I am a high school student from Australia and I am doing an assignment for my Study of Religion subject. I have 11 questions that I would appreciate if someone could help me out with them. These are the questions:
What are some of the most important symbols at a Catholic marriage mass and what is there significance?
What are some different traditions that occur during a Catholic marriage mass?
Where can Catholic culture be seen throughout a Catholic marriage mass?
What is the order of events at a Catholic marriage mass?
How does the Bible influence a Catholic marriage mass?
How long does a Catholic marriage mass usually take?
What time of the day should a Catholic marriage mass be conducted?
Where in the Bible are specific quotes towards Catholic marriage be found?
Can a Catholic marriage mass be held in another location rather than a church?
What events usually happen before and after a Catholic marriage mass?
Who are some important people who play a significant role in a Catholic marriage mass?
When you write a report about something in Austrailian High School, don’t you have to have a list of citations that include something a bit more authoratative than “Strangers on a Catholic Forum”? You are also going to run into the difficulty that the Catholic Church extends to pretty much every populated continent in the world and wedding Masses are different in each culture. However, I will try to answer some of your questions.
There are lots of symbols at Mass, but one that might be specific to marriage would be the rings, which are blessed by the preist and become a sacramental. Symbols that are present at all Masses can be easily looked up on the internet.
There are lots of traditions in Catholic weddings, but they aren’t generally requirements and they can very from place to place. For example, where I live, it is common for the bride to present flowers at the Marian altar, to pray for Mary’s guidance and example in being a good wife and mother, etc. This is not required and isn’t practiced in many places. In general, most brides wear white to symbolize purity, but that is not required either and in the past, brides have worn blue to symbolize the Blessed Virgin. Now, many brides wear mostly white and try and find small that is blue. None of that is required, however. Most Catholics have adopted the practice of having the brides father walk her down the aisle. Again, this is not required and many priest frown on it because they prefer the bride and groom come down the aisle together as a symbol of their unity and their free consent too the sacrament.
I would say the answer to number three is that “Catholic culture” is highly influenced by the ethnic and local culture of the participants and that will be seen throughout the wedding.
A wedding ceremony can be simply the liturgy of the Word and the rings and vows. This takes roughly a half hour. If both parties are Catholic, however, they usually have a full Mass with the celebration of the Eucharist, which takes slightly over an hour. That generally goes like this:
Processional
Opening Hymn
Greeting and Opening Prayer
Penitential Rite- where the congregation asks for forgiveness for their sins
Gloria- where the congregation praises God
Reading from the Old Testament
Reading of a psalm- generally intoned by the cantor
Reading from the New Testament (not one of the four Gosples)
Gospel Acclaimation is sung
The priest gives a reading from the Gosple
The priest gives a homily about the commitment of marriage and what is expected of a Catholic husband and wife, etc.
The priest asks the bride and groom seperately if they give their consent to be married.
The rings are blessed with holy water and/or inscense
Exchange of vows/rings
Credo- the profession of faith is recited by all the congregation
Prayers of the Faithful- The congregation prays for certain intentions
The preperations of the altar for the Eucharist- there’s generally hymn being sung
The Eucharist takes place the same as any other Mass.
There is a final blessing of the couple
Recession- sometimes with a hymn but generally not.
7)The Mass can happen at any time of day, though most people choose the afternoon since it allows them time to get ready in the morning and possibly go straight to the reception.
There are many passages in scripture that tell us what a marriage should be like in both the Old and New Testametns. I think scriptures that Catholics use are probably the same as other Christians. There is one exception and that is the book of Tobit. This book is particularly important when preparing for marriage and most if not all protestant groups don’t consider it to be canon. It a beautiful story and it demonstrates how a Christian couple should always put God first in their relationship.
A wedding Mass can technically be held anywhere, however, you have to get special permission and in most cases, you probably are going to want to have a better reason for doing it than “But that’s how Kim Kardashian got married!”
Generally, before a wedding Mass, there will be an announcement in the Church bullitins of the couple, so that anyone who knows any reason why they aren’t able to be married, they can say so then. (Despite what you see on TV, priest don’t ask the congregation during the actual Mass. They have had several weeks to say something.) If the families are all decent, there will probably be an engagement party, where the families can get to know one another. The bride and groom will go through several sessions of precana where they will meet with the priest and another married couple in order to fully understand the committment of marriage and what their responsibilities will be. In many places, precana also now requires minimal training in a Natural Family Planning method. Generally, the brides best girlfriends and sisters and cousins will give her a shower where she will recieve gifts to help start a new household. There may also be a bachelor/bachelorette party. Then, the night before the wedding, there will be a rehearsal of who is going ot stand where and what not. After which, there is usually some sort of celebratory dinner for the bridal party, parents, and out-of-town guests. After the wedding Mass, there will generally be a reception with a dinner and dance.
The only people required for a wedding Mass are the bride and groom, the priest, and at least one witness. In addition, most couples include their parents, a maid of honor and best man, and sometimes one or more bridesmaids and groomsmen. It’s also customary to have some flower girls that are supposed to line the aisle with flowers before the bride comes in. Some couples choose to have a little boy be the one who brings in the rings or act as a sort of escort for the flower girls. It’s also nice to have altar boys if you can. You will also need a reader and a cantor to help lead the singing.
Thank you very much Allegra. Just to clarify I have done the research except part of the assignment is to gain primary information to use with your secondary information from the research to back up your hypothesis.
Thank you very much Allegra. Just to clarify I have done the research except part of the assignment is to gain primary information to use with your secondary information from the research to back up your hypothesis.
Thank you very much Allegra. Just to clarify I have done the research except part of the assignment is to gain primary information to use with your secondary information from the research to back up your hypothesis.
In this context, I’d suggest that primary sources would be the liturgical publications of the Church – i.e. the General Instructions of the Roman Missal (GIRM)… and your secondary sources would be things like diocesan publications, bishops’ publications etc. (There’s a booklet put out by the US bishops to assist couples planning their wedding, perhaps there’s something similar in Australia?) Strangers on the internet aren’t a reliable source!
Thank you very much Allegra. Just to clarify I have done the research except part of the assignment is to gain primary information to use with your secondary information from the research to back up your hypothesis.
Most of the people on this forum are anonymous and therefore can’t be cited as a source on a research paper. In order to use the information in your paper, you have to be able to cite the source so that the reader can check the credentials and determine whether the source has the authority or experience to make such statements. It would be better for you to cite your local parish priest if you must interview someone. If you can use a document, it would be better to refer to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, or (since there are signifigant regional differences to consider) contact your local diocese for information on the requirements of Catholic weddings in your area.
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