Opening Prayer

Choose one from the following six options

Let us pray.

And all pray in silence with the Priest for a while.

Be attentive to our prayers, O Lord,
and in your kindness uphold
what you have established
for the increase of the human race,
so that the union you have created
may be kept safe by your assistance.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,  one God, for ever and ever.

Let us pray.

And all pray in silence with the Priest for a while.

O God, who in creating the human race
willed that man and wife should be one,
join, we pray, in a bond of inseparable love
these your servants [or N. and N.]
who are to be united in the covenant of Marriage,
so that as you make their love fruitful,
they may become, by your grace,
witnesses to charity itself.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,  one God, for ever and ever.

Let us pray.

And all pray in silence with the Priest for a while.

Be attentive to our prayers, O Lord,
and in your kindness
pour out your grace on these your servants (N. and N.),
that, coming together before your altar,
they may be confirmed in love for one another.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,  one God, for ever and ever.

Let us pray.

And all pray in silence with the Priest for a while.

O God, who consecrated the bond of Marriage
by so great a mystery
that in the wedding covenant
you foreshadow the Sacrament of Christ and his Church,
grant, we pray, to these your servants,
that what they receive in faith
they may live out in deeds.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,  one God, for ever and ever.

Let us pray.

And all pray in silence with the Priest for a while.

Grant, we pray, almighty God,
that these your servants,
now to be joined by the Sacrament of Matrimony,
may grow in the faith they profess
and enrich your Church with faithful offspring.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,  one God, for ever and ever.

Let us pray.

And all pray in silence with the Priest for a while.

O God, who since the beginning of the world
have blessed the increase of offspring,
show favour to our supplications
and pour forth the help of your blessing
on these your servants (N. and N.),
so that in the union of Marriage
they may be bound together
in mutual affection, in likeness of mind,
and in shared holiness.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,  one God, for ever and ever.