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Interfaith
( Catholic/Protestant ) Ceremony
by
by Pastor
Carpenter, NC
Sacramental Rite of Holy Matrimony
Prescribed by the Holy Catholic Church for Interfaith Services Out-of-church,
Without Mass
Silent Pastoral
Prayer
Almighty God, cleanse my heart and my lips that I may be worthy to bless and
proclaim this Holy Sacrament for these thy servants.
THE CONVOCATION
Dearly Beloved, friends, relatives, and honored guests; It is out of our affection
for this Bride and Groom that we have gathered together to witness and
bless their mutual vows which will unite them in Holy Matrimony. To this
moment they bring their open hearts, willing spirits, the dreams which
bind them together, and their own personalities and spirit. We are here
to thank God for bestowing upon them life’s greatest gift; another
person to share with, care for, grow with, change with, be joyful with
and to stand firm as one when trials and tribulations enter their lives.
To you who are
present as friends and families… this is your service as well
and you are here to bestow your blessings and love upon this couple
as they seek to unite as one with the Holy Spirit. By your thoughts,
your feelings and your deeds toward them, on this day and in the
days to come, you can help strengthen the vows they are here to make.
OPENING
PRAYER
Eternal God of Peace and Light, Father of Christ our Lord, we give thanks for
the great gift of love that you have bestowed upon these thy servants. We give
you thanks for _______ and ________ for their open hearts and willing spirits,
and for the example of love that they share with us today. Be with them on
this joyous occasion as they share their love and say their vows; and be with
us their witnesses that we may support them always and be blessed by what is
said and seen here today. May the home they are creating today truly be a place
of love, harmony and thanksgiving, where your Spirit is always present. We
ask these things in the name of Christ our Lord. Amen
THE INVOCATION
Love is the centerpiece to a long and healthy marriage. It is to be shared
between you, not kept apart. While love is difficult to explain or describe,
each of us recognizes it as the ingredient of life that motivates and leads
us to goals above and beyond our individual ambitions. The following reading
by Saint Paul attempts to capture the essence of love.
“1st
CORINTHIANS 13: 1-13”
If I speak in the tongues of men and angels, but have not love, I am only a
resounding gong or clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can
fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move
mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I posses to the poor
and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I am nothing. Love
is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps
no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres. Love
never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are
tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.
For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the
imperfect disappears. Now these three remain; faith, hope and love, but the
greatest of these is love.
MARRIAGE AS A SACRAMENT
The holiness given by Christ to marriage is seen very clearly from
the fact that the union of the baptized is a sacrament. This means
that marriage itself
is a sacred sign through which Christ gives us his Holy Spirit. What does this
consist of? It is the simplest imaginable: the mutual promise and life in accordance
with this promise. This is the sacrament. Hence the form of the sacrament is
of no particular formula taken in and of itself, nor a marriage ceremony by
itself, but the will to belong to each other in love and freely chosen loyalty,
till the day of death. Hence all the love, tenderness, compassion, concern
and caring that married people offer each other is a source of Grace, of Christ’s
presence, of the Holy Spirit. This is the nature of marriage, which Christians
enter into before God. This is the nature of the ceremony you are present to
witness and to partake of.
“PSALM
1”
- Blessed are the man and the woman,
Who have grown beyond themselves,
And have seen through their separations.
- They delight in the way things are,
And keep their hearts open, day and night.
- They are like trees planted near flowing rivers,
Which bear fruit when they are ready.
- Their leaves will not fall or wither,
Everything they do will succeed!
HOMILY
Pastor: Matrimony symbolizes the ultimate intimacy and commitment between a
man and a woman: yet this closeness should not diminish but strengthen
the individuality of each partner. We are gathered here to celebrate a
marriage, which is a spiritual union between two people. Your friends and
family have all come to share their love and to bless you in your new union
and the creation of a brand new family. As you enter into this union together
it is important to reflect upon what has brought you to this point in your
lives. A desire to elevate your relationship above just the ordinary and
to transcend your own limitations as you build a life and a home that is
filled with love, peace, happiness and joy with your spiritual mate.
Base your relationship
on friendship, because when we are truly friends with someone we
want to spend quality time with them. We care when they are sick,
sad or in despair. We listen to their hopes, fears, and dreams as
we seek a deeper understanding of their spirit. We show them sympathy
when things go wrong. We share laughter and lighthearted moments
together. We go out of our way to communicate with them so that we
are “on the same page”, because being so is the only
true way to experience happiness, unconditional love and joy in life.
To achieve true friendship takes commitment, communication, and hard
work, and through this process you will achieve peace in mind, body,
and spirit.
Seek God’s
love and blessings, praying together often. Love is God’s greatest
gift to us and should not be taken for granted. Love is believing,
sharing, caring and dreaming. Love is honesty, friendship, companionship
and selflessness. Love is the desire to be intimate physically, psychologically,
and emotionally. Love is devotion, celebration, understanding, forgiveness
and sacrifice. Love is strong, yet can be fragile. Love is inspiration,
support and the only true way to know God. John tells us that “Whoever
does not love does not know God, because God is love.” God’s
love is called agape love and the Apostle Paul describes this kind
of true love in 1st Corinthians. This is the kind of love that God
want’s between husband and wife.
BESTOWING
OF THE BRIDE
Pastor: Who present in this community bestows this woman to be united with
this man in Holy Matrimony? Parent or respondent stands and replies “I
Do!”
Pastor: Please
face one another and join hands. Matron of Honor takes bouquet.
EXPRESSION
OF INTENT
Do you promise to love and cherish each other; do you promise to comfort each
other, during sorrow and during joy? “We Do”
Do you promise
to support and to tenderly care for each other; to trust and to encourage
each others own fulfillment? “We Do”
Do you promise
to protect each other, to be giving and to be honest with each other,
always? “We Do”
Pastor (to groom
then bride): Do you promise these things and do you take _____ to
be your wife/husband? “I do”
Repeat: In the
name of God, I _______ take you ______, to be my wife/husband,
To have and to hold from this day onward,
For better for worse, for richer for poorer,
In sickness and in health, To love and to cherish,
Until we are parted by death.
RING BLESSING
Pastor (to groom then bride): What pledge do you offer in token of these vows? “This
Ring”
Pastor: Heavenly Father, bless things rings, and grant that they who wear them
may wear them with deep faith in their love for each other. May they both do
your will and always live together in Peace, Love and Abiding Joy. We ask this
through Christ our Lord, Amen.
RING EXCHANGE
Pastor: In offering this ring you mark your desire to enter into the days of
your lives together. Groom repeats then bride: This ring, without beginning
or ending, is a symbol of my eternal love for you. I give you this ring,
as I give you my unconditional love, in the name of the Father, Son and
Holy Spirit. Amen.
LIGHTING
UNITY CANDLE
Pastor (invites mother forward to light candles): These candles represent the
light of your individual spirits, joining together as one with the Holy Spirit.
From this day forward, may your unified light burn bright and strong, and shine
as a beacon in the night for all to see.
WINE CEREMONY (may
be used in place of communion)
The years of life are as a cup of wine poured out for you to drink. This “Cup
of Life” contains within it a wine with certain properties that are sweet
and symbolic of happiness, joy, hope, peace, love and delight. This same wine
also holds some bitter properties that are symbolic of disappointment, sorrow,
grief, despair, and life’s trials and tribulations. Together the sweet
and the bitter represent “Life’s Journey” and all of the
experiences that are a natural part of it. Those who drink deeply from the “Cup
of Life” with an open heart and willing Spirit, invite the full range
of challenges and experiences into their being.
(Pastor pours wine
into goblet and holds it up.)
This “Cup of Life” is symbolic of the pledges you have made to
one another to share together the fullness of life. As you drink from this
cup, you acknowledge to one another that your lives, until this moment separate,
have become one with the Holy Spirit. (Pastor hands glass to groom, who drinks,
then hands it to bride, who drinks, who passes it back to pastor.)
As you have shared
the wine from these goblets, so may you share your lives. May you
find life’s joys heightened, it’s bitterness sweetened,
and all of life enriched by God’s blessings upon you.
CONGREGATION BENEDICTION
May God be gracious unto you and bless you, may his face shine upon you, may
the Holy Spirit that lives in and around all of us fill your hearts and
bless your lives with peace always. May the Lord implant his spirit within
you and grant you length of days, vigor of body, deep and abiding mutual
understanding, companionship and love, increasing with the passage of the
years and in the fullness of peace. Amen
CLOSING PRAYER
Eternal God, without your grace no promise is sure. Strengthen this loving
couple with the gift of the Holy Spirit, so they may fulfill the vows they
have taken. Keep them faithful to each other, and fill them with love and
joy that they may build a home where no one is a stranger. Guide them by
your light to serve you all the days of their lives; through Christ Jesus
our Lord. Amen
PRONIUNCEMENT
Because, _______and ______ have showered our hearts with expressions of their
love,
and consented together in Holy Wedlock, before God and this company,
I now pronounce that they are husband and wife.
KISS
You may now kiss the bride as husband and wife.
INTRODUCTION
Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to introduce to you for the very first time
Mr. and Mrs. ___________________________
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