(ZENIT News / Rome, 08.09.2026).- Answered by Legionary of Christ Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy and sacramental theology at the Pontifical Regina Apostolorum university.
Q: These are follow-up questions to your October 24, 2017, and February 5, 2013, articles on Zenit about the renewal of the couple’s marital commitment (not vows) on milestone anniversaries. My questions relate to the revised Order of Celebrating Matrimony as implemented for use in U.S. dioceses in 2016. My first question: May I use Appendix III («The Order of Blessing a Married Couple Within Mass on the Anniversary of Marriage») within Masses other than the «Masses and Prayers for Various Needs and Occasions, no. 11. On the Anniversaries of Marriage,” as mentioned in the rubrics in no. 237? For example, can I use it within Mass on a Sunday in Ordinary Time or some other feast day if I keep the proper text for the Sunday/feast day Mass and the Sunday/feast day readings? My second question: May I use that same text from Appendix III outside of Mass but modify it to reflect the «Order of Blessing of a Married Couple Outside Mass” in the Book of Blessings? In other words, use the text of Appendix III, while trying to maintain the structure and chief elements of the rite in the Book of Blessings? — D.G., Irondale, Alabama
A: It should first be noted that the content of Appendix III («The Order of Blessing a Married Couple Within Mass on the Anniversary of Marriage») is structurally similar, but with some adjustments, to the texts found in Chapter 1, III, A of the Book of Blessings.
Hence, its inclusion as an appendix to the Order of Marriage, while it is primarily a further convenience to priests and other pastoral agents by grouping liturgical texts that refer to marriage into one book, also incorporates a theme that had been the subject of theological and pastoral reflection.
The rites contained in the Book of Blessings, however, are not abrogated by the later texts; nor are its norms inapplicable.
This book offers several formulas of blessings for married couples; for instance, «An Order of Blessing Within Mass on the Anniversary of Marriage,» which includes the possibility of an incensing of rings or the renewal of the exchange of rings. It also includes an «Order of Blessings within Mass for Other Occasions.» Finally, the Book of Blessing offers an «Order of Blessing of Married Couples Outside of Mass» with formulas adapted to both anniversaries and other situations.
None of these formulas include a renewal of the matrimonial promises nor any other possibility of a more formal renewal of the marriage commitment.
This is the principal novelty of the above-mentioned Appendix III of the Rite of Marriage as explained in our previous articles.
At the same time, these appendices conserve the overall structure of a blessing, and hence I believe that the overarching principles and rubrics from the Book of Blessings would be generally applicable and can guide us in responding to our reader’s queries.
The existence of a rite for the «Blessing of a Married Couple within Mass on other Occasions» would, I believe, answer positively our correspondent’s first question as to the possibility of the renewal being open to situations other than anniversaries. It would be possible to celebrate the renewal on other suitable occasions such as marriage renewal retreats or particular family situations.
Let’s turn to the second question as to whether the new texts could be incorporated into the structure of the rite found in the Book of Blessings for blessing a Married Couple Outside of Mass.
Regarding the overall structure of the rite the rubrics of the Book of Blessings indicate:
«While maintaining the structure and chief elements of the rite, the minister should adapt the celebration to the circumstances of the place and the married couple and the families involved.» This rubric is later repeated with respect to Blessing of a Married Couple Outside of Mass (No. 116).
With respect to the readings for the blessing within Mass the rubric states:
“94 Depending on the provisions of the rubrics, in the liturgy of the word the readings may be taken either from the lectionary of the Rite of Marriage or from the Lectionary for Mass, Masses for Various Needs and Occasions, ‘In Thanksgiving.’” This rubric is repeated for blessings within Mass on Other Occasions (No. 107).
As to the readings in the rite of blessing of a married couple outside of Mass, the rubric states:
“121 A reader or another person present reads a text of sacred Scripture, taken preferably from the texts provided in the Rite of Marriage and the Lectionary for Mass. The readings chosen should be those that best apply to the life of the couple.”
Taking this flexibility into account and given that the rubrics speak of adjustments made by the “minister,” my opinion is that there is scope for such adjustments provided that the adjusted rite contains only officially approved texts with no untoward inventiveness. Nothing should be included that might contain doctrinal ambiguities regarding the definitive character of the original marriage vows.
The process of promulgating and translating liturgical books is a time-consuming affair, and it is therefore no wonder that a more recent liturgical book might touch on material from an earlier rite and treat it in a different way. Thus, a deepening reflection on the possibility of some form of public confirmation of marriage vows has been incorporated into the Order of Marriage as an appendix while it is absent from the earlier Rite of Blessings.
A definitive harmonization of the two books would be the competence of each national bishops’ conference with the approval of the Holy See, or the Holy See promulgating a new Book of Blessings.
In the meantime, some dioceses, such as Calgary, in Canada, have produced their own rite based on the possibilities offered by the rubrics themselves and considering that it fulfills a genuine pastoral need. Pending a definitive solution, perhaps this process of approval of a rite at the diocesan level can be a better solution than each minister working on his own initiative.
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Readers may send questions to zenit.liturgy@gmail.com. Please put the word «Liturgy» in the subject field. The text should include your initials, your city and your state, province or country. Father McNamara can only answer a small selection of the great number of questions that arrive.
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