Hymn recommendation - Gathering song for a wedding

  • Thread starter Thread starter Honus
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Honus said:
I’m trying to brainstorm ideas for a gathering song at a Catholic wedding. The wedding will be not be a mass, so we don’t have too many opportunities for music. We’re looking for something traditional, but it doesn’t technically have to be a ‘gathering’ hymn.

All suggestions are welcome.

Thanks
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How can you have a Catholic Wedding and no Mass?.
 
TheMc said:
Exactly that. Have the rite of Marriage, but not a Mass. It’s really that simple.
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Next thing you know, people will try to have a Catholic wedding but no priest! :eek:

Oh wait . . . .
 
MarkThompson said:
Next thing you know, people will try to have a Catholic wedding but no priest! :eek:

Oh wait . . . .
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I was going to say…

Actually, I don’t understand why it’s permitted for two catholics to get married in a catholic church without having a mass.
 
Love_Divine said:
I was going to say…

Actually, I don’t understand why it’s permitted for two catholics to get married in a catholic church without having a mass.
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The idea that everything the Church does (baptisms, weddings, etc., etc.) ought to be crammed somewhere into a Mass is actually very post-Conciliar.
 
Love_Divine said:
I was going to say…

Actually, I don’t understand why it’s permitted for two catholics to get married in a catholic church without having a mass.
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As Mark said, it is a very new idea to have these things during the Mass. Before the council, in almost every case, they were held directly before the Mass.
 
TheMc said:
As Mark said, it is a very new idea to have these things during the Mass. Before the council, in almost every case, they were held directly before the Mass.
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Exactly. Also, the OP never mentioned that both of them were Catholic. One could be Catholic and the other not. Anyway, that’s not what this thread’s about. He/She asked for hymn recommendations, not a scrutiny on why they aren’t having a mass.
 
Sarabande said:
Exactly. Also, the OP never mentioned that both of them were Catholic. One could be Catholic and the other not. Anyway, that’s not what this thread’s about. He/She asked for hymn recommendations, not a scrutiny on why they aren’t having a mass.
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Sorry, I’m in a little bit of a cranky mood this morning.
 
Thanks for all the good suggestions.

And yes, the wedding will be between a Catholic and a non-Catholic… performed by a Deacon (oh, the horrors :-).
 
Honus said:
Thanks for all the good suggestions.

And yes, the wedding will be between a Catholic and a non-Catholic… performed by a Deacon (oh, the horrors :-).
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😃 I’ve cantored a few weddings in which there was a deacon and not a priest. Most of them were done because the parish or a few parishes (I regularly attended a parish in which it shared one priest amongst three parishes) had just one priest and he couldn’t be at three weddings at the same time. A couple were because their family was close friends with the deacon. And for another wedding I cantored, the father of the groom was a deacon, so they had a priest and him.
 
In my case the deacon is close family friend of 20+ years. We’ve got some good priests at my parish, but we thought it would be great to have the deacon perform the ceremony. Plus, I’m pretty sure that the parish priests don’t mind not having to work a Saturday afternoon. 🙂
 
TheMc said:
As Mark said, it is a very new idea to have these things during the Mass. Before the council, in almost every case, they were held directly before the Mass.
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That’s what I meant, as opposed to Catholic going for just the quick version without any Mass. I didn’t mean “crammed into a Mass.” Obviously the marriage happens before the Mass, and it’s just longer than the typical Mass.
 
Love_Divine said:
That’s what I meant, as opposed to Catholic going for just the quick version without any Mass. I didn’t mean “crammed into a Mass.” Obviously the marriage happens before the Mass, and it’s just longer than the typical Mass.
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Well, no, if a marriage is celebrated with a Mass in the Ordinary Form, the marriage is celebrated after the homily, not before Mass.

I’ve rarely seen a marriage between two Catholics celebrated in a Liturgy of the Word, but that’s what the Church recommends for a mixed-marriage – and insists on for marriage to a non-baptized (unless the Bishop grants permission for a Mass).
 
Sarabande said:
What a beautiful hymn!!! I realize that I have a thing for hymnody from the British Isles. 😛
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It’s actually based on a pre-Reformation text, translated in the 19th century as a lot of Anglican hymns were. But I think you could reasonably argue it is Catholic in origin if you wanted to. :)The tune is Vaughn Williams.
 
joclucsylv said:
Why is it permitted in my parish? We have been through several priests over the years and they all seem fine with it.
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I have no idea why your parish would permit it. There are several documents that address this. Here’s the one from the USCCB.

usccb.org/liturgy/SingToTheLord.pdf
Secular music,
even though it may emphasize the love of the spouses for one another, is not appropriate for the
Sacred Liturgy. Songs that are chosen for the Liturgy should be appropriate for the celebration
and express the faith of the Church.190
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This is from the section about music for weddings.
 
But the term secular means seperate from religion. That song is about God. “For whenever two or more of you are gathered in his name there is love.”
 
Now that brings up another question for me. Once a month my parish has a youth mass. Songs from popular christians artists are sung. Is this wrong. I truly can’t imagine my priest would allow this if it is.
 
joclucsylv said:
Now that brings up another question for me. Once a month my parish has a youth mass. Songs from popular christians artists are sung. Is this wrong. I truly can’t imagine my priest would allow this if it is.
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Did you read the document I linked? It has a section on that too.

I would say it would depend on the song. There are collections of songs that have approval from a Bishop and those often include songs writen by non-Catholic Christians. But not all of the songs you hear on Contemporary Christian Radio are going to be appropriate for Mass.

The same liturgical guidelines apply for all Masses and the music played there. Calling it a “youth Mass” doesn’t change the rules.
 
Corki said:
Did you read the document I linked? It has a section on that too.

I would say it would depend on the song. There are collections of songs that have approval from a Bishop and those often include songs writen by non-Catholic Christians. But not all of the songs you hear on Contemporary Christian Radio are going to be appropriate for Mass.

The same liturgical guidelines apply for all Masses and the music played there. Calling it a “youth Mass” doesn’t change the rules.
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Thanks Corki! I didn’t read it, but I will after I post this. 😃
 
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