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Summary
- Jesus said of husband and wife, “What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder” (Matthew 19:6), and every prayer for newlyweds starts there.
- For a wedding card or the end of a toast, the blessing God gave Aaron and his sons to say over Israel is hard to better: “The Lord bless thee, and keep thee” (Numbers 6:24-26).
- In the Catholic Church the bride and groom give the sacrament to each other, and at a wedding Mass the priest holds his hands over them for the nuptial blessing after the Lord’s Prayer.
- In the Orthodox service the priest crowns the groom and then the bride, and they share a common cup; the crowns “signify the grace of the Holy Spirit”, says the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.
- On their wedding night Tobias prayed, “mercifully ordain that we may become aged together” (Tobit 8:7), and Catholic couples may choose the passage as a wedding reading.
- The twelve longer prayers are grouped for the wedding day, the first year and the years ahead.
Bibliography (Click to show)
- Scripture is quoted from the King James Version: Matthew 19:6; Numbers 6:24-26; Ecclesiastes 4:9-12; Psalm 128:1, 3, 6; Psalm 8:5; Song of Solomon 4:9; Colossians 3:13-14; James 1:5; Ephesians 5:25, 32; Philippians 4:7; John 2:1-2; Psalm 1:3; Proverbs 22:6; Proverbs 3:3. Tobit 8:4-8 is quoted from the King James Version with Apocrypha, eBible.org. Other passages: Bible Gateway.
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 1621-1624, “The Celebration of Marriage”, vatican.va.
- Order of Celebrating Matrimony: the Nuptial Blessings, Liturgy Office of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, liturgyoffice.org.
- Order of Celebrating Matrimony: structure of the rite, Liturgy Office, liturgyoffice.org.
- Order of Celebrating Matrimony: list of readings, Liturgy Office, liturgyoffice.org.
- Fr Alciviadis C. Calivas, “The Sacramental Life of the Orthodox Church”, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, goarch.org.
- Holy Matrimony: The Service of Betrothal and the Service of Crowning, Orthodox Church in America, 2022, oca.org.
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 120, the canon of Scripture, vatican.va; “Canon of Scripture”, Orthodox Church in America, oca.org.
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