The Nuptial Mass | The Story Of The Care Cloth

The care cloth is regularly seen at Saint John Henry Newman Church, in Victoria, BC, a community of the Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter. Young couples entering into Holy Matrimony at the Church appreciate the significance of such beautiful rituals that help them acknowledge the profound mystery into which they are entering. In time, perhaps, as more guests witness its use, the care cloth might seen in matrimonial celebrations of the Novus Ordo Mass. Hint, hint. 

The nuptial veil, also known as the care cloth or wedding canopy, is an ancient Christian wedding tradition where a cloth is held over the bride and groom during the Nuptial Blessing. Representing the “marriage yoke” that unites them, it’s a rectangular linen or silk sheet, smaller than the Jewish Chuppah, usually white with a red pattern or cord. According to St. Isidore of Seville, the white stands for the purity of Christian and marital love, while the red symbolizes the continuation of the family bloodline.

Beneath the canopy of heaven, the couple become a sign of the Holy Trinity. They, being the ministers of the Sacrament, are united in the love they share, a reflection of the communion of the Father and Son sharing the Love Who is the Holy Spirit of both.

Care-Cloths: The Mystagogical Value of Traditional Wedding Customs, Part II. Michael P. Foley writes at NLM:

The Christian care-cloth or wedding veil is derived from or at least partially inspired by the marriage customs of ancient Rome. A flammeum (so-called because of its fiery red color) was a veil worn by a Roman bride during the torchlit procession from her father’s home to her husband’s known as the deductio; it was this veil and this procession that marked her transition from betrothal to wedlock. The flammeum is mentioned several times in Latin literature and even became proverbial: Juvenal uses the phrase “she wears out veils” (flammea conterit) for a woman who changes husbands repeatedly. Moreover, the taking of the flammeum is responsible for one of our English words for wedding. The verb nubo/nubere, from which comes the adjective “nuptial,” originally meant to cover or veil oneself as a bride in order to wed; only later was its meaning broadened to signify the bridegroom’s marrying as well. Curiously, then, a couple’s “nuptials,” their “crowning,” or their chuppah—words for a wedding in the Western Church, the Eastern Churches, and the Jewish synagogue, respectively—are all derived from ceremonies not of the hands or the ring but the head.

Tertullian (160-225) rejected a Roman custom of wedding crowns as idolatrous, but he accepted the veil on the grounds that it accorded with the Pauline teaching on women in church and with the exemplary modesty Rebecca showed in veiling herself before Isaac; he subsequently writes of a lex velaminis and a disciplina velaminis for betrothed and married women lasting even after the ceremony.

Dr. Peter Kwasniewski writes:

The velatio nuptialis is an ancient tradition of the Catholic Church, well established since at least the fourth century. During the nuptial blessing, which is said between the Canon and Communion, a white cloth (pallium) is held over the couple. St. Ambrose, fourth-century bishop of Milan, writes, “It is fitting that the marriage be sanctified by the imposition of the veil and the blessing of the priest.” The white cloth signifies the bright cloud, which is at once a sign of God’s protection accompanying the chosen people wandering in the desert (Ex. 13:20–22), the Holy Spirit overshadowing Mary (Lk. 1:35), and the bright cloud of the Transfiguration on Mt. Tabor (Lk. 9:28-36; 2 Pt. 1:17–18). It also signifies that the couple becomes one flesh through marriage. In France, the poêle, which is another word for the veil, is also used to honor the Blessed Sacrament on the feast of Corpus Christi, which appropriately connects the wedding of the couple to the wedding feast of Christ and the Church, represented and effected by the Blessed Sacrament. While the velatio nuptialis experienced widespread use in the Middle Ages in the Roman Rite, it fell out of use almost everywhere outside of France, although the tradition is seeing a slow revival.

A revival well underway in Ordinariate circles! All Catholics are welcome to take in the striking beauty of the Ordinariate Nuptial Mass, the text of which is inherited from the English Patrimony found in the Book of Common Prayer.

The text of the Nuptial Blessing from the Nuptial Mass

The full text of the Divine Worship Nuptial Mass can be found at:

https://files.ecatholic.com/3059/documents/resources/AC_Marriage_Rite.pdf?t=1421079198000

After the Our Father, the prayer Deliver us shall be omitted. The Priest, standing and facing the bride and bridegroom, shall invoke upon them God’s blessing and this never shall be omitted. The bride and bridegroom shall approach the altar or, if appropriate, they shall remain kneeling at their place.

Form A

O eternal God, Creator and Preserver of all mankind, giver of all spiritual grace, the author of everlasting life: send thy blessing upon these thy servants, this man and this woman, whom we bless + in thy Name; that, living faithfully together, they may surely perform and keep the vow and covenant betwixt them made, whereof the ring [or rings] given and received is a token [are tokens] and pledge; and may ever remain in perfect love and peace together, and live according to thy laws; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The following shall be omitted, where the woman is past child bearing.

O merciful Lord and heavenly Father, by whose gracious gift mankind is increased; bestow, we beseech thee, upon these two persons the heritage and gift of children; and grant that they may see their children christianly and virtuously brought up to thy praise and honour, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The prayer continues: O God, who hast taught us that it should never be lawful to put asunder those whom thou by Matrimony hadst made one, and hast consecrated the state of Matrimony to such an excellent mystery, that in it is signified and represented the spiritual marriage and unity betwixt Christ and his Church: Look mercifully upon these thy servants, that both this man may love his wife, according to thy Word, as Christ did love his spouse the Church, who gave himself for her, loving and cherishing her even as his own flesh, and also that this woman may be loving and amiable, and faithful to her husband, and in all quietness, sobriety, and peace, be a follower of holy and godly women. O Lord, bless them both, and grant them to inherit thy everlasting kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Form B

O eternal God, Creator and Preserver of all mankind, giver of all spiritual grace, the author of everlasting life: send thy blessing upon these thy servants, this man and this woman, whom we bless + in thy Name; that, living faithfully together, they may surely perform and keep the vow and covenant betwixt them made, whereof the ring [or rings] given and received is a token [are tokens] and pledge; and may ever remain in perfect love and peace together, and live according to thy laws; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The following shall be omitted, where the woman is past child bearing.

O Almighty God, Creator of mankind, who only art the wellspring of life; bestow upon these thy servants, if it be thy will, the gift and heritage of children; and grant that they may see their children brought up in thy faith and fear, to the honour and glory of thy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The prayer continues: O God, who hast so consecrated the state of Matrimony that in it is represented the spiritual marriage and unity betwixt Christ and his Church; look mercifully upon these thy servants, that they may love, honour, and cherish each other, and so live together in faithfulness and patience, in wisdom and true godliness, that their home may be a haven of blessing and of peace; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit ever, one God, world without end. Amen.

Pictured here: photographs courtesy of Andrea Collins.

https://andreacollinsphotography.pixieset.com/vincentandallison/

Solemn High Nuptial Mass

Solemn Nuptial Mass