Wedding Pictures Part 10: Prayers of the Faithful

After we made our vows, Uncle Chad stepped up to say the prayers of the faithful-- prayers on behalf of the congregation. This is the part of the ceremony where we were given the most freedom for creativity--- and so we did:

For leaders of Church and state, that they guide us in the search for peace, environmental stewardship, equality, health, and love, let us pray to the Lord.

For Brianna and Kenneth, and all who share a mutual love and life together, that through the help of God, they may savor love, children, long life, family and friends, let us pray to the Lord.

For those who have died, especially Joan Hebert, Robert Ellis, and Johanna Ellis, and also for those who could not join us today due to their health, we pray to the Lord.

For the unspoken prayers we hold in our hearts, we pray to the Lord.

Not the most beautifully crafted prayer in the world, but we felt it covered all the bases.

I insisted that an Ellis family member had to read the prayers of the faithful because I wanted Granny's name to be pronounced right--- (YO-HAWN-UH-- it's a Dutch name and the name Johan/Johanna goes back many generations).  Even at Granny's funeral the priest mispronounced her name and that bothered me so much that I didn't want it to be mispronounced in such a public way again. Little things get under my skin, I guess.

 I also remember how Kenneth's family chokes up at weddings when his grandma's name (Joan Hebert) is mentioned. We knew Uncle Chad would be able to pray for Granny and Granddad with a steady voice-- Uncle Chad is good at keeping his cool that way. I, on the other hand, started tearing up at Granny's name. Before the wedding, I had worked on de-sensitizing myself to the things I knew were going to affect me most-- these prayers and the song Ave Maria. It didn't work and I still cried.  A quick dab of my eyes and a few deep breaths and Chad was done.

Chad stepped down from lectern, and the preparation for Communion began.