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Marriage

Couples planning marriage should make arrangements SIX MONTHS prior to wedding date. 
This involves several steps:
  • If you want to get married in St. Columbkille Parish: 
  1. Contact the parish office to see what are available dates for the parish. 
  2. Then contact either Monsignor Fay or Fr. Moloney to arrange the necessary meetings. The priest will probably want to meet with you several times over several months. Meetings are usually in the parish rectory, located next to the church. You can park either in front of the rectory or down in the main parking lot.
  3. Make arrangements to attend a marriage preparation course recommended by the Archdiocese. In particular, check out the new marriage preparation program designed by the Archdiocese of Boston, Transformed in Love.
  4. Contact the parish where you were baptized, and ask them to send a new baptismal certificate directly to St. Columbkille Parish. The certificate needs to be new, that is, generated not more than a few months before the wedding date.
  5. If the baptismal certificate doesn't contain this information, contact the parish where you were confirmed and ask them to send a confirmation certificate directly to St. Columbkille Parish. (Most Boston parishes include the confirmation information on the back of the baptismal certificate.)
  6. Fill out the form below with your contact and other preliminary information.
  7. Contact our music director, Joseph Policelli, to discuss the music at the wedding.
  8. At least one month before the wedding, read the texts of the wedding liturgy and pray about them, so that you can have a conversation with the priest about the readings and prayers of the wedding rite itself.
  9. Arrange with the priest a definite date and time for the wedding rehearsal. Don't make any arrangements about a rehearsal dinner before scheduling the rehearsal itself.
  10. No more than 60 days before the wedding, apply for a wedding license from any city or town clerk in Massachusetts. You'll want to give the license to the priest no later than the rehearsal.
  • If you live in the Archdiocese of Boston, and want to get married in another diocese:
    1. Contact the parish where you want to get married, and see what are the available dates for the wedding.
    2. Follow steps 2-6 above. You need permission from the diocese where you live in order to be married in another diocese, so you need to do the marriage preparation here in Boston.
    3. The parish where you will be married cannot allow you to marry without a letter from the Archdiocese of Boston granting you permission to marry there. Some parishes want to see this letter before even scheduling a date for the wedding. The letter can only be given after you have met with the priest, taken the marriage preparation course, and provided the baptismal certificates of both spouses. So do not hesitate to start this process! 

Marriage Resources: 



Please fill out the following form:

Preliminary Marriage form