Blessed by Catholic Church?

[xapora]

My fiance and I are considering having our marriage blessed by the Catholic Church instead of getting married in one. We were just wondering exactly what is involved in the process of getting it blessed. Is it more of a ceremony type thing or is it just between us and the priest?

 

[blushingbride]

I would love to know the answer to this question to. Anyone have any experience in this area??

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

You probably just have to prove that you''re both practicing Catholics and make a "donation" of course. I don''t know if they''d require Pre Cana but they might.

 

[poptart]

I THINK you can do both. Either private or public, and you probably have to show that either one or both of you is Catholic. There shouldn''t be any type of retreat or counseling involved with just a blessing though, if I remember correctly. If I were you, I would call a few local priests and ask, because an old fashioned priest will probably require a lot more than a more modern minded priest.

*M*

 

[budgetbride]

although we aren''t getting married in the church, I still wanted our marriage to be recognized. we STILL had to take the pre classes and pay a fee. It''s actually thru our prep stuff that we''ll get our blessings and recognition.

 

[rms]

We had a civil ceremony and then the convalidation ceremony in the Catholic church. The prep we had to go through for the class was exactly the same as if you were only getting married in the church..freedom to marry form, pre-cana, reservation of church (which should probably be the "donation"), etc. For us, it was essentially just like a wedding and that''s what I wanted. We had ~100 guests at church wedding and reception. I have other friends who also had a convalidation ceremony...they limited it to a much smaller group, and the ceremony itself was a bit less formal and less "wedding like" than ours. The church should be able to make it however you like...or so I would hope

 

[xapora]

Thanks everyone for your responses! I didn''t know it was called a convalidation ceremony, but I looked it up and I found a lot of information. Thank you RMS!

 

[dmamsquared]

I have done alot of research on this topic for a friend. First, and foremost, one of you has to be a member of a parish. Go to the pastor and tell your story, the whole story. Then he will determine what the two of you will need to do. At the very least, you will need what is called a "dispensation for disparity of worship". Also, keep in mind something very important. I will use a specific diocese as an example. The (new) General Vicar of the Diocese of Charleston (SC) is enforcing the two-year-wait rule. In other words, convalidations will not be performed for couples married less than two years. Period. So ask your pastor. Some regions actually have convalidation encounters.
Also, keep in mind, priests will waive the six, nine, and twelve- month-wait rule for pre-cana in special circumstances. It depends on the priest and it depends on the circumstance. Pregnancy would be a justifiable circumstance. Notice I said 6-9-12 months. The wait time varies from region to region.

 

[xapora]

Thanks for the info dmamsquared! I am a member of my local Catholic church so I guess when it comes closer to the wedding date I will go in and speak with a priest about it.