St. Augustine's Press

 After decades of often reckless experimentation and amnesia, believers of all faiths have begun to rediscover the refreshing value and beauty of religious tradition. This is especially the case with weddings, which awake a traditional instinct many never knew they had. Unfortunately, however, most today are unable to plumb the vast resources of the Western nuptial tradition for the simple reason that that tradition has been largely forgotten or ignored.

Wedding Rites is the long-needed remedy to this lacuna. It faithfully retrieves the Roman Catholic, Byzantine (Eastern Catholic and Orthodox), Protestant, and Jewish wedding traditions in a comprehensive collection of nuptial music, readings, vows, ceremonies, and blessings. The classical nuptial tradition is vast, extending over richly varied cultures and religious communities. This is why you will find within these pages such a wide assortment of treasures: blessings for a young couple from sixth-century Rome, coin ceremonies from medieval France, opening allocutions from an infant America. Wedding Rites even succeeds in retrieving many things that had been completely forgotten, translating several dozen prayers and blessings into English for the first time. The result of careful theological scholarship, Wedding Rites is unique among the planners currently glutting the market.

But above all Wedding Rites is a practical guide to making a glorious and affordable wedding. Easy to reference and easy to use, it offers concrete suggestions at each stage of planning, from the preparation of a solemn betrothal months before the wedding to reception tips minutes after. Moreover, sound advice is offered for couples from two different religious backgrounds.

This book of timeless wisdom even includes a separate companion CD, containing timely practical examples and hints for each step in preparation, which can be used for one or innumerable wedding preparations – information such as templates for planning lists, invitations, scheduler, music samples, and much else.

From its faithful retrieval of a lost heritage of beauty and meaning to its approachable presentation of practical wisdom; from its unfolding of love’s rich manifestations in ritual and custom to its painstaking comprehensive-ness, Wedding Rites is an indispensable resource for engaged couples, wedding planners, liturgists, pastors, floral designers, and all those in love with the beauty of tradition.

Michael P. Foley is visiting Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame.

 

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Wedding Rites
The Complete Guide to
Traditional Weddings
Michael P. Foley

256 pages, notes, index, CD-Rom included,
ribbons, 2-color printing 6 1/2" x 9 1/2" Cloth
ISBN: 1-58731-926-8
$35.00