First Reading

Song of Songs 2:8-10, 14, 16; 8:6-7

 A reading from the Song of Songs.

 Hark! my lover—here he comes springing across the mountains, leaping across the hills. My lover is like a gazelle or a young stag. Here he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, peering through the lattices. My lover speaks; he says to me, "Arise, my beloved, my beautiful one, and come!

"O my dove in the clefts of the rock, in the secret recesses of the cliff, let me see you, let me hear your voice. For your voice is sweet, and you are lovely." My lover belongs to me and I to him; He said to me: Set me as a seal on your heart, as a seal on your arm; For stern as death is love relentless as the nether world is devotion; its flames are a blazing fire. Deep waters cannot quench love, nor do floods sweep it away. 

Reader: The Word of the Lord.

 Response: Thanks be to God.

Responsorial psalm: “The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord”

 Psalm 33:5, 12, 18, 20-21, 22

 Response: The earth is filled with the goodness of the Lord.

 Happy the nation whose God is the Lord,
   the people he has chosen for his own inheritance.

But see, the eyes of the Lord are upon those who fear him,
    upon those who hope for his kindness.

 Response: The earth is filled with the goodness of the Lord.

 Our soul waits for the Lord, who is our help and shield.
For in him our hearts rejoice; in his holy name we trust.

Response: The earth is filled with the goodness of the Lord.

 May your kindness, O Lord, be upon us who have put our hope in you.

 Response: The earth is filled with the goodness of the Lord.

Second reading: “Follow the way of love”

 1 Ephesians 5:2, 25-32

 A reading from the letter of Paul to the Ephesians

Follow the way of love, even as Christ loved you. He gave himself for us.

Husbands love your wives, as Christ loved the church. He gave himself up for her to make her holy, purifying her in the bath of water by the power of the word, to present to himself a glorious church, holy and immaculate, without stain or wrinkle r anything of that sort. Husbands should love their wives as they do their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. Observe that no one ever hates his own flesh; no, he nourishes and takes care of it as Christ cares for the church—for we are members of his body.

 "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother,
    and shall cling to his wife,
    and the two shall be made into one."

 This is a great foreshadowing; I mean that it refers to Christ and the church.

Reader: The Word of the Lord.

 Response: Thanks be to God.

Matthew 19:3-6

 Presider: The Lord be with you.

 Response: And also with you.

 Presider: A reading from the holy gospel according to Matthew.

 Response: Glory to you, Lord.

 Some Pharisees came up to Jesus and said, to test him, "May a man divorce his wife for any reason whatever?" He replied, "Have you not read that at the beginning the Creator made them male and female and declared, `For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and cling to his wife, and the two shall become as one'? Thus they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore, let no man separate what God has joined." 

 This is the gospel of the Lord.

 Response: Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Rite of Marriage

All stand:

 My dear friends, you have come together so that the Lord may seal and strengthen your love in the presence of the Church’s minister and this community. Christ abundantly blesses this love. He has already consecrated you in baptism and now he enriches and strengthens you by a special sacrament so that you may assume the duties of marriage in mutual and lasting fidelity. And so, in the presence of this assembly, I ask you to state your intentions.

 Mary and John, have you come here freely and without reservation to give yourselves to each other in marriage?

 Will you love and honor each other as man and wife for the rest of your lives?

 Will you accept children lovingly from God and bring them up according to the law of Christ and his Church?

 Each answers the questions separately.

Consent

The presider invites the couple to declare their consent.

Presider:

Since it is your intention to enter into marriage, join your right hands, and declare your consent before God and his Church.

 You join  right hands.

The bridegroom says:

 I, John, take you, Mary, for my lawful wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health, until death do us part.

 The bride says:

 I, Mary, take you, John, for my lawful husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health, until death do us part.

You have pledged your commitment to each other separately, as individuals. Now, you’ll pledge your commitment to each other as one, by answering this question as one:

Do you both mutually agree to be each other's companion, husband and wife, observing the legal rights belonging to this condition; that is, keeping yourselves wholly for each other and from all others as long as you both shall live?

Both answer jointly:  “We Do”

Receiving their consent, the presider says:

 You have declared your consent before the Church. May the Lord in his goodness strengthen your consent and fill you both with his blessings.

What God has joined, men must not divide.

Response: Amen.

 Blessing and Exchange of Rings

 Presider:

May the Lord bless these rings
which you give to each other
as the sign of your love and fidelity.

 Response: Amen.

The bridegroom places his wife's ring on her ring finger.

Mary, take this ring as a sign of my love and fidelity. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

 The bride places her husband's ring on his ring finger.

John, take this ring as a sign of my love and fidelity. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

 Prayer of the faithful

The Response to our petitions is Lord, hear our prayer

     ·        For the Holy Father and the entire Church…. We pray to the Lord…

Response: Lord, hear our prayer

       ·          For all public authorities that their decisions be guided by the holy Spirit… We pray to the Lord…

Response: Lord, hear our prayer

·         For those family and friends who are burdened by any kind of difficulty…We pray to the Lord…

Response: Lord, hear our prayer

·         For Mary and John as they begin their life together as husband and wife…We pray to the Lord…

Response: Lord, hear our prayer

·         For Mary's mom, Melissa, that God may grant her His healing power and make her well…We pray to the Lord…

Response: Lord, hear our prayer

·         For those family members serving in the armed forces… …Alex Smith - John's cousin serving overseas in marines, Lewis Jacobson – Mary’s cousin serving in Air Force, and Mark Jones - Mary's cousin serving in Navy, that God may protect them and keep them out of harms way… We pray to the Lord….

Response: Lord, hear our prayer

·         For those who have gone before us marked with the sign of peace…may God grant them eternal rest…We pray to the Lord….

Response: Lord, hear our prayer

 Nuptial Blessing

Let us pray to the Lord for Mary and John
who come to God’s altar at the beginning of their married life
so that they may always be united in love for each other.

All pray silently…

Then the presider extends his hands and continues:

Holy Father, you created mankind in your own image
and made man and woman to be joined as husband and wife
in union of body and heart
and so fulfill their mission in this world.

 Father, to reveal the plan of your love,
you made the union of husband and wife
an image of the covenant between you and your people.

In the fulfillment of this sacrament,
the marriage of Christian man and woman
is a sign of the marriage between Christ and the Church.

Father, stretch out your hand, and bless Mary and John.

 Lord, grant that as they begin to live this sacrament
they may share with each other the gifts of your love
and become one in heart and mind as witnesses to your presence in their marriage.

 Give your blessings to Mary, your daughter, so that she may be a good wife and mother,
caring for the home, faithful in love for her husband, generous and kind.

Give your blessings to John, your son, so that he may be a faithful husband
and a good father.

Father, grant that as they come together to your table on earth,
so they may one day have the joy of sharing your feast in heaven.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Note: Text in red (above) is required by the minister’s license.