Rubricians: Marriage on an Ember Day?
  • Johnny Domer
    Posts: 21
    What do you do if you're trying to have a Nuptial Mass in the EF on an Ember Day (specifically, the Saturday Ember Day of the Octave of Pentecost)? Is this not allowed? Which Mass should we use, the Nuptial Mass or the Ember Day Mass? Any advice would be appreciated from anyone with knowledge of the rubrics of the EF.
    Thanked by 1Chrism
  • Johnny Domer
    Posts: 21
    Also, if we got the local bishop to give a dispensation, could we simply offer the Nuptial Mass instead of the Ember Day Mass?
  • BenBen
    Posts: 3,114
    Pretty much anything is possible with a dispensation. :)
  • Johnny Domer
    Posts: 21
    I guess part of what I'm asking is: is a dispensation possible? I figure bishops can't give dispensations for certain things (for example, to offer Mass on Good Friday, or to offer a Requiem Mass on a Sunday).
    Thanked by 2Chrism [Deleted User]
  • Chrism
    Posts: 868
    A Nuptial Mass is permitted on Ember Saturday of Pentecost (1917 CIC c. 1108).

    The Mass must be the Mass of Ember Saturday (red vestments), with collects and prayers of the Mass "For Bride and Bridegroom" appended, and with the Solemn Nuptial Blessing (1962 GRRM r. 380).

    Notes:

    1. You may have been thinking of the tempus clausum, during which wedding Masses (but not weddings themselves) were prohibited. Under the 1917 Code (c. 1108), the tempus clausum was simply Advent and Lent, inclusive of Christmas Day and Easter Sunday.

    2. The local Ordinary had the right to permit wedding Masses during the tempus clausum "for just cause, having warned the spouses to abstain from too much pomp." (c. 1108).

    3. That having been said, there remains a separate liturgical prohibition in the 1962 Rubrics against wedding Masses of any sort on All Souls' Day and during the Sacred Triduum. (r. 381 d). This prohibition could not be dispensed by the Ordinary.
  • Chrism
    Posts: 868
    And in answer to your second question, to be precise, a "Nuptial Mass" is any Wedding Mass at which the Solemn Nuptial Blessing is given, regardless of Propers used.

    The Class II Votive Mass "For Bride and Bridegroom", a/k/a the Missa "Deus Israel", is prohibited under the 1962 Rubrics during any Class I day such as the Class I Octave of Pentecost (including Ember Saturday). There is no provision under the 1962 Rubrics under which the Local Ordinary can allow a Class I Votive "For Bride and Bridegroom", without indult from the Holy See.

    FWIW, I don't see much of a pastoral issue with using the Mass of Pentecost Saturday. There is a "Formae Missae Brevior" (i.e., short form) with two readings and Collects (instead of the one for the Votive Mass), but there remain only two Alleluia verses. Plus, you get to sing the Veni Sancte Spiritus sequence and the Gloria, and genuflect during the second Alleluia. Other than the red vestments, that is probably the only thing anyone would notice. Personally, I'd be happy to invoke the Holy Ghost's protection in such a special way on my marriage.

    OTOH, you could probably "get away" with having the Votive Propers used at a family wedding, as long as you don't try to post pictures on NLM or something.
    Thanked by 2[Deleted User] Ben
  • Chrism
    Posts: 868
    And finally, since you asked regarding Ember Days in general, here is a summary:
    * Advent - Wedding Mass prohibited (tempus clausum) unless Ordinary approves with admonition to abstain from "too much pomp" - Mass is Missa Deus Israel.
    * Lent - Wedding Mass prohibited (tempus clausum) unless Ordinary approves with admonition to abstain from "too much pomp" - Mass is Missa Deus Israel.
    * Pentecost - Wedding Mass permitted. Mass must be of Pentecost week.
    * September - Wedding Mass permitted. Mass is Missa Deus Israel.
  • gsmisek
    Posts: 8
    "to be precise, a "Nuptial Mass" is any Wedding Mass at which the Solemn Nuptial Blessing is given, regardless of Propers used"

    That's not how the rubricians used the term. Granted, the terms "Missa nuptialis" and "Missa nuptiarum" don't appear in the General Rubrics or any other part of the Roman Missal, the following authorities used the term "nuptial Mass" back in the day to refer specifically to the votive Mass pro sponsis (named Pro sponso et sponsa before and after the 1962 Missal).

    “The nuptial Mass is the votive Mass “Pro sponso et sponsa” in the missal.” (A. Fortescue, The Ceremonies of the Roman Rite Described, 2nd ed.-new impression [Burns & Oates, 1920], p. 408. Both J.B. O’Connell and A. Reid retained this meaning of the term “nuptial Mass.”)

    "Whenever the nuptial Mass, but not the nuptial blessing, is forbidden, the Mass of the Office of the day is said..." (J. B. Canon O'Connell, The Celebration of Mass [Bruce, 1964] p. 72).

    "The rules for the celebration of the Nuptial Mass (or of the Mass of the day with Nuptial Blessing) ... need not be repeated here" (Msgr. Frederick McManus, "Ceremonies of the Ritual in the United States of America," Appendix II of The Ceremonies of the Roman Rite Described, by A. Fortescue and J. B. O'Connell, 12th ed., [Burns & Oates, 1962], p. 417).

    "Votive Masses II class, as provided for by the general rubrics, are: ... (l) the Nuptial Mass..." (translating "Missa pro sponsis"; Rev. Patrick L. Murphy, trans., The New Rubrics of the Roman Breviary and Missal [Sydney: Catholic Press Newspaper, 1960] p. 64, n. 342l).
    Thanked by 2Jahaza CHGiffen
  • PiusOP
    Posts: 3
    I hope someone is still following this thread.

    The Nuptial Mass (Missa pro sponsis) may be said on an Ember Day in September, which is a II Class Ferial. If so, must one also include the commemorations of the Ember Day?
  • MatthewRoth
    Posts: 1,959
    Does one normally make commemorations in a Votive Mass in the EF? That is where I would start to answer the question.
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