Wedding Program - Communion Guidelines?

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irishfan1113

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I need some urgent help - I am doing my wedding programs for a traditional Catholic Mass and given that some of the guests coming will not be Catholic, I’d like to put in a line about guidelines for Communion. I’m looking for someplace that has a template I can use for this. Any ideas? Thanks!
 
I know the guidelines are explained in the beginning of our missal – can you borrow one from your church so you can get the correct wording of everything?

Congratulations on your upcoming marriage! 😃
 
Belle10 said:
I know the guidelines are explained in the beginning of our missal – can you borrow one from your church so you can get the correct wording of everything?

Congratulations on your upcoming marriage! 😃
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Yes, this is what you should do. My priest told me NOT to come up with my own, but use the statement directly from the missal, which is actually an officially authorized statement from the USCCB. Here is the text:

For Catholics
As Catholics, we fully participate in the celebration of the Eucharist when we receive Holy Communion. We are encouraged to receive Communion devoutly and frequently. In order to be properly disposed to receive Communion, participants should not be conscious of grave sin and normally should have fasted for one hour. A person who is conscious of grave sin is not to receive the Body and Blood of the Lord without prior sacramental confession except for a grave reason where there is no opportunity for confession. In this case, the person is to be mindful of the obligation to make an act of perfect contrition, including the intention of confessing as soon as possible (canon 916). A frequent reception of the Sacrament of Penance is encouraged for all.

For our fellow Christians
We welcome our fellow Christians to this celebration of the Eucharist as our brothers and sisters. We pray that our common baptism and the action of the Holy Spirit in this Eucharist will draw us closer to one another and begin to dispel the sad divisions which separate us. We pray that these will lessen and finally disappear, in keeping with Christ’s prayer for us “that they may all be one” (Jn. 17:21).

Because Catholics believe that the celebration of the Eucharist is a sign of the reality of the oneness of faith, life, and worship, members of those churches with whom we are not yet fully united are ordinarily not admitted to Holy Communion. Eucharistic sharing in exceptional circumstances by other Christians requires permission according to the directives of the diocesan bishop and the provisions of canon law (canon 844 Section 4). Members of the Orthodox Churches, the Assyrian Church of the East, and the Polish National Catholic Church are urged to respect the discipline of their own Churches. According to Roman Catholic discipline, the Code of Canon Law does not object to the reception of Communion by Christians of these Churches (canon 844 Section 3).

For those not receiving Holy Communion
All who are not receiving Holy Communion are encouraged to express in their hearts a prayerful desire for unity with the Lord Jesus and with one another.
**
For non-Christians**
We also welcome to this celebration those who do not share our faith in Jesus Christ. While we cannot admit them to Holy Communion, we ask them to offer their prayers for the peace and the unity of the human family.
 
Good for you!!! Very conscientious to find a way to communicate this to your guests. 👍

DH & I did the same thing for our wedding. If your priest is feeling especially cooperative, you might even be able to go one step further-- our celebrant was perfectly happy to hear confessions thirty minutes prior to the wedding, and we included that statement in our program as well, immediately after the statement about receiving communion. After all, people tend to show up early and just sit around anyway-- why not get to confession??

Best of luck,

Margaret
 
BlestOne said:
:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Only you BamaRider… Only You!!!
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And ME.

We planned our wedding in August for several reasons, that being one of them. We are season ticket holders.

We got an invite to the wedding of DH’s cousin’s daughter and that was the first thing we both checked-- whether it was an away game weekend.

Yes, we are nerds.
 
Here is what Father asked us to print in the program for our daughter’s wedding:

Guidelines for the reception of Holy Communion

Through the priest’s “Eucharistic Prayer of Consecration” the bread and wine brought to the altar during the Holy Mass are truly, substantially and really changed (transubstantiated) into the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.

Because reception of Holy Communion implies both a belief in this doctrine as well as full doctrinal and sacramental communion with the Catholic Church (i.e., with the Pope) it is reserved to fully practicing Catholics in good standing.

A fully practicing Catholic is minimally one who faithfully attends Mass each Sunday and with some regularity recieves the Sacrament of Confession.

Holy Communion is thus reserved to those Catholics who:
• are in the state of grace (i.e. if since their last Confession they have committed no act regarded by the Church as being mortally sinful);

• are properly disposed by having prepared themselves carefully in prayer;

• and have observed the eucharistic fast of at least one hour prior to reception of Holy Communion.

The Church kindly asks non-Catholics and those Catholics who are not presently disposed to receive the Eucharist to refrain from coming forward, yet to join the congregation in prayer at this most sacred moment.

Thank you for your respect in this matter.
 
I would bring this up with my priest and ask him to say something brief before communion is distributed to invite the non catholic brethren up for a blessing.
 
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Polly_Carp said:
Here is what Father asked us to print in the program for our daughter’s wedding:

Guidelines for the reception of Holy Communion

Through the priest’s “Eucharistic Prayer of Consecration” the bread and wine brought to the altar during the Holy Mass are truly, substantially and really changed (transubstantiated) into the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.

Because reception of Holy Communion implies both a belief in this doctrine as well as full doctrinal and sacramental communion with the Catholic Church (i.e., with the Pope) it is reserved to fully practicing Catholics in good standing.

A fully practicing Catholic is minimally one who faithfully attends Mass each Sunday and with some regularity recieves the Sacrament of Confession.

Holy Communion is thus reserved to those Catholics who:
• are in the state of grace (i.e. if since their last Confession they have committed no act regarded by the Church as being mortally sinful);

• are properly disposed by having prepared themselves carefully in prayer;

• and have observed the eucharistic fast of at least one hour prior to reception of Holy Communion.

The Church kindly asks non-Catholics and those Catholics who are not presently disposed to receive the Eucharist to refrain from coming forward, yet to join the congregation in prayer at this most sacred moment.

Thank you for your respect in this matter.
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Thanks for this. It’s shorter than the USSCB guidelines which may work better. I have a call into my priest to ask him specifically about it. Thanks so much!
 
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