How does a Catholic wedding given by a Deacon differ from one given by a priest?
May 8, 2010 by Bay Area Bridal
My fiancee and I are having a terrible time trying to schedule our wedding- the priest doesn’t have time to marry us until next June!
The church offered the services of the permanent deacon to perform our wedding. I’ve never been to a Catholic wedding performed by a deacon- how would it be different? Is it still a sacramental marriage? Obviously it cannot be a full Mass, but can we still share the Eucharist with our guests?
In my experience, you should be able to have another priest fill in. If you want to have a priest present at your wedding. I believe he would need to obtain the permission from the pastor at the parish where you plan on being married.
Good luck and congratulations!
Technically the church or priest/deacon themselves dose not marry you. The bride and groom marry themselves and the priest/deacon is only there in the capacity of the church’s witness and/or celebrant for the mass if the bride and groom choose to hold their wedding during a nuptial mass.
The church only requires an ordained minister, a priest or deacon, to be present as God’s witness. So it wedding itself, provided that you were not planning of having a nuptial mass, would be exactly the same as if a priest was there.
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A wedding presided over by a permanent Deacon is no different than a wedding presided over by a priest.
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Of course. It makes no sense for the CHurch to have a Deacon preside over a wedding if that would invalidate the Sacrament.
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The Liturgy of the Eucharist is an element of the Mass.
The deacon cannot consecrate the Eucharist but he should be able to distribute Communion from the Tabernacle. Be sure to ask.
Just about everything else is the same.
With love in Christ.