Liturgical texts issued for ordinariates of former Anglicans: 'with this ring I thee wed'
CWN - July 04, 2012
The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments has promulgated the first liturgical texts for personal ordinariates of former Anglicans who have been received into full communion with the Catholic Church under the terms of Pope Benedict's apostolic constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus.
Archbishop J. Augustine Di Noia, until recently the Congregation's secretary, and Father Uwe Michael Lang, author of Turning Towards the Lord: Orientation in Liturgical Prayer, assisted in the development of the texts.
"We welcome with gratitude these texts, which bring into Catholic liturgical life some of the most beloved and memorable texts in the Book of Common Prayer," said Msgr. Jeffrey Steenson, Ordinary for the Ordinariate of the Chair of St Peter, which is located in the United States. "These texts have blessed and comforted generations of English-speaking Christians and will be deeply appreciated in the Ordinariate communities."
The Order for Funerals includes Scripture passages from the Revised Standard Version (Catholic Edition) and allows for the recitation or singing of the sequence Dies Irae. As the coffin is lowered into the grave, the celebrant prays:
Forasmuch as it hath pleased almighty God of his great mercy to take unto himself the soul of our dear brother/sister here departed, we therefore commit his/her body to the ground; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust; in sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ; who shall change the body of our low estate that it may be like unto his glorious body, according to the mighty working, whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself. [first option]
During the exchange of consent in the Order for the Celebration of Holy Matrimony, the man says:
I, N, take thee, N, to my wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse: for richer, for poorer; in sickness and in health; to love and to cherish, till death us do part, according to God's holy law; and thereto I plight thee my troth.
During the exchange of rings, the man says:
With this ring I thee wed; with my body I thee worship; and all my worldly goods with thee I share: In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Holy See has already approved a liturgical calendar for the ordinariates that includes Sundays after Epiphany and Trinity Sunday (rather than Sundays of Ordinary Time), Septuagesima, Sexagesima, and Quinquagesima Sundays (before Lent), the Pentecost Octave, and Rogation and Ember Days. The use of the Revised Standard Version lectionary is permitted during Mass.
Some links will take you to other sites, in a new window.
- First liturgical texts for Ordinariates for former Anglicans (Vatican Radio)
- Holy See promulgates first liturgical texts for ordinariates (Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter)
- Order for Funerals (Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter)
- Order for the Celebration of Holy Matrimony (Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter)
- Liturgical Calendar for the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter
