Father of the bride

[walter]

I have already asked this question of an apologist - but maybe someone out there knows the answer.
A priest in our diocese told a young couple looking to get married that it will no longer be permissible for the father to give the bride away as if she were a piece of chattel- that this would soon be catholic law. I have never heard this one.
walter

 

[walter]

walter:

I have already asked this question of an apologist - but maybe someone out there knows the answer.
A priest in our diocese told a young couple looking to get married that it will no longer be permissible for the father to give the bride away as if she were a piece of chattel- that this would soon be catholic law. I have never heard this one.
walter

I’m not sure how to edit this but would like to say that Fr. Vincent Serpa has answered this for me. Thank You Fr. Serpa.
Walter

 

[SeekerJen]

At my parish I was given the following options as a bride-to-be: walk up the aisle escorted 1) by my father; 2) by both parents; 3) by my husband-to-be; 4) by myself.

Because of tradition (and because I knew my father would love it, even if he wasn’t going to say anything), I opted to walk down the aisle with dad. When we reached the wedding party in front of the sanctuary, my dad gave my hand to my husband and just sat down. There wasn’t any exchange of “Who gives this woman in marriage” “Her mother and I do” like you see in movies and in some Protestant weddings, because my father wasn’t giving me away. In Catholic marriage the spouses freely make a gift of themselves to the other.

 

[puzzleannie]

SeekerJen:

. When we reached the wedding party in front of the sanctuary, my dad gave my hand to my husband and just sat down. There wasn’t any exchange of “Who gives this woman in marriage” “Her mother and I do” like you see in movies and in some Protestant weddings, because my father wasn’t giving me away. In Catholic marriage the spouses freely make a gift of themselves to the other.

I think your version is 'theologically correct" because it makes clear that the parents do not “own” the child, the child is a gift of God, and they are not ceding chattel rights in their daughter to the groom, rather, they are acknowledging their act of giving back to God the gift of their daughter, for Him to consecrate to her new vocation in the sacrament of marriage.

 

[katherine2]

I beleive the custom of the father giving away the bride is an Anglicanism that was popularized in other denominations in the English speaking world over teh course of history.

 

[space_ghost]

walter:

I have already asked this question of an apologist - but maybe someone out there knows the answer.
A priest in our diocese told a young couple looking to get married that it will no longer be permissible for the father to give the bride away as if she were a piece of chattel- that this would soon be catholic law. I have never heard this one.
walter

boy, I have never heard that… i would call my local chancery to see if there is something new on the horizon…

 

[walter]

Would just like to thank you all for your (name removed by moderator)ut.
Walter

 

[akemner]

In Byzantine Catholic Churches, the bride and groom are lead to the front by the Priest (often, the betrothal occurs right before the marriage, and the betrothal occurs in the back of the church). The rational is that they are brought before God as equals. After they are crowned, the priest leads them around a table in the center of the church thrice, and these are the first steps of the couple in married life.

I have always understood the giving away as meaning one man is handing his property or ward to another. Either which way, the symbolism indicates the woman is inferior.

In Christ,
Adam

 

[JimG]

akemner:

I have always understood the giving away as meaning one man is handing his property or ward to another. Either which way, the symbolism indicates the woman is inferior.

I have never really thought of it that way. To me, the symbolism of the bride walking down the aisle with her father, and then to the altar with her husband-to-be is just that she is leaving one family to start another. (And even then the “leaving” is not permanent, since the two families are also joined.)

Of course I’ve never been at any wedding where the priest or minister actually asked “who gives this woman in marriage?”, but I’ve been at many where the father walked her down the aisle.