The entrance rite concludes with a short Catholic wedding opening prayer called a “collect” because as the wedding ceremony begins it gathers together the silent prayers and hopes of the community.
Seven options for the collect can be found in the Together for Life booklet. Each of the options expresses something of the Church’s understanding of the sacrament of marriage and its aspirations for the married couple. Several of them are based on very ancient wedding prayers found in church texts as early as the tenth century A.D.
The prayers speak of marriage as a symbol of Christ’s love for the Church. When others look at you as a couple, the Church prays that they will be able to glimpse not just human love, but divine love. The collects ask that your love for each other will be strengthened by the sacrament, that your trust in each other will grow, and that your marriage will be fruitful.