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I really like Ecclesiastes...I don't remember which verses. It's the "for everything there is a season..." passage.
This is what we used, our minister said it was the first time he'd used it at a wedding. :)
The version we used:
Romans 12:9-18 (New Living Translation)
9 Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. 10 Love each other with genuine affection,[a] and take delight in honoring each other. 11 Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically.[b] 12 Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. 13 When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality.
14 Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. 15 Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all!
17 Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. 18 Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.
More traditional version:
Romans 12:9-18 (New International Version)
Love
9Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
14Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.[a] Do not be conceited.
17Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. 18If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
We did Ruth 1:16 - 17
But Ruth said, "Do not ask me to abandon or forsake you! for wherever you go I will go, wherever you lodge I will lodge, your people shall be my people, and your God my God.
Wherever you die I will die, and there be buried. May the LORD do so and so to me, and more besides, if aught but death separates me from you!"
We're using:
Ecclesiastes 4: 9-12, “Two are better than one because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.”
We considered this one:
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
9Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. 10For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up. 11Furthermore, if two lie down together they keep warm, but how can one be warm alone? 12And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart.
I really like the one JeniRae posted too.
Edit: LeyLey, I see we think alike! We were posting at the same time...
I haven't picked my readings yet (will be doing convalidation next spring), but here is the website I have been looking at for ideas:
http://catholicweddinghelp.com/topics/readings-rite.htm
Thanks so much for these ideas! I really like the Ecclesiastes reading. Do you think there would be a problem using that if it's not in the traditional list? I don't think I saw it on catholicweddinghelp.com for instance.
We did John 15:1-17
1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8 This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.10 If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love.11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.14 You are my friends if you do what I command.15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit–fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 17 This is my command: Love each other.
We're using this:
A reading from the Book of Sirach.
A loving partner is a safe shelter.
Whoever finds one has found a rare treasure.
A loving partner is something beyond price.
There is no measuring their worth.
A loving partner is a lifesaving remedy and those who respect the Lord find true love, for as a person is, so is their loved one.
This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
I just thought it was nice and simple.
I love the Ecclesiastes reading and the Romans one as well. They are two of my favorites. We're doing Genesis (the non rib one!), John 4:7-12 (God is love) and Matthew 22:35 (You shall love the lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mine, and love your neighbor as yourself).
Those really reflect what is important to us. For Genesis, that we are part of God's whole creation (we're both big outdoors people), for John, a reminder of who God is and what out love really is, and for Matthew, a reminder that marriage is a calling.
We are using the following
Old Testament: Tobit 8:4b-8
Tobiah arose from bed and said to his wife, “My love, get up. Let us pray and beg our Lord to have mercy on us and to grant us deliverance.” She got up, and they started to pray and beg that deliverance might be theirs. He began with these words:
“Blessed are you, O God of our fathers; praised be your name forever and ever. Let the heavens and all your creation praise you forever. You made Adam and you gave him his wife Eve to be his help and support; and from these two the human race descended. You said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone; let us make him a partner like himself.’ Now, Lord, you know that I take this wife of mine not because of lust, but for a noble purpose. Call down your mercy on me and on her, and allow us to live together to a happy old age.” They said together, “Amen, amen,” and went to bed for the night.
New Testament: Colossians 3:12-17
Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Gospel Reading: John 15:9-12 (posted allready)
I'm not Christian, but I did study the Bible as literature in high school and university. Why not try something from Song of Songs? It basically reads like a love poem. It IS a love poem.
Does your church let you pick any reading you wish? We had to stick to the ones out of the book they gave us to plan our ceremony. We don't have any other choices. I had a really hard time picking an old testament reading. I didn't love any of them. We ended up selecting a passage from Genesis. For our new testament reading, we picked the First Corinthians passage - its so overdone, but its so beautiful.
Our gospel reading is Matthew 5:1-12a - also known as the beatitudes. Its very beautiful.
Some of the choices we were given do not mention marriage specifically and these are some that I like:
Jeremiah 31:31
John 15:9-12 or Matthew 5:13-16
@TexasMeredith - another one I'm considering is Matthew 5:1-12a, trying to choose between that and the later 5:13-16. :-)
We used Tobit 8:5b-8 (grant that she and I may find mercy and grow old together) and Colossians 3:12-17 (clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience) like @kate6214. For the Gospel, my husband chose the Beatitudes.
I'm with you on doing anything BUT Corintians. It's lovely, but overdone. Hope you find something that you and your fiance are happy with!
It's funny, cause I feel like no one actually picks Corinthians because its "overdone." But I think everyone thinks its overdone so no one chooses it anymore! Except in movies. My fiance really wanted it because he thinks its the best description of love there is, and I agree. But at the same time, I didn't want everyone sitting there thinking "ugh, not this again." So we went with 1 John.
I've heard that one of your readings must explicitly mention marriage. Is that true?
I think we're going to choose one of the Genesis readings for our first reading. We have to choose from the "Together for Life" book and there isn't much that I really like. We're doing Corinthians for our New Testament reading because it really speaks to me and I don't care if it's "overdone". I looked through the wedding programs I've collected over the past 5 years and NONE of them used that reading. We're using John 15: 9-12 for the Gospel reading.
We used ones from Together for Life. Our First reading was the Tobit one about growing old together. Our second was 1 Corinthians, but I love that reading. Our gospel was from John, the wedding at Cana. Your priest may have some suggestions. We picked everything ourselves from together for life and the various hymnals and looked at programs from our Catholic Weddings. Everyone said our mass was beautiful.
every wedding i've been to has had corinthians and then my sorority in college read it at the beginning of every meeting so needless to say i stayed away from it. i think the readings we chose are about love above all.
First reading - Song of Songs 2:10-12, 14; 8:6-7
My lover speaks; he says to me,
“Arise, my beloved, my dove, my beautiful one, and come!
“For see, the winter is past, the rains are over and gone.
The flowers appear on the earth, the time of pruning the vines has come,
And the song of the dove is heard in our land.
My lover belongs to me and I to him.
He says to me:
“Set me as a seal on your heart,
as a seal on your arm;
For stern as death is love,
relentless as the nether world is devotion;
its flames are a blazing fire.
Deep waters cannot quench love,
nor floods sweep it away.”
Second reading - 1 John 4:7-12
Beloved, let us love one another,
because love is of God;
everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God.
Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love.
In this way the love of God was revealed to us:
God sent his only-begotten Son into the world
so that we might have life through him.
In this is love:
not that we have loved God, but that he loved us
and sent his Son as expiation for our sins.
Beloved, if God so loved us,
we also must love one another.
No one has ever seen God.
Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us,
and his love is brought to perfection in us.
Gospel – John 15:9-12
Jesus said to his disciples:
“This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.
No one has greater love than this,
to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
You are my friends if you do what I command you.
I no longer call you slaves,
because a slave does not know what his master is doing.
I have called you friends,
because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.
It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you
and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain,
so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you.”
We used Colossians 3:12-17, another one from the new testament, and I can't remember what Gospel but it was very short and to the point.
we are doing the Ruth passage that someone mentioned earlier and this one:
For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:14-19 (may the Lord add a blessing to the reading and hearing of His holy word)
i am so with you on the passages like love is patient - its at every wedding! *sigh*
We found this as a suggested reading in a book our priest gave us. It's the frontrunner for our first reading
9 My love is like a gazelle, like a young stag. See where he stands behind our wall. He looks in at the window, he peers through the opening.
10 My love lifts up his voice, he says to me, 'Come then, my beloved, my lovely one, come.
11 For see, winter is past, the rains are over and gone.
12 'Flowers are appearing on the earth. The season of glad songs has come, the cooing of the turtledove is heard in our land.
13 The fig tree is forming its first figs and the blossoming vines give out their fragrance. Come then, my beloved, my lovely one, come.
14 'My dove, hiding in the clefts of the rock, in the coverts of the cliff, show me your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet and your face is lovely.'
15 Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that make havoc of the vineyards, for our vineyards are in fruit.
16 My love is mine and I am his. He pastures his flock among the lilies.
17 Before the day-breeze rises, before the shadows flee, return! Be, my love, like a gazelle, like a young stag, on the mountains of Bether.
I chose similar to MissDane, but for New Testament did the 'love is patient..' typical reading because within the last year my fiancee and I were at mass when that was read on an ordinary sunday and we had a very romantic moment. I knew we had to have it.
Isn't Song of Songs beautiful? A love poem. I love it.
And I always love when my priest talks about the fact that 'love one another' is really the only thing you need to remember. So I want to use that reading to maybe have him tell my guests that in the homily.
For my Gospel reading, I'm doing the Beatitudes because it is my favorite reading and really tied to social justice teachings.
I haven't chosen the New Testament reading.
For the Old Testament reading, I want to do Song of Songs, 3: 1-11. It's not in my wedding planning book. Do you think the priest will let me use it?
On my bed at night I sought him
whom my heart loves-
I sought him but I did not find him. 2 I will rise then and go about the city;
in the streets and crossings I will seek
Him whom my heart loves.
I sought him but I did not find him. 3 The watchmen came upon me
as they made their rounds of the city:
Have you seen him whom my heart loves? 4 I had hardly left them
when I found him whom my heart loves.
I took hold of him and would not let him go
till I should bring him to the home of my mother,
to the room of my parent. 5 I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem,
by the gazelles and hinds of the field,
Do not arouse, do not stir up love
before its own time. 6 D 2 What is this coming up from the desert,
like a column of smoke
Laden with myrrh, with frankincense,
and with the perfume of every exotic dust? 7 Ah, it is the litter of Solomon;
sixty valiant men surround it,
of the valiant men of Israel: 8 All of them expert with the sword,
skilled in battle,
Each with his sword at his side
against danger in the watches of the night. 9 King Solomon made himself a carriage
of wood from Lebanon. 10 He made its columns of silver,
its roof of gold,
Its seat of purple cloth,
its framework inlaid with ivory. 11 Daughters of Jerusalem, come forth
and look upon King Solomon
In the crown with which his mother has crowned him
on the day of his marriage,
on the day of the joy of his heart.
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I would love some ideas for scripture readings that I haven't heard at every single wedding I've ever been to.
Old Testament: Anything that's NOT about Adam and his rib. Preferably no Genesis. No Proverbs about a good wife.
Epistle: Anything that's NOT 1 Corinthians 13 (Love is patient, etc).
Gospel: Anything that's NOT Jesus giving a sermon about how divorce is wrong.
Are there any readings that do not mention marriage specifically but which are appropriate for a wedding?
Also, absolutely nothing about "submitting" allowed, even though I know there are interpretations of it that are not anti-feminist. Let's not get into that debate here; it's beside the point.
Specific chapters and verses would be super helpful!