Priest wearing wedding bands

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Does anyone know why some Priests wear a wedding band? Where did the practice come from? Is it proper? What is the significance? Thanks
 
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Handmaid:
Does anyone know why some Priests wear a wedding band? Where did the practice come from? Is it proper? What is the significance? Thanks
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The professed Carmelite sisters here do it as well

I don’t know where it came from, but certain religious orders have it as part of their statutes on habits, as a symbol that one is married to the Church or Christ.

I haven’t heard of priests doing this, but I know it is proper for the sisters. A priest marries the Church, so I don’t see the harm.
 
I have never noticed that except for one priest. He is married so that is why he wears it. He is a Catholic Convert and was an Episcopal priest who converted and was ordained in the Catholic church last year. Serves one of our parishes.

The others I know of are not Latin Rite Priests. They are Eastern Rite Priests but I don’t know which branch.
 
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Handmaid:
Does anyone know why some Priests wear a wedding band? Where did the practice come from? Is it proper? What is the significance? Thanks
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I met some Spanish priests in Europe who were members of a religious order that required them to wear wedding rings as a symbol of their relationship with the Church.
 
I think its a little weird, but not that big of a deal. God willing I’ll be ordained in June 2007 and I’m not planning on doing that.
 
The wedding band is a symbol of a persons commitment to their spouse. A priest’s bride is the Church, and a Sister is a bride of Christ. If you listen Father Corapi, he talks about how one day while preaching, after he first became a priest, he looked at a woman in the front pew and realized he would never be marry, but he also realize that Jesus had given him a bride and it was the Church.
Many Saint have also had mystical wedding bands, St. Catherine of Siena is one of them here are some quotes from websites about her:
“As she grew up, Catherine continued to love quiet prayer. She became a Third Order Dominican when she was sixteen, and kept on having visions of Christ, Mary and the saints. For three years, she only spoke to God and to her confessor. Then, one night, she had a vision of herself as a bride of Christ, and saw the Infant Jesus giving her a wedding ring.”
domestic-church.com/CONTENT.DCC/19980301/SAINTS/ST_CATH.HTM

After her death the marks of this “wedding band” were clearly visible on her body!
“http://www.catholicinsight.com/original/other/saints/siena.html”
For a priest or a sister the wedding band is a sign of their commitment to the Church or Christ
 
Both my local Priests wear a wedding band, and whenever I see it, I thank God that they answered the call, and married the Church, as they are so wonderful in their job.
Love Kellie
 
I asked our priest about this and he said it was more the Franciscan Priests that were the bands, but that some Priests in other orders also were them to symbolize their union with the Church. Our priest does not were one because he plays the chello and it would get in the way.

Shari
 
Besides the obvious fact that it symbolizes the fact the priest is married to the Church… I’d also assume that it helps keep the ladies away!

Have any of you guys seen that one “Golden Girls” episode where Dorothy falls in love with a priest?? (I’m ashamed to say my fiancee forces me to watch this show). Anyways… this wouldn’t have happened if the priest had on a wedding band! Haha. 😛
 
I had a priest tell me just that…it keeps the ladies away. He was a very young and very attractive man. I guess he ran into a lot of women trying to ‘pick him up’. He said this put a stop to all that and made his life a little easier.
 
My young, wonderful, super-orthodox diocesan priest wears a wedding band. I always assumed it signified his marriage to the Church.

Personally, I love it!
 
Boomer Sooner:
Besides the obvious fact that it symbolizes the fact the priest is married to the Church… I’d also assume that it helps keep the ladies away!
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What is the “rule” regarding a priest wearing his collar?

Seems to me to be a sad commentary on our culture that a wedding band would have more “power” than a collar.

btw - Golden Girls had some pretty funny episodes, the li’l Itallian mom used to crack me up.
😃

Peace.
 
A newly ordained priest I know wears a band on his ring finger left hand as a sign of his vows and commitment to the Church. The ring has been suitably engraved and blessed. He also always wears his roman collar the reason being that the collar identifies him as a priest and he is recognised as a priest and so more opportunities arise to minister not only to his parishioners but those outside of his parish. I believe our priests need to be more visible in the world
 
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CatholicRevert:
What is the “rule” regarding a priest wearing his collar?

Seems to me to be a sad commentary on our culture that a wedding band would have more “power” than a collar.
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Priests are not the only ones to wear collars. In fact the first to wear the Roman Collars in America were Protestant ministers! So, just because someone is wearing a Roman Collar does not mean that they are celibate.
 
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CatholicRevert:
What is the “rule” regarding a priest wearing his collar?
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There is no rule, persay. Only that a priest *should - *whenever possible and it is within his means to do so - wear a collar during ministry. Most priests I know rarely wear the collar when they’re outside the “office.” Many wear their clerical shirts when they’re going about they’re, say, shopping at Wal-Mart, but it is only by personal choice that a diocesan priest wears the collar full-time.
 
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CatholicRevert:
What is the “rule” regarding a priest wearing his collar?
Click to expand...
There is no rule, persay. Only that a priest *should - *whenever possible and it is within his means to do so - wear a collar during ministry. Most priests I know rarely wear the collar when they’re outside the “office.” Many wear their clerical shirts when they’re going about they’re, say, shopping at Wal-Mart, but it is only by personal choice that a diocesan priest wears the collar full-time.
 
I think that this is a beautiful practice once explained that it shows that they are married to the Church. Some Carmelite nuns when they make their final vows wear a wedding dress to express this same idea. I have also read stories where a priest was asked by non-Catholics why they had a wedding band. They were then able to use this to explain their commitment and the example of self-giving to the Church that it symbolized.
 
I have friend who is a Carmelite Priest and he wears one. I have never asked him, but I have always assumed it was a symbol of his commitment to God, Church and his brothers and sister in the Order.
 
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