Article — Wouters, Manual of Moral Theology
Article I. On the Rite of Celebration
Outside a case of necessity, in the celebration of marriage the rites prescribed in the ritual books approved by the Church, or received by laudable customs, are to be observed (canon 1100).1 It is said:
I. Are to be observed; by these words a true obligation is understood, in conformity with the Council of Trent.2 Moreover, the obligation is grave from its kind; concerning which St. Alphonsus notes that the omission of the words "I join you," etc., is rather probably light (VI, 899, 1094).
II. Rites... received. Now the rite from the Roman Ritual3 to be observed here is this:
The pastor, vested in surplice and white stole,4 should ask the man and woman about consent, each one individually in this way, in the vernacular speech: "N., do you wish to take N. here present as your lawful wife, according to the rite of Holy Mother Church?"5 Let the bridegroom respond: "I do." Then let the priest ask the bride: "N., do you wish to take N. here present as your lawful husband, according to the rite of Holy Mother Church?" Let the bride respond: "I do."
Once the mutual consent has been understood, let the priest bid them join right hands with one another, saying: "I join you in matrimony. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen."6 Afterwards let him sprinkle them with holy water.
Then let him bless the ring.7 Next let the priest sprinkle the ring with holy water in the form of a cross; and the bridegroom, having received the ring from the hand of the priest, places it on the ring finger of the bride's left hand, with the priest saying: "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen." Then let him add the versicles and the prayer Respice.
When these things have been completed, if the nuptials are to be blessed, the pastor should celebrate the Mass for the Bridegroom and Bride, as in the Roman Missal, with all things prescribed there being observed.8 The rite of the said blessing must now be discussed.
1 Roman Ritual, title VII, chapter 2, n. 6.
2 Session 7, canon 13, on the Sacraments in general.
3 Title VII, chapter 2, nn. 1-3.
4 If Mass immediately follows after the rite of celebration has been completed, the priest should put on the chasuble in addition to the alb and stole (Sacred Congregation of Rites, August 31, 1867, ad III, n. 3158).
5 "Or he may use other words according to the received rite of each place" (Roman Ritual, loc. cit., n. 2). "When several are joined at the same time, after first receiving the consent of each and duly celebrating each Marriage, and after the pastor has said for each, 'I join you in matrimony,' etc., the blessings are made once in the plural number" (Roman Ritual, loc. cit., n. 5).
6 See note 5.
7 The blessing of the ring is not to be omitted in second nuptials (cf. Sacred Congregation of Rites, August 27, 1836, ad II, n. 2743), even if the same ring had already been used and blessed in order to another marriage. "When several are joined at the same time... nothing prevents the blessings of the rings and the remaining blessings from being made in common by general words" (Holy Office, September 1, 1841, 7, Collectanea, n. 938). If the nuptial ring is lost or broken, a new one can be blessed with the same form of the Roman Ritual. In not a few other dioceses, for example in Germany and in the East, a ring is blessed for each spouse.
8 Roman Ritual, loc. cit., n. 4.