Wedding Scripture Selection

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kyleboerner

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Good Morning All, and God Bless!

A friend of mine, who is being married in a few months, was told by his pastor that he “must” choose the wedding reading from a selection of 7 bible passages. He was confused that he was only allowed to choose from these 7, as he was not satisfied by the passages he “must” select from.

Does anyone know if this is common practice?

Thank you,

Kyle
 
A Mass in which the sacrament of Matrimony is celebrated must follow the liturgical norms for said Mass. Part of the norms includes which Scripture may be read at the Mass - there are several options. So, your friend must choose one of those options.

My concern is this…why should your friend be unsatisfied with ANY reading from Scripture?
 
As far as I’m aware, it almost a universal practice in the US. If your friend and his future wife have an attachment to a particular scripture that isn’t among the choices for a reading, they could find another way to include it. For example, find a piece of music that quotes it and use it in an appropriate place in the Mass. They could also put the quote on the cover of their worship aid. (if short enough) They could ask Father to reference it in his homily. They could also incorporate it into their reception some how.
 
My wife and I used a setting of Psalm 104 (written by yours truly) at our wedding last year. Not one of the ones listed in “Together for Life,” and our priest didn’t have a problem with it whatsoever. Of course, it DID help that he was my employer for 3 years! 😃
 
Apparently the groom knows little about Catholic wedding Masses and the Church lectionary.
 
Which passages does your friend want to use? And why? It is very likely that the same themes or messages are in the pre-selected passages (which do pertain to marriage after all). Your friend can ask the priest who is preparing him for marriage why the specific passages were selected, but using the scripture the couple likes as in the music, in the program, or as a reading at the reception all sound like great ideas.
 
Technically, any scripture can be read.

Typically, readings for a wedding mass should be selected from Lection IV, Ritul Masses, 801-805, which contain a lot more than 7 reading choices. See here and scroll down to the chart for readings for the sacrament of matrimony:

catholic-resources.org/Lectionary/2002USL-Masses-Rituals.htm

Finally, since the priest-celebrant is the chief liturgist of that mass, what he says goes. So, if you tell him you want to select different readings, say others from Lecionary IV, and he says no-- well then you will need to comply with what he says.
 
We were given a suggested list of 5-7 readings for each reading. It took us hours to ready through them all and prayerfully consider which we would like to have. If you have a particular reading that is not in the list, ask if it’s allowed. Most brides and grooms appreciate a little guidance, especially when there are 1000 decisions to be made for a wedding.
 
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