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Aug.
12,
2004 |
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| Parish
liturgist offers guidelines
for Catholic weddings |
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Wedding music should not detract
from
sacred aspect of ceremony
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Now that we are into summer, it is wedding season. There
are the two basic types of wedding celebrations that
may take place within the church. Basically, it amounts
to a Catholic marriage with or without a Mass. A wedding
without Mass includes the procession, the opening prayer,
the Scripture readings, the homily, the couple’s
exchange of consent, the rings, and the blessings. It
does not include the preparation of the bread and wine,
the eucharistic prayer, and the communion rite.
Celebrating a wedding Mass is a beautiful option when
both the bride and groom are Catholics. In that sense
it is preferred, because the Eucharist is the ultimate
sacrament of unity between a couple, and among the people
of God. When the bride and groom come from different
faith backgrounds, or when we know that most attending
the service will not be Catholics, then the simpler service
may be a better fit. It is still reverent, and beautiful,
and includes the Scriptures and vows. There are simply
times when one service will fit better than the other.
Many couples consider their options and discern this
wisely. What I find sad is when I hear statements like, “Oh,
we are not having the Mass because it cuts into picture
time” or, “We don’t want that whole
Mass because it is too long.” Or the couple who
balks at getting a cantor to help lead the community
gathered in prayer, but thinks nothing of a couple of
stretch limos. In those instances I bite my tongue, as
I wonder about the order of priority people are placing
on their weddings.
Another interesting tidbit is the unity candle. Do you
know this is not in the actual Catholic rite? Rather,
it is sort of a grassroots thing that has taken hold
and become as important as the vows themselves to some
people. Works well for the people at Hallmark though.
One of the other questions I’ve been asked is “How
come we can’t have our wedding in the park?” It
would be very tempting to simply use the age old reply, “Because
the church doesn’t,” but that doesn’t
resolve anything. To summarize it briefly, Canon Law
(1118) suggests that whenever a Catholic marries another
Catholic or any other baptized Christian, the ceremony
should take place in the parish church or another church
or chapel. Under certain special conditions, the bishop
may grant permission to celebrate in other places.
Actually this is the same rule of thumb that is used
for any Mass. We celebrate in the church because this
is where the people of God gather together. Outdoor Masses
generally take place for very specific occasions when
the assembly gathered would be too large to hold in any
one facility. (For example, a papal Mass.)
Another frequently asked question is around the topic
of wedding music; more specifically, “How do you
determine if a song is appropriate or not?” As
a liturgist, it is my job to help the couple with this
question and discern whether their selections pass “the
three judgments” set up by the National Conference
of Catholic Bishops’ Commission on the Liturgy.
The music should be good quality and technically correct,
avoiding trite musical clichés.
Since the music is part of the sacred liturgy, it should
add to it, not detract from the sacred aspect of the
ceremony. So it should be readily identifiable as prayer,
and appropriate for the place in the liturgy.
Finally, probably the most dicey of the three judgments: “How
well does this particular piece of music help this group
assembled pray today?” This is where healthy dialogue
between the wedding couple and myself come into play.
You may listen to a song and wonder “How did that
get into a wedding?” While I listened to the bride
tell me what it meant to her spiritually, or how the
groom heard it as prayer.
So in the end, these are some of the questions we would
explore related to music:
• Will the music allow the couple and assembly to worship
God?
• Does it express faith of the couple and the church,
praise God, tell of God’s love, or ask for God’s
blessings?
• Can the sentiments expressed be shared by the assembly
as a whole? Is it sufficiently beautiful?
I hope I don’t sound like a liturgical ogre. But
then, I am reminded that if there weren’t liturgical
abuses, there would be no need for liturgical guidelines.
(Murdy is director of liturgy and music at St. Frances
Cabrini Parish in West Bend. This article was adapted
from a column written for the St. Frances Cabrini parish
bulletin.) |
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