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The Novus Ordo Rite of Marriage—Revisiting the Eldest Child of the Reform (Part 1)

Tradition and Sanity

A guest article by Anthony Jones In the Second Vatican Council’s Constitution on the Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, three paragraphs are devoted to marriage. The section begins by declaring that "the rite of celebrating marriage in the Roman book of rites is to be revised, and made richer, in such a way that it will express the grace of the sacrament more clearly, and emphasise the duties of wife and husband." Similar to the document’s proposed reform of the Roman Mass, the vagueness of this sentence opened up the traditional Roman rite of marriage to an indefinite amount of change. Moreover, even the best instruction can only supplement the rite of marriage itself, which has its own formative power. Thus, the text of that rite merits careful consideration, particularly for engaged Roman rite couples with an important choice before them: to be wed using the Vetus Ordo (“old older”) rite of marriage or the Novus Ordo (“new order”) one? This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.traditionsanity.com/subscribe