Jewish Glass breaking- Catholic ideas?

lizznjohn

I am Roman Catholic. Although our ceremony is going to be basically non-religous- I plan to incorporate some Catholic rituals into the ceremony itself. On another note- I have ALWAYS loved the Jewish breaking of the glass and yelling afterwards!!

Is there a Catholic alternative anyone has heard of? I would hate to offend anyone or make it look like mixed messages during the wedding itself.

Thanks!

meep2

As a Catholic, I still don't really understand how this would work. And, frankly, from my perspective the PP about the older relatives taking offense to appropriating Jewish rituals applies equally as well to appropriating Catholic ritual into a non-religious ceremony. Everything in the Catholic mass has a reason. The mass isn't just symbolic, it's a transformative event (that's part of why there was the reformation: some protestant denominations do not believe in Transubstantiation, which is when the bread and wine actually become the flesh and blood of Christ, instead of just symbolically so). I understand that you grew up Catholic and want to include some of the traditions with which you were raised, but the mass is still religious and not just a tradition.

My suggestion would be to include a reading from the Bible. There are a lot of verses that are extremely expressive on the idea of love. Some starters include the following:

"And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love." (1 Corinthians 13:13)

"And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity." (Colossians 3:14) 

mctlong

We're incorporating a handfasting ceremony. This practice was appropriated from pagen groups but was commonly used in Catholic ceremonies early on (although not commonly used today).

We're also doing a rose ceremony for our mothers where we'll present our mothers with a rose to symbolically thank our families for supporting our marriage. This is not traditionally Catholic, but its a nice touch.

There are tons of Cathloic rituals and traditions you can incorporate - i.e. traditional prayers, the entrance, posturing and gestures, holy water, candles, , traditional songs (in latin and english), the Nicene creed, etc., etc).

lizznjohn

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_customs-traditions_jewish-glass-breaking-catholic-ideas?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:36Discussion:5b0da599-d1e5-4062-9fec-22e57dee73cfPost:10749bd0-f777-40ee-9893-a1836f1d1a9f">Re: Jewish Glass breaking- Catholic ideas?</a>:
[QUOTE]As a Catholic, I still don't really understand how this would work. And, frankly, from my perspective the PP about the older relatives taking offense to appropriating Jewish rituals applies equally as well to appropriating Catholic ritual into a non-religious ceremony. Everything in the Catholic mass has a reason. The mass isn't just symbolic, it's a transformative event (that's part of why there was the reformation: some protestant denominations do not believe in Transubstantiation, which is when the bread and wine actually become the flesh and blood of Christ, instead of just symbolically so). I understand that you grew up Catholic and want to include some of the traditions with which you were raised, but the mass is still religious and not just a tradition. My suggestion would be to include a reading from the Bible. There are a lot of verses that are extremely expressive on the idea of love. Some starters include the following: "And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love." (1 Corinthians 13:13) "And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity." (Colossians 3:14) 
Posted by meep2[/QUOTE]


Because most of my mother' family and his father's family are NOT Catholic and we have decided to NOT marry in a Catholic Church. We are having our marriage privately blessed by our Catholic priest when we return from our destination wedding. So yes- we would like to incorporate something into our ceremony. I have found a couple of options for this and do NOT think I am being inappropriate at all!!! I think you are looking for someone to complain at because after speaking with my priest- I AM TOTALLY IN THE RIGHT TO INCORPORATE WHATEVER I WANT FROM THE CATHOLIC FAITH. So I WILL use MY faith in MY wedding!

meep2

Wow. Angry much?

I was trying to give you perspective on the deeper meaning of the mass in what is apparently our shared faith, and why it's really hard to just pick and choose something and put it into a completely different context. As Bonzo2011 and others mentioned above, even honest attempts to do this by someone who is of that religion may come across badly to others. That's why I mentioned the option of Bible readings--because I do want to help, and the Liturgy of the Word is an important part of the mass. Faith is shared among many people, please don't start shouting over it.

If you're trying to incorporate something from a Catholic nuptual mass into your convalidation, that's quite different from what came across in your first two posts, which is that you wanted to incorporate mere symbolism into a destination wedding.

lizznjohn

Well yes, I was angry because you where rude. You are suggesting that it doesn't have a deeper meaning- when it does, but frankly it's none of you business. I chose to leave it at face value and you condemned me for doing so. You don't know what I have going on at a deeper level and you didn't answer my question. You berated me for asking the question and then suggested something that had already been discussed. So why did you bother posting? To put someone down or be catty? Make yourself feel higher and mighter? Or did you just not realize that you where being a troll?

meep2

As mentioned, I truly posted to try to help. My apologies if it came across as rude. You stated in your original post that you would hate to offend anyone, so I wanted to make sure that you didn't accidentally, which would be unfortunate on your wedding day, which should be happy. I did not berate you for asking the question, and I did try to answer it (you asked it on a public board, after all). You had already discussed a couple of verses specifically; I suggested some different ones, and tried to express that a reading really could be an important part of your wedding. After all, God's Word is one of His greatest gifts to us, so since you're Catholic it would be very meaningful to incorporate that rather than a physical gesture (that, as mentioned, I'm not sure could easily be transferred out of the mass) into your wedding.

BTW, if you really are looking for just symbolism, the Church does have a lot of symbolism in its art work. I honestly don't know how to work this into a non-religious ceremony, but there's a lot out there. Doves, for instance, (not necessarily a dove release, but perhaps in programs or place settings?) come first from the Great Flood, but then they came to symbolize the Holy Spirit. Or, this isn't symbolic, but Marian devotion is often incorporated into Catholic weddings. Brides may take flowers and lay them at the feet of the statue of Mary. One important thing we learn from this is how important our families have been in our lives. Perhaps reserve time in your ceremony to take special bouquets that your bridesmaids have carried along and give them to your mothers?

lizznjohn

And yet you will call me immature for my message, but you responding was just as immature if not worse. I didnt cuss, nor did I fight. I asked for an answer to a question not a reason that I was wrong.