Do you include the Gloria and the Credo in the Traditional Latin wedding Mass?

Last updated on Jan 22, 2021 8 min read

One of the most common questions regarding Latin Mass weddings is, “Do you include the Gloria and/or the Creed?”

The short answer

For the votive mass Missa pro Sponso et Sponsa, the Gloria is included and the Creed is not included.

The long answer

Rubrics in recent memory have been consistent that the Creed is not said for the votive wedding Mass. The Creed has traditionally been understood as a part of the Mass exclusive to Sundays, and important feasts.

As for the Gloria, before 1960, the rubrics as per the Roman Missal, and every commentary I have found, was to omit the Gloria from the Missa pro sponso.

The rubrical revisions in 1960 and the subsequent 1962 Roman Missal allowed for the Gloria to be said for the Missa pro sponso.

Occasionally, Catholic newspaper articles reported wedding Masses that included the Gloria, such as the wedding Mass of the daughter of General William Tecumseh Sherman. This is not terribly surprising, given (for better or for worse) long-standing divergences between wedding rules and practice.

The bigger complicating factor for this ostensibly simple history is that the entry for wedding Masses in The Catholic Encyclopedia - fully available online and easily accessible - is rubrically out of date on this point. That entry is from 1911, and the rubrics in force for the Traditional Latin Mass are the General Rubrics of the Roman Missal, 1960.

Below is a sample of sources, arranged chronologically. They can be considered in two tiers: of primary importance (the Roman Missal and its supplements), secondary importance (rubrical commentaries), and tertiary importance (one newspaper article).

1907

Mueller, Johann Baptist, W. H. W Fanning, and Andrew P. Gans. Handbook of Ceremonies for Priests and Seminarians. St. Louis: Herder, 1907. https://archive.org/details/handbookofceremo00muel/page/234/mode/2up?q=nuptial.

f) the Mass _pro sponso et sponsa is considered a Missa votiva privata, even if a simple Missa cantata or solemn High Mass; hence there is no Gloria nor Credo…

1908

Gihr, Fr. Nicholas. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. St. Louis: Herder, 1908. https://archive.org/details/holysacrificeofm00gihr/.

With regard to the insertion of the Gloria into the Roman Mass liturgy, we have only obscure and uncertain accounts. The use of the Gloria was originally and for a long period rather restricted: it served by preference for the expression of Christmas joy and the Easter chant of exultation. Until nearly the close of the eleventh century the rubrics of the Gregorian Sacramentary prevailed, which granted or prescribed the recitation of the Gloria by the bishop on all Sundays and feast-days; by the priest, on the contrary, only at Easter. But from that time this privilege of the bishops was extended also to priests. Since the revision of the Missal under Pope Pius V. (t 1572) the following rule holds good: as often as the Te Deum occurs in the Matins of the Office, the Gloria is said in the Mass corresponding to the Office; but if the Ambrosian Hymn is omitted in the Office, then in the Mass of the day the Angels Hymn is not to be recited.

[The Creed] occurs in the latter liturgy only on certain days as a mark of special distinction.

(In the pages that follow, Gihr does not include the Missa pro sponso as one of the masses that merits the Credo.)

1911

Fortescue, Adrian. “Nuptial Mass.” In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10005a.htm

The rite of the nuptial Mass and blessing is this: The Mass has neither Gloria nor Creed.

1920

Fortescue, Adrian. The Ceremonies of the Roman Rite Described. London: Burns Oates and Washbourne, 1920. https://archive.org/details/ceremoniesofrom00fort/page/408/mode/2up.

If NUPTIAL MASS is to follow, the priest vests and Mass begins. The nuptial Mass is the votive Mass “Pro sponso et sponsa,” in the missal. It is said with white vestments, without Gloria in excelsis or creed.

1942

Catholic Church. Missale Romanum. Benziger Brothers, 1942.

Si solemnis benedictio Nuptiarum, intra Missam, facienda sit die Dominica, vel alio die Festo, sive de praecepto, licet suppresso, sive Duplici I vel II classis, aut in Octavis Epiphaniae, Paschatis, Pentecostes aut Corporis Christi, vel in Feriis ac vigiliis privilegiatis, dicatur Missa de officio occurrenti, cum Gloria in excelsis et Credo, si illa Missa id requirat, et cum Commemoratione sequentis Missae pro Sponso et Sponsa, et reliquis quae pro Communione et complemento benedictionis in ea habentur. Si autem solemnis benedictio Nuptiarum, intra Missam, facienda sit aliis diebus, etiamsi in iis occurrat Festum Duplex majus vel minus, dicatur sequens Missa votiva pro Sponso et Sponsa, praeterquam in Commemoratione Omnium Fidelium Defunctorum, in qua et Missa votica et solemnis benedictio Nuptialis prohibentur.

(The Roman Missal itself may be a source of confusion, especially for beginners like myself. The rubrics do say “cum Gloria…et Credo,” but they are not actually referring to the nuptial Mass. They refer to occasions in which the nuptial Mass is superceded by a greater feast.

1956

O’Connell, Laurence John. The Book of Ceremonies. Milwaukee,: Bruce Publishing Company, 1956. https://archive.org/details/bookofceremonies0000ocon_1956/.

The Mass pro sponsis, though specially privileged with regard to the days on which it may be celebrated, has the rank of a private votive Mass (p. 141). Hence, the Gloria and Creed are omitted…

1960 - what is currently in effect

The New Rubrics of the Roman Breviary and Missal: Translation and Commentary. Edited by Rev. Patrick L. Murphy. Australia: The Catholic Press Newspaper, 1960. https://maternalheart.org/library/1962rubrics.pdf.

Votive Masses are of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th class. The classes are considered individually in the following sections. (…)

By a votive Mass of the 2nd class is meant a votive Mass which may be celebrated on all liturgical days of the 2nd , 3rd and 4th class. The Mass for bride and bridegroom and the Mass of thanksgiving on the 25th or 50th wedding anniversary are prohibited, however, on all Sundays.

Votive Masses of the 2nd class, provided for by the general rubrics, are: […] j) The votive Mass “for Bride and Bridegroom” and the Mass of thanksgiving on the 25th and 50th wedding anniversary (nos. 378-382).

The privileges of votive Masses of the 2nd class are: a) they are said Gloria, unless violet vestments are used; but without creed, unless it is said by reason of an occurring Sunday or octave…

(This is when the rubrics were changed from no Gloria to yes Gloria.)

1960

Dziadosz J.C.D., Rev. Henry J. “New Rubrics Code No Radical Changes Made in Structure or Texts of Mass.” 1960. https://thecatholicnewsarchive.org/?a=d&d=CTR19601215-01.2.86&srpos=1.

Please note that during the votive Mass “pro sponsis” the Gloria is to be said according to the present law. There is no Creed. however.

1961

McManus, F.R. Handbook for the New Rubrics. Geoffrey Chapman, 1961.

(T)he chief votive Masses may be listed according to class: (…) (Class) 2. (…) certain votive Masses in shrines, nuptial Mass and Mass on jubilee wedding anniversaries.

It may be convenient to list the occasions on which the Gloria in excelsis Deo is sung or said: (…) 4. votive Masses of I, II, and III class…

1962

Catholic Church. Missale Romanum. 1962. https://d03fe30f-fff9-424f-b66f-01063bd12972.filesusr.com/ugd/c6f7dd_4d3ffd46eaba4ae8b544916512634089.pdf.

Si solemnis benedictio nuptiarum, intra Missam, facienda sit die dominico vel die I classis, dicitur Missa de Officio occurrente, cum commemoratione sequentis Missae pro sponsis, sub unica conclusione, etiam diebus in quibus commemoratio Missae votivae impeditae prohibetur; et in ea datur benedictio nuptialis more solito. Si autem solemnis benedictio nuptiarum, intra Missam, facienda sit aliis diebus, dicitur sequens Missa votiva pro sponsis. In Commemoratione omnium Fidelium defunctorum et Triduo sacro prohibetur sive Missa votiva, sive eius commemoratio in Missa diei, sive benedictio nuptialis. infra Missam. Cum vero tam Missa pro sponsis quam benedictio nuptialis prohibetur, Missa una cum benedictione transferri potest in opportuniorem diem non impeditum, post celebratum matrimonium.

These nuptial rubrics are largely the same as the 1942 Roman Missal.

Sources

“The Sherman-Fitch Wedding.” The Catholic Telegraph, October 8 1874. https://thecatholicnewsarchive.org/?a=d&d=TCT18741008-01.1.5&srpos=12.

Gihr, Fr. Nicholas. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. St. Louis: Herder, 1908. https://archive.org/details/holysacrificeofm00gihr/.

Fortescue, Adrian. “Nuptial Mass.” In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10005a.htm

———. The Ceremonies of the Roman Rite Described. London: Burns, Oates and Washbourne, 1920. https://archive.org/details/ceremoniesofrom00fort/page/408/mode/2up.

Catholic Church. Missale Romanum. Benziger Brothers, 1942.

O’Connell, Laurence John. The Book of Ceremonies. Milwaukee,: Bruce Publishing Company, 1956. https://archive.org/details/bookofceremonies0000ocon_1956/.

Saint Joseph Daily Missal. 1957. https://archive.org/details/saintjosephdaily00cath/.

“General Rubrics of the Roman Missal.” 1960, http://divinumofficium.com/www/horas/Help/Rubrics/Missal1960%20rubrics.html.

Dziadosz J.C.D., Rev. Henry J. “New Rubrics Code No Radical Changes Made in Structure or Texts of Mass.” The Catholic Transcript, December 15 1960. https://thecatholicnewsarchive.org/?a=d&d=CTR19601215-01.2.86&srpos=1.