Wedding on Holy Saturday

[maryjk]

I could go on, but I think my attempt at humor might be getting a bit much at this point.

It was quite funny and gave me a good laugh for a day that truly needed it. Thank you.

Its not baffling when you consider that they would have thought of it the other way around. They want to get married on a specific date, which this coming year happens to be Holy Saturday. Since Easter is a moving holiday, most people don’t even realize which day it is until its pretty close.

The only reasonable explanation I can think of is that they are trying to hit someone’s anniversary. I recently attended a wedding on a Friday night because she want to have her grandparents anniversary.

 

[Phemie]

The only reasonable explanation I can think of is that they are trying to hit someone’s anniversary. I recently attended a wedding on a Friday night because she want to have her grandparents anniversary.

I take it Friday nights are not common where you live but when we got married it was a common time for a wedding ceremony.

 

[maryjk]

I take it Friday nights are not common where you live but when we got married it was a common time for a wedding ceremony.

Not common at all. I work at the church and it was the first one I have seen in years.

 

[Sarabande]

Not common at all. I work at the church and it was the first one I have seen in years.

Strange how that works in different areas. I do Friday Catholic weddings often where I live… even Sunday ones, which used to be very uncommon, but lately I have been seeing more and more of them. I think it’s because the costs for receptions and other vendors are lower for Fridays and Sundays than they are on Saturdays and couples and their parents are trying to be more frugal with their spending.

In regards to the OP, in the churches where I’ve worked as a musician, they never permitted weddings on Holy Saturday.

 

[SwizzleStick]

It was quite funny and gave me a good laugh for a day that truly needed it. Thank you. …

You are most welcome. Glad you had a good laugh.

 

[JGMendes4049]

And at the Gloria they haul out the vases and bouquets? I don’t remember this happening, but perhaps I just didn’t notice.

Welllll, I guess flowers are okay at the Vigil, but not instrumental music until the Gloria. I mean instrumental as in use of an instrument other than “. . . to support the singing,” as well as purely instrumental pieces.

 

[Midland87]

All,

I need some help from someone very knowledgeable in Catholic historical theology to help resolve a family genealogy issue.

This past year, a family member researched my grandfather’s first marriage in 1936 in NYC. He was an Irish emigrant and about 44 years old. According to the records we found, he married a 48 year old widow on Holy Saturday 1936, which I found odd and would like to know if this was permissible then. They might not have even been engaged on Ash Wednesday as 1-2 month engagements were not unusual then.

He said very little to my mother about this marriage, as the women died suddenly in a traffic accident 6 months later. Three years later, he married my grandmother, and the rest is history. Mom is adamant that he was an extremely religious man, so the first marriage must have been a Catholic ceremony.

I know that getting marrried during Lent was practically unheard of, and I would think that getting married during the Triduum is even more unbelievable. But the date of the marriage was definitely the date of Holy Saturday 1936.

Thank you.

 

[Phemie]

All,

I need some help from someone very knowledgeable in Catholic historical theology to help resolve a family genealogy issue.

This past year, a family member researched my grandfather’s first marriage in 1936 in NYC. He was an Irish emigrant and about 44 years old. According to the records we found, he married a 48 year old widow on Holy Saturday 1936, which I found odd and would like to know if this was permissible then. They might not have even been engaged on Ash Wednesday as 1-2 month engagements were not unusual then.

He said very little to my mother about this marriage, as the women died suddenly in a traffic accident 6 months later. Three years later, he married my grandmother, and the rest is history. Mom is adamant that he was an extremely religious man, so the first marriage must have been a Catholic ceremony.

I know that getting marrried during Lent was practically unheard of, and I would think that getting married during the Triduum is even more unbelievable. But the date of the marriage was definitely the date of Holy Saturday 1936.

Thank you.

Don’t the records show where they were married? Your mom may want to believe it was a Catholic marriage but it does not necessarily make it so.

I can find a digital copy of my parents’ marraige registration (1952) online at my provincial archives. Does your country/state/county have anything like that?

 

[Midland87]

Hi and thank you for the reply.

Yes, we have found the date and Church record of the wedding. I researched the date and realized it was Holy Saturday 1936 hence my question how was this possible ?

Did the rules change over the past 85 years ?

Have a blessed Easter.

 

[Anna_Claire]

Sorry but A couple who want to be married during Triduum days doesn’t get what these days are about. Any priest who agrees needs to be informed by his bishop that it’s not allowed by the Church. I have nothing to back up this statement but it makes me wonder if the sacrament of marriage would even be valid…??

 

[Phemie]

Hi and thank you for the reply.

Yes, we have found the date and Church record of the wedding. I researched the date and realized it was Holy Saturday 1936 hence my question how was this possible ?

Did the rules change over the past 85 years ?

Have a blessed Easter.

The rules changed but became less restrictive.

Under the 1917 Code, Nuptial Masses were forbidden throughout all of Lent. They could get married in a simple marriage ceremony, if the local ordinary judged it OK but it was without solemnity or music. Since she was a widow the woman couldn’t get a Nuptial Blessing if she’d already received one at her first wedding. If they did get married during Lent they could have a Nuptial Mass and Blessing at a later date.

Back then the ‘Vigil’ would have been celebrated in the morning and they could easily have slipped in there for a quick exchange of vows.

 

[Midland87]

Hi,

Just to make sure I understand your comment, are you saying in the 1930’s the Easter Vigil mass was celebrated on Holy Saturday morning ?

I realize that the rules back then were that you could not eat anything after midnight before going to mass but I never heard of the Easter Vigil mass on Holy Saturday morning. Please confirm my understanding of your post.

Thanks.

 

[Irishgal49]

It was quite funny and gave me a good laugh for a day that truly needed it. Thank you.

The only reasonable explanation I can think of is that they are trying to hit someone’s anniversary. I recently attended a wedding on a Friday night because she want to have her grandparents anniversary.

A Friday wedding is a great idea, I saved 25% on costs having mine then. Sadly I married outside the Church…but having a Friday wedding can be a great way to save $$

 

[Phemie]

Hi,

Just to make sure I understand your comment, are you saying in the 1930’s the Easter Vigil mass was celebrated on Holy Saturday morning ?

I realize that the rules back then were that you could not eat anything after midnight before going to mass but I never heard of the Easter Vigil mass on Holy Saturday morning. Please confirm my understanding of your post.

Thanks.

Affirmative.

Mass couldn’t be celebrated after noon until 1953, so the Vigil Mass was celebrated in the morning. There was a major change to the Holy Week and Triduum liturgies in 1955 with the promulgation of Piux XII’s “Maxima Redemptionis”.

I remember Mom telling me that in those days Lent was considered to be over at noon on Saturday because the Vigil had been that early.

 

[Tarpeian_Rock]

Affirmative.

Mass couldn’t be celebrated after noon until 1953, so the Vigil Mass was celebrated in the morning. There was a major change to the Holy Week and Triduum liturgies in 1955 with the promulgation of Piux XII’s “Maxima Redemptionis”.

I remember Mom telling me that in those days Lent was considered to be over at noon on Saturday because the Vigil had been that early.

However, I would assume that while the Vigil Mass was earlier in the day at that time, the Vigil did not satisfy the Easter Sunday obligation as the current Vigil does.

 

[Phemie]

However, I would assume that while the Vigil Mass was earlier in the day at that time, the Vigil did not satisfy the Easter Sunday obligation as the current Vigil does.

You’re correct.

My memory might be faulty, but having evening Mass satisfy the obligation for the next day didn’t come into effect until some time in the late 60s. I’m not sure that the Vigil satisfied the obligation even after it was moved to the night time, unless it was celebrated after midnight.

 

[Midland87]

Great information on the Holy Saturday changes in our Church. Many thanks to you all.

Happy Easter !

 

[Chatter163]

The Easter Vigil liturgy was celebrated on the morning of Holy Saturday until the 1950s. This is why older Catholics remember being told that the Lenten abstinence ended at noon on Holy Saturday.

In 1951 Pope Pius XII introduced a revised rite for the Easter Vigil; this was optional through 1953, later extended through 1955, and involved celebrating the Easter Vigil in the evening–usually late evening, so that the First Mass of Easter was celebrated at midnight or shortly thereafter. This was enormously successful and the Holy See announced in November, 1955 that beginning in 1956, the reformed rite was made permanent, along with revised rites for the rest of Holy Week. When the revised missal of Paul VI started to be used in 1970, the Easter Vigil liturgy could begin anytime after sunset on Holy Saturday. This is still the rule.

 

[Phemie]

When the revised missal of Paul VI started to be used in 1970, the Easter Vigil liturgy could begin anytime after sunset on Holy Saturday. This is still the rule.

Yes, because by that time the law had changed to allow evening Masses on the eve of a HDoO to fulfill the obligation.