Wedding program wording: communion

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VeritasLuxMea

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If you’re having a wedding Mass in the Church, but a small minority of those in attendance not capable of taking communion, how do you word the program with regards to communion?

The considerations involved:
  1. That those not capable of taking communion should not be encouraged to do so,
  2. That some may have never seen communion, and thus be slightly confused as to whether to do as everyone else is doing, e.g. a non-Catholic Christian receives communion because everyone else is doing it and they don’t know that they shouldn’t.
  3. While those not capable of taking communion should not be encouraged to do so, they should also not be given the false impression that the Church is an “exclusive club” that is closed off to them. Indeed, while the Church has rules about who can take communion, it also welcomes all to one day receive.
What do you think?
 
I have heard priests talk during the Mass to address this issue, but maybe also write something in the program…

Something like… “Those who do not wish to receive or who are not accustomed to regularly receiving Holy Eucharist at a Catholic Mass may either remain seated during the Eucharistic procession or may join in and cross their arms to indicate they would like to receive a blessing.”

Talk to your priest about exactly how he’d like it worded… but maybe that’s a good starting point…??
 
Using the word “Eucharist” rather than “Communion” may help with the distinction. 😉
 
Why don’t you consult with the priest to see if you should add this note?

If you do write this note, i would try to be conservative.

“Please kindly note, that unless you have received the Sacrament of the Eucharist by an ordained Catholic priest, you cannot receive the blessed host (Eucharist) presented at the end of mass. Thank you for your understanding.”
 
The inside many music missiles in Catholic parishes have a great explanation of this issue.
 
Chantal25 said:
Why don’t you consult with the priest to see if you should add this note?
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It is not my wedding, but a friend’s. I’m married already, I’m just helping him out with this. The Priest for the wedding is a lifelong friend who was recently promoted to be the director of vocations for my friend’s Diocese, so he has about… ten minutes of free time a day, lol… he tries not to bother him too much. However, he (or I) could certainly ask another trusted Priest.
Em in Fl:
I have heard priests talk during the Mass to address this issue, but maybe also write something in the program…

Something like… “Those who do not wish to receive or who are not accustomed to regularly receiving Holy Eucharist at a Catholic Mass may either remain seated during the Eucharistic procession or may join in and cross their arms to indicate they would like to receive a blessing.”

Talk to your priest about exactly how he’d like it worded… but maybe that’s a good starting point…??
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Thanks, that is helpful.
 
IMHO, this should be handled by the celebrant as he deems necessary.
 
The priest or deacon should address it at the beginning. They do it all the time, and if you put it in the invite, people will either forget or not understand at all and pester you with phone calls.
 
For our wedding, we quoted what was written inside the missal and added it to our worship aide. “Please kneel during the communion procession if your health permits. (This was necessay because some parishes in Wisconsin, including the one where my husband formally worked, actually discourage kneeling during the Eucharistic prayer. :eek:) Because Catholics believe that the celebration of the Eucharist is a sign of the reality of the oneness of faith, life, and worship, Holy Communion is reserved for fully practicing Catholics in good standing with the Church.” The priest also made an announcement that those who were not able to recieve communion were invited to come up with their arms crossed and recieve a blessing.
 
Em_in_FL said:
I have heard priests talk during the Mass to address this issue, but maybe also write something in the program…

Something like… “Those who do not wish to receive or who are not accustomed to regularly receiving Holy Eucharist at a Catholic Mass may either remain seated during the Eucharistic procession or may join in and cross their arms to indicate they would like to receive a blessing.”

Talk to your priest about exactly how he’d like it worded… but maybe that’s a good starting point…??
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I think it’s best if the priest does it too. That’s how it’s been done at the weddings I’ve been to.
 
If, God willing, I ever get married, I always thought I would like to give a brief explanation in the invitations. I’m not sure if this would be considered rude though… but I thought it would be the best way.

The ONLY Catholic wedding I ever went to the priest forgot to mention it when it was time to go up!!! >.<

Thankfully, the bride had spoken to her non-Catholic family prior to the ceremony.
 
nickybr38 said:
If, God willing, I ever get married, I always thought I would like to give a brief explanation in the invitations. I’m not sure if this would be considered rude though… but I thought it would be the best way.

The ONLY Catholic wedding I ever went to the priest forgot to mention it when it was time to go up!!! >.<

Thankfully, the bride had spoken to her non-Catholic family prior to the ceremony.
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Putting it in the invitation seems impractical to me, unless you think there are persons in your part who would not wish to attend if they knew they could not recieve communion. I say it is impractical because it is unlikely that the invitee will remember during the months between recieving the invitation and the actual wedding and also, invitees who are less familiar with the idea of Eucharist or Communion might be confused by such a statement and think they are not invited to the Mass, but only to the reception or something like that.
 
Our priest says, and it could be written as well, that “all Catholics in good standing are invited to come forward at this time to receive the Eucharist. All others who wish to receive a blessing may come forward with their arms folded.”

I think it is brief, to the point, understandable, and polite.
 
Guineviere said:
I agree.

I don’t understand the whole “Wedding Program” trend anyway. 😃
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Ahem! It’s called a worship aid! 😛

It’s actually very useful if you want to use hymns that are not in the hymnal at the parish you are getting married in or if you have alot of people attending who are not Catholic.
 
Allegra said:
Ahem! It’s called a worship aid! 😛

It’s actually very useful if you want to use hymns that are not in the hymnal at the parish you are getting married in or if you have alot of people attending who are not Catholic.
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Yes - consider it a missalette for the day. Of course I am thinking of mine, that had all the readings, songs, and the gospel printed out so that everyone could follow along at Mass.
 
Allegra said:
Putting it in the invitation seems impractical to me, unless you think there are persons in your part who would not wish to attend if they knew they could not recieve communion. I say it is impractical because it is unlikely that the invitee will remember during the months between recieving the invitation and the actual wedding and also, invitees who are less familiar with the idea of Eucharist or Communion might be confused by such a statement and think they are not invited to the Mass, but only to the reception or something like that.
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I only say invitations because wedding programs are not something that is done here. So the only other option would be to speak to each non-Catholic invitee privately which would be JUST as impractical.
 
I don’t think you need any wording in the order of service. The priest will normally say something along the lines of “Those who are not accustomed to receiving communion are invited if they wish to come forward for a blessing”
 
jmjconder said:
The inside many music missiles in Catholic parishes have a great explanation of this issue.
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We included this statement on our wedding program. It worked well, though there were a few who received anyway. (But they knew better.)
 
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