Wedding

[taylormcbee]

Hi, I am not sure where to post this question so please forgive me if it belongs somewhere else.
I was just wondering if my and my girlfriend get married in a Catholic Church I know we Can’t have a mass becuase i am a baptist. But i am Going to begin the RCIA Process as soon as i graduate from college. If after i am recevied into the Church and we are both Catholic is it required that we have a wedding mass, with Holy Communion?
Thanks

 

[jilly4ski]

No it is not required that you (even if both Catholics) have a wedding Mass. There might be very good reasons not to, like you family is not Catholic, so half of the guests to your wedding cannot receive the Eucharist. You would generally make the decision to have a Mass or not with the priest doing your marriage prep.

 

[joanofarc2008]

Your gf being Catholic is normally required to follow proper form which is to be married in the Catholic Church - since you cannot receive Eucharist then you would have a Rite of Matrimony not a nuptial Mass. Later if you become Catholic this does not need to be repeated. Assuming you are already baptized and the Church recognizes your baptism your marriage is already Sacramental - if not - at the time you are baptized then your marriage would then become Sacramental.

If you choose not to get married in the Church then your gf will need to get dispensation in order to marry outside the Church which will be covered as part of your marriage prep.

 

[Joe_Kelley]

We had a Jewish couple in RCIA. When they were baptized the marriage became sacramental, but they wished a ceremony. Their next wedding anniversary we had a mass at which they renewed their vows, and then had a small party in the hall.

 

[silicasandra]

The advice of the previous posters is correct.

I did want to chime in and say that it is really up to you as the couple whether you have a nuptial Mass or not. I am a convert and I only have one other Catholic relative; and many of my husband’s family are not practicing. We still had a Mass for our wedding because it was important to us and none of our guests thought it was inappropriate for us to do so (at least, they didn’t say so. ) So if you are both Catholic and you want one - go ahead. If you don’t, that’s OK, too.

 

[Matthew_Holford]

I know we Can’t have a mass becuase i am a baptist

I think you could have a Mass. I believe that it is only when the non-Catholic spouse is in fact a non-Christian that the Nuptial Mass is prohibited. Some advise against a Mass because marriage is, inter alia, about the unity of the couple. One spouse being able to receive communion and the other not detracts from the symbol of unity. Discuss the options with the priest, give them all serious consideration, and make the choice that is best for you and your fiance.

 

[1SeekingChrist]

You COULD have a Mass at your wedding if you wanted to, though, when only one of the soon-to-be spouses is Catholic it is not preferred because then one spouse is left out.

I got married just a couple of months ago, we’re both Catholic, but we decided to forgo having a Mass because of family concerns. We’re both converts (I converted the year before her) and neither of us have a real Catholic presence in our families. I have one practicing Catholic relative as well, so it would have been awkward to have almost none of our families and half of our friends receive communion while the others sit there not knowing what’s going on and being left out. Your pastor (or officiating priest/deacon) will go over all this in marriage prep as others have said, but I thought I’d throw my recent experience in there for consideration.