Is there a blessing for civilly married couples?

[sharonquinto32]

My then fiance and I decided to get married when we finally got 3 weeks of holidays. But it took a while before we were issued a marriage license and there was only 6 days left before we flew back home. So we decided to get a civil wedding. Then our families back home were not happy and wanted us to get a church blessing. We made an appointment with a local catholic priest and he understood our plight of time restraints. He blessed our rings and gave us a blessing as a couple. So what was the blessing all about? Did it put everything into perspective? Are we “married” in the eyes of the catholic church? Am I allowed to receive the Eucharist still?

 

[Fr.Charles_Grondin]

Unless you exchanged vows in front of the priest, then no, you are not married in the eyes of the Church. If you were to be married in the Church then you would need to provide your sacrament records of baptism and proof that you are currently civilly married. There also would need to be 2 witnesses.

You still need to have your marriage vows witnessed by the Church. The Church currently considers your situation to be an “irregular marriage” and thus you and your spouse should not receive communion until the situation is straightened out.