York Manual: Ordo ad facienda sponsalia (printed editions 1509–1530)

The Order for Making Espousals

The man and the woman shall be set before the door of the church, before God and the priest and the people, the man on the right hand of the woman and the woman on the left hand of the man. Then the priest shall say in Latin, in this form: Lo, brethren, we are come here before God and his angels and all his saints, in the face of the Church, to join together two bodies, namely of this man and this woman (here the priest looks at the persons to be joined), that from henceforth they may be one flesh and two souls in the faith and law of God, to win together eternal life, whatsoever they have done before this.

In the mother tongue to the people, in this manner: Lo, brethren, we are come here before God and his angels and all his hallows, in the face and presence of our mother holy Church, for to couple and to knit these two bodies together, that is to say, of this man and of this woman, that they be from this time forth but one body and two souls in the faith and law of God and holy Church, for to deserve everlasting life, whatsoever that they have done here before.

I charge you therefore all, that if there be any of you who knows anything to say why these young people may not lawfully contract, he confess it now. Also in the mother tongue to the people: I charge you on God's behalf and holy Church, that if there be any of you that can say anything why these two may not lawfully be wedded together at this time, say it now, either privily or openly, in helping of your souls and theirs both.

The same charge shall be made to the man and the woman. In the mother tongue: Also I charge you both, and either by yourself, as ye will answer before God at the day of doom, that if there be anything done privily or openly between yourselves, or that ye know any lawful letting why that ye may not be wedded together at this time, say it now, ere we do any more to this matter. (Some manuscripts omit these English paragraphs.)

If anyone will allege an impediment and give security to prove it, the espousals shall be put off until the truth of the matter is known. The priest shall not consent to the plighting of troth between man and woman before the third proclamation of the banns, which he shall ask in the face of the Church within the solemnities of Mass, when the greater multitude is present, on three solemn days apart from one another, so that at least one weekday falls between each.

And it is to be noted that the solemnising of matrimony is forbidden from Advent (from the first Sunday of Advent inclusive) until the octave of the Epiphany inclusive; from Septuagesima until after the octave of Easter, that is, after Low Sunday; and from the first day of the Rogations inclusive until the eighth day after Pentecost, which is Trinity Sunday, inclusive. A memorial verse and table of the forbidden times follow.

The priest shall also set a fit term within which anyone who will may allege a lawful impediment. If the parties are of different parishes, the banns are to be asked in both churches; if of the same parish, in that church only. A priest who presumes to be present at a marriage contracted before the threefold solemn asking of the banns incurs suspension from office for three years. Likewise a parish priest who neglects to forbid clandestine marriages in his parish is to be suspended for three years, and more heavily punished if the fault requires. Clandestine marriages are forbidden for two reasons: lest fornication be committed under hope of marriage, and lest those married be unjustly separated; for often in a secret marriage one party changes his mind and leaves the other without proofs or remedy. Therefore priests shall forbid their parishioners to plight their troth to one another in secret, but only before public and honest persons appointed for this. Whoever, secular or regular, presumes to solemnise a marriage outside the parish church or a chapel having parochial rights from of old, without the spiritual licence of the diocesan, or to be present at one, is by that very fact suspended from office for a year.

The Consent

Then the priest shall say to the man in the hearing of all, in this form: N., wilt thou have this woman to thy spouse, and love her, honour her, hold her and keep her, in health and in sickness, as a husband should his wife, and forsaking all others cleave to her only, so long as the life of you both shall last? The man shall answer: I will.

Again, in the mother tongue to the man: N., wilt thou have this woman to thy wife, and love her (one manuscript adds: and worship her) and keep her, in sickness and in health, and in all other degrees be to her as a husband should be to his wife, and all other forsake for her, and hold thee only to her to thy life's end? He shall answer: I will.

Again the priest to the woman, in this form: N., wilt thou have this man to thy spouse, and obey him and serve him, and love him and honour and keep him, in health and in sickness, as a wife should her husband, and forsaking all others cleave to him only, so long as the life of you both shall last? She shall answer: I will.

Again, in the mother tongue to the woman: N., wilt thou have this man to thy husband, and to be buxom to him (one manuscript: love him, obey to him and worship him), serve him and keep him in sickness and in health, and in all other degrees be unto him as a wife should be to her husband, and all other to forsake for him, and hold thee only to him to thy life's end? She shall answer: I will.

The Giving and the Vows

Then the priest: Who gives me this wife? Then the woman shall be given by her father or by a friend; if she is a maiden, let her hand be bare, if a widow, covered. The man shall receive her, to keep her in God's faith and his own, as he vowed before the priest, and hold her by the right hand in his right hand; and so the man shall plight his troth to the woman in words of the present tense, saying after the priest:

Here I take thee, N., to my wedded wife, to have and to hold, at bed and at board, for fairer for fouler, for better for worse, in sickness and in health, till death us depart (all the manuscripts add: if holy Kirk it will ordain), and thereto I plight thee my troth. (He withdraws his hand.)

Then the woman shall say after the priest: Here I take thee, N., to be my wedded husband, to have and to hold, at bed and at board, for fairer for fouler, for better for worse, in sickness and in health, till death us depart, and thereto I plight thee my troth. (She withdraws her hand.)

The Ring and the Dower

Then the man shall lay gold, silver and the ring on the shield or book, and the priest shall ask whether the ring has been blessed before or not. If not, the priest shall bless it thus: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. Let us pray. Bless, O Lord, this ring, which we bless in thy name, that she who wears it may stand fast in thy peace and abide in thy will, and live and grow old in thy love, and be multiplied unto length of days. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Another prayer. Creator and preserver of mankind, giver of spiritual grace, bestower of eternal salvation, send thou, O Lord, thy blessing upon this thy servant and upon this thy handmaid, that, armed with the strength of heavenly defence, they may go forward to eternal salvation. Through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Then holy water shall be sprinkled on the ring. Then the bridegroom shall take the ring with his three principal fingers and, the priest teaching him, beginning at the bride's thumb, say In the name of the Father; at the second finger, and of the Son; at the third finger, and of the Holy Ghost; at the fourth finger, that is the ring finger, saying Amen; and there let him leave the ring, according to the Decretum (causa 30, question 5, Feminae), because in that finger there is a vein that runs to the heart.

Then the bridegroom, holding the bride's hand, shall say after the priest: With this ring I wed thee, and with this gold and silver I honour thee, and with this gift I dower thee.

The priest shall ask the woman's dower; then, if land is given her in dower, she shall fall down at the man's feet, and the priest shall say these verses: Command thy strength, O God: stablish the thing, O God, that thou hast wrought in us. For thy temple's sake at Jerusalem shall kings bring presents unto thee. Rebuke the beasts of the reeds, the multitude of the bulls among the heifers of the peoples, that they may shut out those who are tried like silver (Psalm 68:28–30). Glory be to the Father. Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.

Prayers at the Church Door

Here those standing round shall be asked to pray for them, the priest saying: Our Father. And lead us not into temptation. O save thy servant and thy handmaid: my God, who put their trust in thee. Be unto them, O Lord, a tower of strength: from the face of the enemy. Let the enemy have no advantage over them: nor the son of wickedness approach to hurt them. Send them help, O Lord, from the sanctuary: and strengthen them out of Sion. God keep them from all evil: the Lord keep your souls. The Lord be with you. Let us pray.

God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob, God of the living and of the dead, himself join you together, and the Lord fulfil his blessing upon you. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Let us pray. Look down, O Lord, from thy holy heaven upon this covenant; and as thou didst send thy holy angel Raphael to Tobias and to the daughter of Raguel, so, O Lord, send thy blessing upon these young people, that they may abide in thy will, stand fast in thy safekeeping, and live and grow old in thy love, and be multiplied unto length of days. Through Christ.

Into the Church

Then they shall be sprinkled and brought into the church, and lying prostrate before the altar step, the priest with his ministers saying as they go the psalm Beati omnes, Blessed are all they that fear the Lord (Psalm 128), with Glory be. Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Our Father. And lead us not into temptation. O save thy servant and thy handmaid: my God, who put their trust in thee. The Lord preserve you from all evil: the Lord preserve your souls. The Lord preserve your going out and your coming in: from this time forth for evermore. The Lord be with you. And with thy spirit. Let us pray.

God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob, bless these young people, and sow the seed of eternal life in their minds, that whatsoever they learn for their profit they may desire to do; through Jesus Christ, the restorer of mankind, thine only-begotten Son, who with thee liveth and reigneth, world without end. Amen.

Let us pray. God the Father bless you and keep you, and show his face unto you, and have mercy upon you; the Lord turn his countenance upon you and give you peace; and Jesus Christ fill you with all spiritual blessing unto the remission of all your sins, that ye may have eternal life and live for ever and ever. Amen.

Let us pray. Blessed be ye of the Lord, who created the world out of nothing; who in perfect Trinity liveth and reigneth, God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Let us pray. Almighty, everlasting God, who by thy power didst create our first parents Adam and Eve, didst sanctify them with thy blessing and join them in the fellowship of love: may he sanctify and bless your hearts and bodies, and join you in the fellowship and love of true affection. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

When these prayers are ended, they shall be brought in between the choir and the altar on the south side of the church, the woman set on the right of the man, and the Mass of the Trinity shall be begun solemnly. The fixed parts of the Mass (Gloria, Creed, preface of the Trinity and Canon, printed in full in the book) are said as usual and not repeated here.

The Nuptial Mass

Office (introit): Blessed be the holy Trinity and the undivided Unity: we will give thanks unto him, because he hath shewed his mercy upon us. Psalm: Let us bless the Father and the Son with the Holy Ghost. Then Glory be to God on high.

These two collects are said under one Let us pray and one conclusion: Almighty, everlasting God, who hast given unto us thy servants grace, by the confession of a true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and in the power of the divine Majesty to worship the Unity: we beseech thee, that by stedfastness in the same faith we may evermore be defended from all adversities. Hear us, almighty and merciful God, that what is done by our ministry may rather be fulfilled by thy blessing. Through our Lord.

The Epistle, 1 Corinthians 6:15–20: Brethren, know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid. What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh. But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God, and bear him, in your body.

Gradual: Blessed art thou, O Lord, that beholdest the depths, and sittest upon the cherubim. Verse: Bless ye the God of heaven, for he hath shewed his mercy upon us. Alleluia. Verse: Blessed art thou, O Lord God of our fathers, and worthy to be praised for ever.

Sequence (Benedicta sit beata Trinitas): Blessed be the blessed Trinity, eternal Godhead, alike in glory co-equal: God the Begetter, the Son begotten, with the holy Spirit, abiding above all that exists; whose will is ever one, and the threefold Person never at variance with itself. For the Godhead is one, not divided into three gods, as the faith rightly taught by Christ confesses. This Godhead drives away sins and grants the serene homeland, where the heavenly hosts sing a sweet symphony; they follow the footsteps of the High-throned in white robes, and are clothed with a double robe, which they gain after the trials of this age. And may we, whom the grace of God from on high enlightens, at last put away our debts, that the heavenly company may remain our companions after death, and after the final trials we may soon enjoy the high palaces, where the clear light burns kindled with a constant flame, where God is our vision and eternal salvation, who illumines powerfully the hearts of the angels, that they may fix their eyes on Christ alone. For this is that burning thirst with which the souls or bodies of the saints shall then thirst, when the everlasting rewards are given to them by the judge for their good deeds.

The Gospel, John 3:27–29: At that time John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven. Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him. He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled, (York adds) that your joy also may be fulfilled. Then the Creed.

Offertory: Blessed be God the Father, and the only-begotten Son of God, and the Holy Spirit also: for he hath shewed his mercy upon us.

Secret: Sanctify, we beseech thee, O Lord our God, by the calling upon of thy holy name and by the power of thine only-begotten Son, the sacrifice of this oblation; and by the working together of the Holy Spirit make us ourselves through it an eternal gift unto thee. Another secret, under one conclusion: Receive, we beseech thee, O Lord, the gift offered for the sacred law of wedlock, and be the disposer of the work of which thou art the giver. Through our Lord Jesus Christ thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God. Preface of the Trinity, Sanctus and Canon as usual.

After Our Father the priest says over the bridegroom and bride, kneeling at the altar step, these prayers:

Be propitious, O Lord, to our supplications, and graciously assist thine ordinances by which thou hast appointed the propagation of mankind; that what is joined by thy authority may be preserved by thy help. Through Christ our Lord.

Let us pray. O God, who by the might of thy power didst make all things out of nothing; who, when the beginnings of the universe were set in order, didst make for man, made after the image of God, the inseparable help of woman, so that thou gavest to the woman's body its beginning from the flesh of the man, teaching that what it had pleased thee to form from one, it might never be lawful to put asunder: O God, who hast consecrated the union of marriage by so excellent a mystery, that in the covenant of marriage thou didst foreshadow the sacrament of Christ and the Church: O God, by whom woman is joined to man, and the fellowship ordained from the beginning is endowed with that blessing which alone was not taken away either by the punishment of original sin or by the sentence of the flood:

Here the priest looks at the woman. Look graciously upon this thy handmaid, who is to be joined in wedlock and seeks to be strengthened by thy protection. May the yoke of love and peace be upon her; may she wed in Christ faithful and chaste, and remain a follower of holy women: may she be lovable to her husband as Rachel, wise as Rebecca, long-lived and faithful as Sara. May the author of transgression usurp nothing in her by her deeds; may she abide bound to the faith and the commandments, joined to one bed, and flee unlawful contacts; may she fortify her weakness by the strength of discipline; may she be grave in modesty, honourable in chastity, learned in heavenly doctrine; may she be fruitful in offspring, approved and innocent; and may she come to the rest of the blessed and to the heavenly kingdom, and see her children's children unto the third and fourth generation, and come to the old age she desires. Through Christ our Lord.

The book notes that the sacramental blessing, from O God, who hast consecrated the union of marriage as far as O God, by whom woman is joined to man, is omitted at second marriages, and adds a long canonist discussion (a constitution of Pope John XXII and the reasons for the rule), summarised here only. The prayer Be propitious is said without Let us pray.

Then the priest, turning to the altar, takes the fractions of the host in his hands and says The peace of the Lord be always with you, Agnus Dei, and the prayer at the commixture. Here the bridegroom and bride rise from prayer, and the bridegroom receives the peace from the priest and bears it to the bride, kissing her, and neither he nor she kisses anyone else; but a clerk at once receives the peace from the priest and bears it to the others, as is customary. The priest's prayers before communion are said as usual.

Communion: We bless the God of heaven, and before all the living we will give thanks unto him: for he hath shewed his mercy upon us.

Postcommunion: May the receiving of this sacrament, O Lord God, profit us to the health of soul and body, together with the confession of the eternal holy Trinity and its undivided Unity. Another, under one conclusion: We beseech thee, almighty God, accompany with thy favour the ordinances of thy providence, that those whom thou joinest in lawful fellowship thou mayest keep in lasting peace. Through our Lord.

Because of the solemnity of this sacrament, the priest gives the blessing with the chalice, and, having put off his chasuble, says over them this prayer: The Lord be with you. And with thy spirit. Let us pray. O Lord, holy Father, almighty, everlasting God, we humbly beseech thee that thou wouldest graciously cherish with thy blessing the union of thy servants. Turn away from them, we beseech thee, almighty God, the snares of the enemy; and may they who by thy providence have been worthy to be joined follow holiness even in marriage itself. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Blessing of the Bedchamber

On the following night, when the bridegroom and bride have come to bed, the priest shall come and bless the bedchamber, saying: The Lord be with you. And with thy spirit. Let us pray. Bless, O Lord, this chamber and all who dwell in it, that they may stand fast in thy peace and abide in thy will, and live and grow old in thy love, and be multiplied unto length of days. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Then the chamber shall be sprinkled with holy water, and the antiphon said: Thou shalt purge me with hyssop (Asperges me). Psalm: Have mercy upon me, O God, after thy great goodness. Verse: According unto the multitude of thy mercies do away mine offences. Versicle: Shew us thy mercy, O Lord.

Let us pray. Hear us, O Lord, holy Father, almighty, everlasting God, and vouchsafe to send thy holy angel from heaven, to guard, cherish, protect, visit and defend all who dwell in this habitation. Through Christ our Lord.

Another prayer over them. God the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost bless you, who is three in number and one in name. Amen. Then, according to the ancient custom, the bed and the chamber shall be censed.