Getting
Married:
This
page is to assist you in your preparations for marriage within the
rites of the Catholic Church.
The
Family Law Act 1995 requires couples to give a minimum of three
months notice to the State of their intention to marry. Once you
have booked the Church, it is no harm to send this notification
even one or two years in advance of the wedding. Without the notification
to the State, the marriage will be not valid in civil law. A form
can be got from your local Registrar and should be sent to him or
her. Experience has shown that even if you are one day late, the
Registrar will not accept the notice and you will be required to
go to the High Court to get an exemption (The latter is an informal
procedure where both parties can make the application and do not
involve the services of a solicitor). So don't leave it to the last
minute. For the Dublin area the address is:
Registrar of Marriages ,
Room 1, Joyce House,
8-11 Lombard Street East,
Dublin 2.
Phone: 6711000
It
is worth noting that the Church has for sometime required a minimum
of three months notice also.
The next step is to book yourselves on a pre-marriage course. Again
do not leave this to the last minute . Courses are run throughout
the year but are generally limited to ten couples so early booking
is advisable. "Accord" (The Catholic Dublin Diocesan Agency
for Marriage) run courses in a number of centres throughout a number
of centres in the diocese. In the Dublin area, phone 4784400 (email:
marriagepreparation@dublin.accord.ie) to book a course in the nearest
centre to you. There is an Accord Centre in Clondalkin. There are
also other pre- marriage courses like "Naomi" (16 North
Great Georges Street : Phone 8786156). Or Fr. Myles O'Reilly at
Milltown Park, ph.2698411 or: Pre-Marriage Courses at Mount Argus,
ph. 4923165.
The courses can be a weekend (Friday night and all day Saturday)
or spread out over a few weeks (One night a week). They are run
by married couples and are very practical and out of which you will
be enriched.Within
six months of the wedding, it is time to gather the required Church
documents. Again do not leave this to the last minute as it can
take time to get these documents, if one was baptised outside of
Ireland. These papers are sent to the Church where the wedding is
to take place.
These include:
-
A current baptism cert (not a state birth cert and not an old
baptism cert). It is evidence of your baptism and also that you
were not previously married. This is why it must be dated within
six months of the wedding. You can get this from the Church where
you were baptised.
-
A confirmation cert available from the Church where you were confirmed.
-
A Letter of Freedom: from every place that you lived for more
than six months over the age of sixteen. If you were in a lot
of places, it may be necessary to get a sworn affidavit or a letter
from your parents who can vouch for the fact that you were never
previously married. The letter of freedom can be got from the
priest in the area in question.
When
you have all these documents, arrange to meet your local priest
who will fill out a Pre-Nuptial Enquiry Form. This is a form which
basically asks a number of questions to make sure that you understand
the step that you are about to take. All of these documents are
then sent to the Church where the wedding is to take place.
All of the above requirements will be explained to you by your local
priest. The above applies to the situation of two Catholics who
intend to marry. For other circumstances, there are more requirements.
If the couple live outside of Ireland but are getting married in
Ireland, they still must notify the State. Their Church papers are
sent by their local priest to the Bishop of the diocese where the
wedding is to take place and these in turn are sent by the Bishop
to the Church where the wedding is to take place.
It may look like a lot of requirements but the decision to marry
for life is a serious one and preparation is necessary and normally
when done over the period of a year, there are no difficulties.
As regards planning the liturgy for the wedding, I recommend that
you buy a book called "A Wedding of your Own" by Padraig
Mc Carthy which is published by Veritas. This book contains all
the readings, wedding rites and prayers. There is even a checklist
at the back to make sure that you have remembered everything from
the readers to the flowers. Flor Mc Carthy's Book "Wedding
Liturgies" (Dominican Press) contains just the readings and
prayer of the Faithful but it does so under various themes. Another
excellent preparation booklet is "Your Wedding" published
by the Dublin Redemptorist Publications in January 1998. It is advisable
to read and plan the day. Choose the readings that mean a lot to
you and your partner and try to involve both families in the allocation
of readings and prayers.
If you would like to have a "Papal Blessing", you can
order them through Veritas. It takes a few months to get it and
before ordering you will need to have a letter from your priest
stating that you are to be married on a particular date and that
you are practicing Catholics.
Offerings
-
The usual minimum offering to the Church (which includes a mass
offering for the priest who performs your wedding ceremony) is
twenty - thirty euros. In view of the overall expenditure incurred
in the average wedding this amount could not be considered unreasonable.
However it is a voluntary offering and anyone who cannot afford
it should not feel obliged to pay.
-
It is usual to give a minimum offering of ten - fifteen euros
to the sacristan, who is working at a marriage ceremony and does
so much to help all concerned.
-
It is customary to give five euros to each of the Altar Servers,
if they are present.
It
is helpful to have the above offerings placed in separate envelopes,
clearly marked, and given to the priest or the sacristan before
the ceremony.
Useful Addresses
1. Music
Organist: Mary O Brien Ph: 6264812
2. Flowers
Mary Holland. Ph: 623 0193 (Parish Centre during office hours)
Or any florists (local or otherwise)
3. Priests of the parish.
Finally we do hope that you find this information useful and may
we wish you and your partner every happiness for the future
You will find more detailed information on getting married at the
Jesuit website "Getting Married".
Many people are opting for a much simpler celebration of Marriage.
The cost of the traditional wedding has escalated over the years.
Each of the Priests are very happy to discuss your wedding plans
and explore the many forms of Christian celebration of marriage
with you at any time. If you are booking our Church please call
in person to the sacristy and ensure that the correct day and time
is entered.
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