Q: I just finished reading your One Love: A Pastoral Guide to the Order of Celebrating Marriage – excellent!
A question regarding OCM 130A (d)…
You say that, whether communion is distributed or not, the prayer that normally concludes the intercessions is omitted (p. 54) and one proceeds directly to the Lord’s Prayer (no communion) or nuptial blessing (with communion). The FDLC, in its presentations and publications, states that if communion is distributed the closing prayer IS used.
I admit the rubric is poorly worded (what does “then” refer to?)….
A: Thanks for your comments on my book.
I’m sticking with my interpretation that the concluding prayer of the universal prayer is always omitted. The main reason is that 103 (c) is a new element in the second edition. There are some other changes between what was OCM 49 and is now OCM 103, but mainly some clarifying points. In the end, I agree, it’s hard to tell if (d) is referring to (c) or to (a) and (b) as well. I think it is the principle in force whether or not communion is distributed. In one instance, the Lord’s Prayer replaces the concluding prayer, and in the other instance the nuptial blessing replaces the concluding prayer.
The word “then” simply means “next.” In Latin it’s the same word that you find at the beginning of paragraph 103: “The Universal Prayer then takes place.”