Sample of an Italian Catholic ceremony
Entrance Music: XXX
The Greeting
Priest: In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit
All: Amen
Priest: The Lord be with you.
All: And also with you.
Penitential Rite
Priest: Lord, we have sinned against your mercy.
All: Lord have mercy.
Priest: Lord show us your mercy and love.
All: And grant us your salvation.
Priest: May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life.
The Gloria
Priest: Glory to God in the highest,
All: And peace to his people on earth.
Lord God, heavenly King, almighty God and Father, we worship you, we give you thanks, we praise you for your glory. Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father, Lord God, Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world: have mercy on us.You who are seated at the right hand of the
father receive our prayer. For you alone are the Holy One,
you alone are the Lord, you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father. Amen
Opening Prayer
Priest: Let us pray.
Father, hear our prayers for GROOM and BRIDE, who today are united in marriage before your altar.
Give them your blessing, and strengthen their love for each other. We ask this though our Lord Jesus Christ, your son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.
All: Amen.
Liturgy of the Word
First Reading
A reading from the Song of Songs (8:6-7)
My love is mine and I am his. He pastures his flock among the lilies. Set me like a seal on your heart, like a seal on your arm. For love is strong as Death, passion as relentless as Sheol. The flash of it is a flash of fire, a flame of God himself. Love no flood can quench, no torrents drown.
This is the Word of The Lord.
All: Thanks be to God.
Responsorial Psalm (sung)
Reader: Response: I have carried you on eagles wings, I will care for you in your years.
My heart is full of peace,
you havce been within my life,
your guiding hand has always covered me,
I am full of confidence in you.
Response
Never need I be afraid,
no matter how uncertain things may be,
downtimes thru’ me, sometimes in spite of me,
You seem to find your purpose in my life.
Response
You have bridge the flowing streams,
and move aside the mountains tall,
you have kept me through the stormy past
I know that you secure and guide me still.
Response
Second Reading
A reading from the first letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians (12:31-13:8).
If I do not have love, I gain nothing
But strive for the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.
If I speak in tongues of mortals and of angels, but
do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all the mysteries
and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove
mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away
all my possessions, and I hand over my body so that I may
boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful
or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not
irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but
rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.
This is the Word of The Lord.
All: Thanks be to God.
Gospel Acclamation
Music: XXX
Gospel Reading
A reading from the Gospel according to Mark (10:6-9)
But from the beginning of creation he made them male and female. This is why a man leaves his father and mother, and the two become one flesh. They are no longer two, therefore, but one flesh. So then, what God has united, human beings must not divide. This is the Gospel of the Lord.
All: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ.
The Rite of Marriage
Priest: GROOM and BRIDE, you have come to this church so that the Lord may seal your love before God in the presence of the priest, your families and friends. Christ blesses this love. You promise to be true and faithful, to support and cherish each other all the days of your life, so that your years together will be the living out of the pledge you now make.
GROOM and BRIDE , you are about to exchange your marriage vows. Have you come here of your own free will and choice to marry each other?
Both: We have
Priest: Will you love and honour each other in marriage all the days of your life?
Both: We will
Priest: Are you willing to accept with love the children God may send you and bring them up in accordance with the law of Christ and his Church?
Both: We are.
Declaration of Consent
(groom and bride join hands)
Priest: Groom, do you take Bride as your wife, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, all the days of your life.
Groom: I do.
Priest: Bride, do you take Groom as your husband, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, all the days of your life.
Bride: I do.
Priest: What God joins together man must not separate. May the Lord confirm the consent that you have given and enrich you with his blessing.
Blessing of the Rings
Priest: Almighty God, bless these rings, symbols of faithfulness and unbroken love. May GROOM and BRIDE always be true to each other, may they be one in heart and mind, may they be united in love forever. Through Christ, our Lord.
Both: Amen.
Groom:(Placing the ring on BRIDE’s finger)
BRIDE, wear this ring as a sign of our love and fidelity.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.Amen
Bride:(Placing the ring on GROOM's finger)
GROOM, wear this ring as a sign of our love and fidelity.In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.Amen.
Exchange of Gifts
Both: I give you this gift, a token of all I possess.
Priest: I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.
Candle Ceremony
GROOM and BRIDE go to the altar and, using the flame from the individual candles, together light the centre candle, a symbol of their life together.
Music: XXX
Prayers of the Faithful
XX: For GROOM & BRIDE, that the Lord who has brought them together on this special day may help their love grow deeper and deeper each day, filling their lives with happiness and peace. Lord hear us.
All: Lord, graciously hear us.
XX: For the parents, family and friends of BRIDE and GROOM, and all who have helped them to become husband and wife. We pray that God will reward them for their goodness. Lord hear us.
All: Lord, graciously hear us.
XX:Lord, we pray for the faithful departed. We pray for all our relatives and friends who have touched our lives in a special way but are no longer with us. Lord hear us.
All: Lord, graciously hear us.
XX: Let us pray for those who have traveled here be with Kevin and Theresa on their special day. May they return home safely. Lord hear us.
All: Lord, graciously hear us.
Liturgy of the Eucharist
Presentation of the Gifts
Music: XXX
Prayer over the gifts
Priest: Lord accept the gifts we offer you on this special day. In your fatherly love, watch over and protect GROOM and BRIDE, whom you have united today in marriage. We ask this through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
Eucharistic Prayer
Priest: The Lord be with you.
All: And also with you.
Priest: Lift up your hearts.
All: We lift them up to the Lord.
Priest: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
All: It is right to give Him thanks and praise.
Priest: Father, all powerful and ever living God, we do well always and everywhere to give you thanks. By this sacrament your grace unites man and woman in an unbreakable bond of love and peace. The love of BRIDE and GROOM is made holy in the sacrament of marriage and becomes the mirror of God’s everlasting love. Through Christ the choirs of angles and all the saints praise and worship your glory. May our voices blend with theirs as we join in their unending hymn of praise.
All: Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,
Heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest.Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the Highest
Priest: Father you are holy indeed, and all creation rightly gives you praise. All life, all holiness comes from you through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, by the working of the Holy Spirit. From age to age you gather your people to yourself, so that from east to west a perfect offering may be made to the glory of your name. And so, Father, we bring you these gifts, we ask you to make them holy by the power of your spirit, and that they may become the body and blood of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, at whose command we celebrate this Eucharist. On the night he was betrayed, he took the bread and gave you thanks and praise. He broke the bread, gave it to his disciples and said: "Take This, All Of You And Eat It,
This Is My Body Which Will Be Given Up For You".
When supper was ended he took the cup. Again he gave you thanks and praise, gave the cup to his disciples, and said: "Take This, All Of You, And Drink From It, This Is The Cup Of My Blood,The Blood Of The New And Everlasting Covenant. It Will Be Shed For You And For All So That Sins May Be Forgiven. Do This In Memory Of Me"
Acclamation of the People
Priest: Let us proclaim the mystery of faith:
All: Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.
Communion Rite
Priest: Let us pray with confidence to the Father in the words our Saviour gave us:
All:
Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Thy Kingdom come,
Thy will be done on earth, as it is in Heaven
Give us our this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us,
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
Nuptial Blessing
Priest:Let us ask God to bless BRIDE & GROOM, now married in Christ, and unite them in his Love.
God, our father, creator of the universe, you made man and woman in your own likeness and blessed their union.
We humbly pray to you for BRIDE & GROOM today united in the sacrament of marriage.
May your blessing come upon them.
May they find happiness in their love for each other.
May they praise you in their days of happiness and turn to you in times of sorrow.
May they know the joy of your help in their work and the strength of your presence in their need. May they worship you with the Church and be your witnesses in the world.
May old age come to them in the company of their friends, and may they reach at last the Kingdom of Heaven. We ask this through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
Sign of Peace
Priest: Lord Jesus Christ, you said to your apostles: I leave you peace, my peace I give you. Look not on our sins, but on the faith of your Church, and grant us the peace and unity of your kingdom where you live forever and ever.
All: Amen.
Priest: The peace of the Lord be with you always.
All: And also with you.
Priest: Let us show each other the sign of peace.
Priest: This is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. Happy are those who are called to his supper.
All: Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed.
Priest: I will bless the Lord at all times, his praise shall be ever on my lips. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord; blessed is he who hopes in God.
Communion
Music: XXX
Communion Reflection
Prayer after Communion
Priest: Lord, in your love you have given us this Eucharist to unite us with one another and with you. As you have made GROOM and BRIDE one in the sacrament of marriage, so now make them one in their love for each other.
All: Amen
Concluding Rite
Priest: The Lord be with you.
All: And also with you.
Priest: The Lord Jesus was present at the wedding at Portovenere; today may he bless you and your families and friends.
All: Amen.
Priest: He loved his Church to the end:
May he fill your hearts to overflowing with his love.
All: Amen.
Priest: May he give you the grace to bear witness to his resurrection, and look forward to his coming with hope and joy.
All: Amen.
Priest: May the peace of Christ ever dwell in your home; may the angels of God protect it, and may the holy family of Nazareth be its model and inspiration.
All:Amen.
Priest: May almighty God bless you, the father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
All: Amen
Priest: Go in the peace of Christ
All: Thanks be to God
Signing of the Registrar
Music: XXX
Recessional
Music: XXX
