ABSTRACT
In the three votive sources Florence, Riccardiana, MSS 299 and 300, and BAV,
Archivio San Pietro F l l , the w edding M ass consists of the celebrant's prayers, m ost
of which go back to the set of prayers for the nuptial M ass (XXXI) in the so-called
Leonine sacram entary but are here derived from their rearrangem ent in the
H adrianum ;3 the readings, draw n from the Vulgate and nearly identical in our three
sources;4 and the Proper chants, the last texts to be com posed. The celebrant's
prayers are the standard ones found in Gregorian sacram entaries: opening collect,
The texts of the M issa sponsalicia
X I V
secret (super oblata), Proper preface5 and postcommunion prayer as in the Hadrianum, though with minor textual variants. In Riccardiana 299 and the
Hadrianum, a special phrase is inserted in the section of the canon beginning Hanc ig itur oblationem, as on other important occasions; the phrase does not appear in Riccardiana 300 or San Pietro F l l . In all three sources, a lengthy benediction pre-
ceded by a brief collect is inserted before the Pax. Originally the bride alone was
blessed during this prayer, but the texts of the benediction were inconsistently
broadened to include the groom. Finally, an undoubtedly futile admonition 'to wait
three days' was variously placed and worded in our sources. This admonition, not
found in the Hadrianum, appears as follows (my italics):
299: Hodie abstinete uos. eras 300: Abstinete uos hodie et eras. F l l : P. Tunc sac reutat ad et alium [sic] eras. Ite in pace, et aliud eras. Postea reuertat altare et dicat. Pax dni ... R angls dni bonus [sacerdos] ad altare dicat. Et Et cu spu. Tc comunicat ut sit semg uobiscum. pax dni sit semp uobiscum. mos est. Supta u[er]o
eucharistia. Apphendat sac sponsa p dextera manu et tradat earn uiro suo et dicat. Accipe uxore tua ed dilige earn sicut xps dilex ecclesiam. et eontinens esto ab ea hodie et eras et aliu [sic] eras ut benedictione dni consecj_in creatis. Faciat. +
"XV .sup eos et dicat. Benedicat uos diuina maiestas. Pat. et Filius, et Spc Scs.
