About

The Latin Mass wedding Mass (one of many votive Masses) is called Missa pro sponso et sponsa, or the Mass for the Groom and Bride. It is optional, and preceded by the Rite of Marriage.

The Latin text below is from the 1920 Missale Romanum, ¹ and the English text is from the 1806 Roman Missal for the Use of the Laity. ²

The wedding Mass is a second class votive Mass ³, and its readings are therefore superceded if the wedding day is on a first class feast. However, the nuptial blessing may still be used. So if, for example, you have a Latin Mass wedding on the Feast of the Assumption of Our Lady (a first class feast), your Mass would have the nuptial blessing, and the final blessing, and the readings for the Mass of the Assumption.

Missa pro sponso et sponsa

Rubrics

Si sollemnis 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 ilia 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 sollemnis 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 Gommemoriatione Omnium Fidelium Defunctorum, in qua et Missa votiva et sollemnis benedictio nuptialis prohibentur.

Introit

Tobias 7:15; 8:19

Deus Israel coniungat vos: et ipse sit vobiscum, qui misertus est duobus unicis: et nunc, Domine, fac eos plenius benedicere te.

May the God of Israel join you together: and may He be with you, who was merciful to two only children: and now, O Lord, make them bless Thee more fully.

Collect

Oratio. Exaudi nos, ommpotens et misericors Deus: ut, quod nostro ministrate officio, tua benedictione potius impleatur. Per Dominum.

Let us pray: Graciously hear us, O Almighty and merciful God; that what is administered by our service may be more effectually fulfilled by Thy blessing. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God world without end. Amen.

Epistle

Ephesians 5:22-33

Fratres: Mulieres viris suis subditae sint, sicut Domino; quoniam vir caput est mulieris, sicut Christus caput est Ecclesiae: Ipse, salvator corporis ejus. Sed sicut Ecclesia subjecta est Christo, ita et mulieres viris suis in omnibus. Viri, diligite uxores vestras, sicut et Christus dilexit Ecclesiam, et seipsum tradidit pro ea, ut illam sanctificaret, mundans lavacro aquae in verbo vitae, ut exhiberet ipse sibi gloriosam Ecclesiam, non habentem maculam, aut rugam, aut aliquid hujusmodi, sed ut sit sancta et immaculata. Ita et viri debent diligere uxores suas, ut corpora sua. Qui suam uxorem diligit, seipsum diligit. Nemo enim umquam carnem suam odio habuit, sed nutrit, et fovet earn, sicut et Christus Ecclesiam: quia membra sumus corporis ejus, de carne ejus et de ossibus ejus. Propter hoc relinquet homo patrem et matrem suam, et adhaerebit uxori suae: et erunt duo in carne una. Sacramentum hoc magnum est, ego autem dico in Christo, et in Ecclesia.

Wives, be subject to your husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. As the church is subject to Christ, so let wives also be subject in everything to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. Even so husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no man ever hates his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is a profound one, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church; however, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

Gradual

Psalm 127:3 (RSV-CE 128)

Uxor tua sicut vitis abundans in lateribus domus tuae. V. Filii tui sicut novellae olivarum in circuitu mensae tuae. Alleluia, alleluia.

Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine on the sides of thy house. V. Thy children as olive plants round about thy table. Alleluia, alleluia.

Tract

Psalm 127:4-6 (RSV-CE 128)

Ecce, sic benedicetur omnis homo, qui timet Dominum. V. Benedicat tibi Dominus ex Sion: et videas bona Jerusalem omnibus diebus vitae tuae. V. Et videas filios filiorum tuorum: pax super Israel.

Behold thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the Lord. May the Lord bless thee out of Sion; and mayest thou see the good things of Jerusalem all the days of thy life. And mayest thou see thy children’s children: peace upon Israel.

Lesser Alleluia

Psalms 19:3 (RSV-CE 20)

Alleluia, alleluia. V. Mittat vobis Dominus auxilium de sancto: et de Sion tueatur vos. Alleluia.

Alleluia, alleluia. V. May the Lord send you help from the sanctuary, and defend you out of Sion. Alleluia.

Greater Alleluia

Psalms 19:3; 133:3 (RSV-CE 20; 134)

Alleluia, alleluia. V. Mittat vobis Dominus auxilium de sancto: et de Sion tueatur vos. Alleluia. V. Benedicat vobis Dominus ex Sion: qui fecit coelum et terram. Alleluia.

Alleluia, alleluia. V. May the Lord send you help from the sanctuary, and defend you out of Sion. Alleluia. V. May the Lord out of Sion bless you: who hath made heaven and earth. Alleluia.

Gospel

Matthew 19:3-6

In illo tempore: Accesserunt ad Jesum pharisaei, tentantes eum et dicentes: Si licet homini dimittere uxorem suam quacumque ex causa? Qui respondens, ait eis: Non legistis, quia qui fecit hominem ab initio, masculum et feminam fecit eos? et dixit: Propter hoc dimittet homo patrem et matrem, et adhaerebit uxori suae, et erunt duo in carne una. Itaque jam non sunt duo, sed una caro. Quod ergo Deus conjunxit, homo non separet.

At that time: The Pharisees came to Jesus, tempting Him and saying; It is lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? Who answering said to them, Have ye not read, that He who made man from the beginning, made them male and female? and He said, For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they two shall be in one flesh. Therefore, now they are not two but one flesh. What, therefore, God hath joined together, let no man put asunder.

(Rubrical note: There should be no Credo for the Missa pro sponso.)

Offertory

Psalms 30:15-16 (RSV-CE 31)

In te speravi, Domine: dixi: Tu es Deus meus: in manibus tuis tempora mea.

In Thee, O Lord, have I hoped: I said, Thou art my God; my times are in Thy hands.

Secret

Suscipe, quaesumus, Domine, pro sacra conubii lege munus oblatum: et, cujus largitor es operis, esto dispositor. Per Dominum.

Receive, we beseech Thee, O Lord, the offering made for the sacred law of matrimony; and be Thou the disposer of the work of which Thou art the author. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God world without end. Amen.

Nuptial Blessing

Propitiare, Domine, supplicationibus nostris, et institutis tuis, quibus propagationem humani generis ordinasti, benignus assiste: ut, quod te auctore jungitur, te auxiliante servetur. Per Dominum nostrum.

Oremus. Deus, qui potestate virtutis tuae de nihilo cuncta fecisti: qui, dispositis universitatis exordiis, homini, ad imaginem Dei facto, ideo inseparabile mulieris adjutorium condidisti, ut femineo corpori de virili dares carne principium, docens, quod ex uno placuisset institui, numquam licere disjungi: Deus, qui tam excellenti mysterio conjugalem copulam consecrasti, ut Christi et Ecclesiae sacramentum praesignares in foedere nuptiarum: Deus, per quem mulier jungitur viro, et societas principaliter ordinata ea benedictione donatur, quae sola nec per originalis peccati poenam nec per diluvii est ablata sententiam: respice propitius super hanc famulam tuam, quae, maritali jungenda consortio, tua se expetit protectione muniri: sit in ea jugum dilectionis et pacis: fidelis et casta nubat in Christo, imitatrixque sanctarum permaneat feminarum: sit amabilis viro suo, ut Rachel: sapiens, ut Rebecca: longaeva et fidelis, ut Sara: nihil in ea ex actibus suis ille auctor praevaricationis usurpet: nexa fidei mandatisque permaneat: uni thoro juncta, contactus illicitos fugiat: muniat infirmitatem suam robore disciplinae: sit verecundia gravis, pudore venerabilis, doctrinis coelestibus erudita: sit fecunda in subole, sit probata et innocens: et ad beatorum requiem atque ad caelestia regna perveniat: et videant ambo filios filiorum suorum, usque in tertiam et quartam generationem, et ad optatam perveniant senectutem. Per eiindem Dominum nostrum.

Mercifully give ear, O Lord, to our prayers, and let thy grace accompany this thy institution, by which thou hast ordained the propagation of mankind, that this tie, which is made by thy authority, may be preserved by thy grace. Through Our Lord…R. Amen.

Let us pray. O God, who, by the power of thy might, didst create all things out of nothing: who, at the first forming of the world, having made man to the likeness of God, didst, out of his flesh, make the woman, and give her to him for a help-mate: and by this didst inform us, that what in its beginning was one, ought never to be separated. O God, who by so excellent a mystery, hast consecrated this union of the two sexes, and hast been pleased to make it a type of the great sacrament of Christ and his Church, O God, by whom woman is joined to man, and that union, which was instituted in the beginning, is still accompanied with such a blessing, as alone, neither in punishment of original sin, nor by the sentence of the deluge, had been recalled; mercifully look down upon this thy handmaid, who, being now to be joined in wedlock, earnestly desires to be taken under thy protection: may love and peace constantly remain in her: may she marry in Christ faithful and chaste: may she ever imitate the holy women of former times: may she be pleasing to her husband, like Rachael: discreet, like Rebecca; may she, in her years and fidelity, be like Sarah: and may the first author of all evil, at no time, have any share in her actions. May she remain attached to the faith and the commandments, and, being joined to one man in wedlock, may she fly all unlawful addresses: may a regularity of life and conduct be her strength against the weakness of her sex: may she be modest and grave, bashful and venerable, and well instructed in heavenly doctrine. May she be fruitful in her offspring, approved and innocent; and may it be at length her happy lot to arrive at the rest of the blessed in the kingdom of God: may they both see their children’s children to the third and fourth generation, and live to their wished-for old age. Through Our Lord…R. Amen.

Communion

Psalms 127:4, 6 (RSV-CE 128)

Ecce sic benedicetur omnis homo, qui timet Dominum: et videas filios filiorum tuorum: pax super Israel.

Behold, thus shall every man be blessed that feareth the Lord; and mayest thou see thy children’s children; peace upon Israel.

Postcommunion

Quaesumus, omnipotens Deus: institiita providentiae tuae pio favore comitare; ut, quos legitima societate conectis, longaeva pace custodias. Per Dominum.

Let us pray: We beseech Thee, Almighty God, to accompany the institutions of Thy providence with Thy gracious favor ; that thou mayest preserve those with lasting peace whom Thou unitest in lawful union. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God world without end. Amen.

Final Blessing

Deus Abraham, Deus Isaac et Deus Jacob sit vobiscum: et ipse adimpleat benedictionem suam in vobis: ut videatis filios filiorum vestrorum usque ad tertiam et quartam generationem, et postea vitam aeternam habeatis sine fine: adjuvante Domino nostra Jesu Christo, qui cum Patre et Spiritu Sancto vivit et regnat Deus. per omnia saecula saeculorum. R. Amen.

May the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob be with you: and may he fulfill his blessing in you; that you may see your children’s children to the third and fourth generation: and afterwards enter into the possession of eternal life, through the assistance of our Lord Jesus Christ, who with the Father and the Holy Ghost, liveth, &c.

R. Amen.

Sources