the contracting parties themselves, and not the priest. The reason is that Eugene IV, in the Decree to the Armenians, wishing to hand down sound doctrine concerning the sacraments, established thus: "The efficient cause of Marriage regularly is mutual consent expressed by words concerning the present." Nor is it to be doubted that those words, efficient cause of Marriage, regard Marriage as a sacrament, since the seven sacraments are explained expressly in that Decree. - Nevertheless the Pastor is the Minister of the solemnity of Marriage, and the presence of him, or of the Ordinary, or of one delegated by either, is required for validity according to Can. 1094, with the exceptions contained in Can. 1098, 1099 preserved. Besides, the blessing is also to be bestowed upon those about to marry according to the rite described in the Roman Ritual.

Concerning the rite in the celebration of Marriage:

Outside the case of necessity, in the celebration of marriage the rites prescribed in ritual books approved by the Church, or received by laudable customs, are to be observed (Can. 1100). - Cf. Council of Trent, sess. 24, de Reform. Matrim.; Roman Ritual, de Matrim.; De Augustinis, Thes. 3, p. 197.

Question 1. What ought the pastor to do concerning marriages of those who have notoriously cast off the Catholic faith, although they have not passed over to a sect; or who are enrolled in condemned societies, and that notoriously; or who are public sinners or censured persons?

Resp. § 1. The faithful are also to be deterred from contracting marriage with those who have notoriously cast off the Catholic faith, even if they have not passed over to a non-Catholic sect, or are enrolled in societies condemned by the Church.

§ 2. The pastor is not to assist at the aforesaid nuptials unless the Ordinary has been consulted; after all the circumstances of the matter have been inspected, the Ordinary will be able to permit him to be present at the marriage, provided a grave cause urges and, according to his prudent judgment, the Ordinary judges that sufficient provision has been made for the Catholic education of all the offspring and for removing the danger of perversion of the other spouse (Can. 1065).

If a public sinner or one notoriously bound by censure has first refused to approach sacramental confession or to be reconciled with the Church, the pastor is not to assist at his marriage unless a grave cause urges, concerning which, if it can be done, he is to consult the Ordinary (Can. 1066).

Question 2. Can the nuptial blessing properly so called be separated from the celebration of Mass?

Resp. The rite of celebrating the sacrament of Marriage, by which the priest joins the betrothed and blesses the ring, and which is had expressed in the Roman Ritual, must be carefully distinguished from the nuptial blessing which is read in the Missal (Mass for bridegroom and bride) and pertains to the solemnity of those same nuptials. Concerning the former, one must altogether affirm that it can, indeed must, in forbidden time, or when the solemnities of nuptials are prohibited, be separated from the celebration of Mass; for Marriage can be contracted at every time. But one must deny it as regards the nuptial blessing properly so called, as is established from Canon 1101, soon to be cited. This blessing consists in the Prayers which are had in the Missal, "Propitiare," etc., "Deus, qui," etc., to be said before "Libera nos," etc., and also the other, "Deus Abraham," etc., to be said before the blessing. Decr. Auth. n. 3789, ad 3.

Question 3. Is there any obligation of receiving the nuptial blessing?

Resp. Negatively, at least by common law.

§ 1. The pastor is to take care that the betrothed receive the solemn blessing, which can be given to them even after they have lived long in marriage, but only in Mass, with the special rubric observed and except in the closed time.

§ 2. Only that priest who can validly and licitly assist at the marriage can give the solemn blessing, either himself in person or through another (Can. 1101).

Concerning this matter, behold the words of the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore, n. 125: "Let [the Pastors of souls] inculcate frequently and with grave words that pious and laudable rite of the Church by which the faithful contract not at night but at the time of Mass, with the nuptial blessing. In this way they tacitly profess their Catholic faith and show before all how highly, as is fitting, and splendidly they think concerning the dignity and sanctity of marriage. And this indeed seems not only worthy of praise but almost necessary in these our times, when the enemies of religion leave nothing unattempted, so that from marriage, if it can be done, every appearance of sanctity, every appearance of sacrament, may be taken away and it may be esteemed as a merely civil contract."

Question 4. What must be said specially concerning the time and mode of giving this blessing, and concerning the Mass within which it must be given?

Resp. Concerning this matter, the following things are to be noticed:

1°. According to the decree of the S. R. U. Inq. given on 31 August 1881, the nuptial blessing is to be given, according to the rubrics however, namely within the celebration of Mass and outside the closed time, "to all those spouses who, in contracting Marriage, from whatever cause, did not obtain it; even if they ask after they have already lived long in Marriage, provided the woman, if she is a widow, has not received that blessing in other nuptials. - Besides, those same Catholic spouses who have not obtained the blessing of their Marriage are to be exhorted to seek it at the first available time. But it is to be signified to them, especially if they are neophytes or before conversion validly contracted from heresy, that the blessing itself pertains to the rite and solemnity, but not to the substance and validity of wedlock." - Cf. Acta S. Sedis, vol. 14, p. 513; Second Plenary Council of Baltimore, n. 333, and Appendix XIII, p. 310; Amer. Eccl. Rev., vol. 2, pp. 120 and following.

2°. The nuptial blessing is to be omitted (1°) during the whole closed time, S. R. C., 31 Aug. 1839; (2°) if the woman is a widow and has already received this blessing in other nuptials; (3°) when the betrothed do not wish to receive the blessing within the celebration of Mass; (4°) in mixed marriages, even if they are contracted with dispensation of the Supreme Pontiff. Otherwise the woman is to be blessed; it is of no importance for the blessing whether the woman is a virgin or not.

3°. Whenever the nuptial blessing must be omitted, the votive Mass for bridegroom and bride is also prohibited, and likewise the commemoration for bridegroom and bride in the Mass of the day is inhibited. But whenever the woman is to be blessed, the votive Mass for the betrothed is also to be celebrated, except on Sundays, feasts of precept, doubles of the first or second class, days within the octaves of Epiphany, Easter, Pentecost, and Corpus Christi, and privileged ferias and vigils. With Christmas of the Lord and Easter excepted, in the Mass of the day there is to be made the commemoration of the votive Mass for the betrothed, which is always added under a distinct conclusion and in the first place after the prayers prescribed by the rubrics. - S. R. C., 20 April 1822; 15 June 1883.

4°. On licit days, when the Mass for bridegroom and bride is said, the second prayer will always be of the Office, and commemorations will be made of the proper day; in doubles a third prayer is not added (S. C. R., 24 May 1912). On days of inferior rite, the number at least triple is to be completed.

5°. The priest is not bound to apply the Mass for the betrothed unless he receives an alms from the same (S. C. Inq., 1 Sept. 1841).

6°. It is not required that the betrothed communicate within the Mass (n. 3922).

7°. The prohibition of the nuptial blessing in prohibited times must be understood of the Mass for bridegroom and bride and of the prayers in the Missal.

8°. When the blessing is to be given, the Mass for bridegroom and bride is to be said according to the things set forth, although it is not applied for them; nor can that Mass be said unless the blessing is given in the same.

9°. When nuptials have been celebrated in prohibited time and the spouses afterward have sought the nuptial blessing, it is not required that a day be chosen on which the votive Mass for the spouses can be said, but the nuptial blessing can be bestowed within Mass, for example of a double feast of the second class with the commemoration for the Spouses, according to the rubric placed at the head of the Mass for spouses. But the presence of both is necessary for bestowing the blessing. S. C. R., 27 May 1911.

10°. In the typical edition of the Roman Ritual published in the year 1925, Tit. VII, c. 1, n. 18, these things are found: "But let the Pastor beware that, when spouses have received the blessing in first nuptials, he not bless them in second nuptials, whether the woman or even the man passes to second nuptials. But where that custom prevails that, if the man alone has obtained this blessing at another time, the nuptials are blessed, it is to be observed; but a widowed woman, to whom the solemn blessing has once been given, cannot receive it again in subsequent nuptials, even if her husband has never taken a wife. Cf. below, Q. 10°." - S. R. C., 14 June 1918. Several marriages can be blessed at the same time in one Mass. S. Off., 1 Sept. 1841.

Question 5. In marriages between a Catholic party and a non-Catholic party, must questions concerning consent be made?

Resp. § 1. In marriages between a Catholic party and a non-Catholic party, questions concerning consent must be made according to the prescription of Can. 1095, § 1, n. 3.

§ 2. But all sacred rites are prohibited; but if graver evils are foreseen from this prohibition, the Ordinary can permit some one of the customary ecclesiastical ceremonies, always excluding the celebration of Mass (Can. 1102).

Hence, for the validity of marriage, the consent of the contracting parties is to be required and received by the pastor or the Ordinary of the place, or by one delegated by either. Therefore it is clear that not only in marriages between Catholics, but also in marriages between a Catholic party and a non-Catholic party, Canon 1095, § 1, n. 3 exercises its whole force, which regards the very consent to be required and received. Then all sacred rites are prohibited in these marriages; but if graver evils are foreseen from this, the Ordinary can permit some one of the customary ceremonies, always excepting the celebration of Mass.¹

¹ Cf. Addenda, p. 1090, n. 17; p. 1152, n. 128.

Question 6. Is it ever licit to celebrate a marriage of conscience?

Resp. Only from a most grave and most urgent cause, and by the Ordinary of the place himself, with the Vicar General excluded without a special mandate, can it be permitted that a marriage of conscience be entered, that is, that marriage be celebrated with the denunciations omitted and secretly, according to the norm of the canons which follow (Can. 1104).

Marriage pertains to the public order, and the whole security of the family is involved in the security itself of this Sacrament. And therefore it is to be entered publicly, nor is it easily to be permitted that it be contracted secretly. Hence a most grave cause is required in order that marriage without banns be celebrated secretly before the pastor and two confidential witnesses; and this is called a marriage of conscience, not because it is not a true marriage, but because it is occult and fortified by a true obligation of conscience, as any other wedlock. This Great Sacrament is, and it is unbecoming for it to be received occultly, unless ruling reasons excuse secrecy. An example can be that of a man and woman living publicly as spouses, concerning whom there is no suspicion of crime; in reality they are concubinarii. Indeed, it is a matter of great moment to permit such nuptials; wherefore the qualities of the betrothed and the freedom of their state are to be weighed, and a prudent minister is to be chosen.

Question 7. What obligation does the permission of such a Marriage carry with itself?

Resp. Thus Canon 1105:

The permission of the celebration of a marriage of conscience carries with itself the promise and grave obligation of preserving secrecy on the part of the assisting priest, the witnesses, the Ordinary and his successors, and also the other spouse, when the other does not consent to divulgation (Can. 1105).

Question 8. Does the obligation of secrecy extend itself to all cases?

Resp. The obligation of this promise on the part of the Ordinary is not extended to the case in which either some scandal or grave injury toward the sanctity of marriage threatens from the observance of secrecy, or the parents do not take care that children received from such a marriage be baptized, or they take care that those to be baptized are baptized with false names expressed, while meanwhile they do not furnish to the Ordinary within thirty days notice of the offspring received and baptized with a sincere indication of the parents, or they neglect the Christian education of the children (Can. 1106).

For the Church must defend the sanctity of wedlock and the rights of the woman and offspring equally with those of the man. Hence before such a marriage is celebrated, the betrothed are to be admonished concerning the various obligations toward each other, toward offspring, concerning announcing to the Ordinary himself the offspring born, and concerning procuring the Christian education of the same. If these conditions or obligations are not observed, the obligation of the Ordinary to be silent ceases. - Cf. Benedict XIV, Const. Satis Vobis.

Question 9. Is this Marriage to be noted in the book of marriages?

Resp. It is not to be noted in the customary book of marriages, but in a special book to be kept in the archive of the Curia, concerning which in Can. 379.

Question 10. At what time can Marriage be celebrated?

Resp. § 1. Marriage can be contracted at any time of the year.

§ 2. Only the solemn blessing of nuptials is forbidden from the first Sunday of Advent up to and including the day of the Nativity of the Lord, and from Ash Wednesday up to and including Easter Sunday.

§ 3. Nevertheless, Ordinaries of places can, with liturgical laws preserved, permit it even at the aforesaid times from a just cause, with the betrothed admonished to abstain from excessive pomp (Can. 1108).

Therefore it is established 1°. that nuptials can be celebrated at any part of the year, but not solemnly in forbidden time unless by permission of the Ordinary given from a just cause. - Cf. S. R. C., 14 June 1918.

Forbidden time is to be computed from the first Sunday of Advent up to and including the day of the Nativity of the Lord, and from Ash Wednesday up to and including Easter Sunday.¹

¹ Cf. Addenda, p. 1135, n. 94.

Question 11. What is the proper place of the celebration of Marriage?

Resp. § 1. Marriage between Catholics is to be celebrated in the parochial church; but in another church or oratory, whether public or semi-public, it can be celebrated only by permission of the Ordinary of the place or of the pastor.

§ 2. The Ordinaries of places can permit marriage to be celebrated in private homes only in some extraordinary case and with a just and reasonable cause always acceding; but in churches or oratories, whether of a Seminary or of religious women, the Ordinaries are not to permit this unless necessity urges and suitable cautions have been employed.

§ 3. But marriages between a Catholic party and a non-Catholic party are to be celebrated outside a church; but if the Ordinary prudently judges that this cannot be observed without graver evils arising, it is committed to his prudent judgment to dispense concerning this matter, with the prescription of Can. 1102, § 2 remaining firm (Can. 1109).