The Monitum in the wedding ceremony

This entry is part 24 of 31 in the series Marriage Legalities

This entry is part 10 of 18 in the series Australian Wedding Ceremonies

This is a special post! This one fits in both my Australian Wedding Ceremonies series AND my Marriage Legalities series! Whichever series you’ve arrived at this post through, I hope it’s helpful!

In this post I’m going to look the Monitum in the wedding ceremony. If you’re getting married outside of a religious organisation, i.e. by a civil celebrant like me, the Monitum encompasses the words that I must say before you say your vows.

The words

Section 46(1) of the Marriage Act 1961 says that before you say your legal vows, a non-religious authorised celebrant must say to the parties, in the presence of the witnesses, the following words:

I am duly authorised by law to solemnise marriages according to law.

Before you are joined in marriage in my presence and in the presence of these witnesses, I am to remind you of the solemn and binding nature of the relationship into which you are now about to enter.

Marriage, according to law in Australia, is the union of 2 people to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life.

Since marriage equality was legislated in December 2017, these words are no longer controversial 🙂 Pre-December 2017 we were required to say that marriage was the union of a man and a woman. Lots of couples didn’t like that, but it was the legal definition of marriage at the time. Luckily that’s no longer an issue and we don’t have to worry about it!

I do split these three sentences up in my ceremonies. I say the first sentence when I introduce myself at the beginning of the ceremony. This is because it provides my authority to marry you. Then I say the second and third sentences just before you say your legal vows. It’s a reminder of what you’re getting yourself into at the last possible moment for you to bail!

Why are these words called “the Monitum”?

Honestly, I haven’t been able to find the history of how this word came to refer to these words in the context of marriage. The word “monitum” is a Latin word meaning “warning”. Originally it referred to “a warning issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to an errant cleric who is in danger of receiving an additional penalty.”

In the context of marriage in Australia, I guess it’s a “warning” to the couple about, as I said above, what they’re getting into, i.e. a union of a solemn and binding nature, to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life.

So now when someone mentions the Monitum in the wedding ceremony, you’ll know what they’re talking about!