Readers of this blog may recall the Mass for Our Lady of Walsingham celebrated at the Church of St. Vincent Ferrer last September, as featured in the entry “The Journey to the First Ordinariate Mass in NYC and Beyond.” By the grace of God, this celebration has already borne fruit by inspiring more opportunities to share the Anglican patrimony within the Catholic Church in New York City. Earlier this year, an engaged couple that was already planning to have their wedding at St. Vincent Ferrer reached out to me through the Durandus Institute’s website, asking if I could help organize a similar celebration of the Mass according to the Ordinariate’s Divine Worship Missal on the occasion of their marriage. I was delighted to receive the inquiry in any case, but when I learned that the bride, though a parishioner of St. Vincent’s, was also a member of the Ordinariate, I felt almost a bounden duty, as it were, to explore the possibilities and follow the project through to the end.
The language of the Anglican tradition’s rite of matrimony is, perhaps, the most well-known and cherished portion of all the texts in the Book of Common Prayer through all the English-speaking world, after the Lord’s Prayer itself. The matrimonial vow “to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse; for richer, for poorer; in sickness and in health” is so pervasive that perhaps even most English-speaking Roman Catholics would assume that it’s used in Catholic weddings everywhere; but in truth, this vow is unique to the English tradition, with no equivalent in the typical editions of the Rituale Romanum. Every Catholic wedding where “to have and to hold” is said owes a debt, begrudgingly or not, to Thomas Cranmer.
Wrapping the stole around the couple’s hands, saying
“Those whom God hath joined together let no man put asunder.”
In an earlier stage of my life, I might have been annoyed whenever I saw a movie scene where a Catholic priest began a wedding by saying “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here in the sight of God…” Don’t they know that no Catholic liturgical book would have Cranmer’s locution in its pages? I might have thought. As I grew older, I learned to relax and appreciate that in the world of cinema, the Book of Common Prayer’s marriage rite is so iconic that from a director’s point of view, it might as well be Catholic now if it wasn’t before. And now, thanks to Divine Worship: Occasional Services—the book containing the Ordinariate’s approved rite of matrimony, among other ceremonies—the argument has become irrelevant. The Prayer Book’s marriage rite is now, in fact, among the various orders approved for Catholic use.
After my initial consultation with Sonita and Jeffrey, hearing their story (including Sonita’s journey into the Catholic Church as the daughter of a Methodist pastor from the Caribbean British Commonwealth) and having a sense of their earnest desire to share the treasure of the Ordinariate liturgy with the people of New York City, I resolved to meet all the logistical challenges head-on. Among them were, of course, the current absence of an Ordinariate community in New York City, the fact that I live several hours away, and that I was taking this on with slightly more than a month before the scheduled wedding date. To make it work, we had to entrust the matter to St. Joseph—on whose feast day this wedding was set to take place. (And, I would add, just about the only exception I’d make for agreeing to assist with a Catholic wedding during Lent!) Archbishop Fulton Sheen wrote in The World’s First Love that “no husband and wife ever loved one another so much as Joseph and Mary.” Sonita and Jeff chose this date out of their devotion to the spouse of the Virgin. I too have a soft spot for him; one thing I’m happy to say I share with our Lord Jesus is the fact that I also had a loving stepfather named Joseph.
“I will go unto the altar of God: even unto the God of my joy and gladness.”
And so, over the course of that month, the shape of this liturgy quickly took shape. An Ordinariate priest, Father Jason Catania (who officiated the Durandus Institute’s inaugural Sarum Vespers event two years ago) kindly agreed to travel to New York City to officiate the wedding and celebrate the Mass of the Solemnity of St. Joseph. A Dominican friar in residence at St. Vincent’s—Father Sebastian White, O.P., the editor-in-chief of the Magnificat publication (and a former Anglican whose story may be heard on an episode of The Journey Home) — came onboard to assist in the role of Deacon. As an Instituted Acolyte, I filled the role of Subdeacon myself to allow for it to be properly a Solemn Mass. The bridal couple’s marriage formator, Father Joseph Hagan, O.P., preached the homily. And a team of local altar servers came together, taking the time to learn to serve this rite with all due reverence and precision. John Covert, my fellow Ordinariate acolyte who is well-known to many ACS readers for his tireless work on the online Daily Office website and the publication of the Ordinariate wall calendars, also came down to assist as a second master of ceremonies.
In the course of my work, I’m privileged to help put together many solemn nuptial Masses, often with first-rate music programs. But even with all those other wonderful experiences in my memory, the rumbling of the organ and the ethereal splendor of the choral music sung at this particular wedding by the full Schola Cantorum of St. Vincent’s, under the direction of James Wetzel, will stay imprinted on my mind for many years to come. The cornerstone was the Ordinary from the Missa Euge Bone of Christopher Tye: one of his surviving compositions for the Sarum Mass before going on to become music instructor for King Edward VI and a priest of the newly-separated Church of England. Since the rubrics call for the Nicene Creed to be said on all Masses that fall on solemnities, we even had the full polyphonic Credo by Tye sung for this liturgy.
“Through the intercession of blessed Michael the Archangel standing at the right hand of the altar of incense, and of all his elect, may the Lord vouchsafe to bless this incense, and to receive it for a sweet smelling savour; through Christ our Lord.”
In the end, despite a few hiccups along the way, I was overjoyed to help carry out this ministry for Sonita and Jeff, and those who were in attendance. As a family event, it proved to be an opportunity to share the Ordinariate’s treasured patrimony with relatives and friends of diverse faith backgrounds: from lifelong Methodists (including clergy) to agnostics and atheists—as well as, of course, some cradle Catholics, both lay and religious, who had never seen the Divine Worship Mass before. I pray that more Ordinariate liturgies will take place in the Big Apple, and that someday a stable community might be able to form there. The Durandus Institute will assist with one more liturgy at St. Vincent Ferrer in the Ordinariate form: a pontifical Evensong and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament this Easter Friday.
“The Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was shed for thee, preserve thy body and soul unto everlasting life.”
“God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Ghost, bless, preserve, and keep you; the Lord mercifully with his favour look upon you; and so fill you with all spiritual benediction and grace, that you may so live together in this life, that in the world to come you may have life everlasting.”
James T. M. Griffin is executive director of the Durandus Institute for Sacred Liturgy and Music.
Editor's note: To learn more about the Durandus Institute, visit here.
The Anglicanorum Coetibus Society is also happy to network ACS members who are interested in the possibility of the Ordinariate having a presence in NYC. If you're not yet an ACS member, you can join here.
All photos credit: Arrys Ortanez