THE PRACTICE OF CHURCHING OR PRESENTATION OF CHILD AFTER BIRTH.
For Roman Catholics
The custom, referred to in many places as the “Churching of Women”, was retained in the Church until very recent times, and still is in the old rite.[12] The official title of the Rite was actually Benedictio mulieris post partum (the blessing of a woman after giving birth), and focused on blessing and thanksgiving. The rite largely fell into disuse in the late 1960s following the Second Vatican Council, but a number of traditional Catholic women still undergo the rite. The Book of Blessings published in 1984 contains a “Blessing of a Woman after Childbirth” that is significantly altered from the old rite used before the Council, but fulfills the same liturgical purpose. The current baptismal rite (which also incorporates a blessing of the father) contains a blessing for the mother, but the older rite is a special blessing.[3]
The concluding prayer reads:
Almighty, everlasting God, through the delivery of the blessed Virgin Mary, Thou hast turned into joy the pains of the faithful in childbirth; look mercifully upon this Thy handmaid, coming in gladness to Thy temple to offer up her thanks: and grant that after this life, by the merits and intercession of the same blessed Mary, she may merit to arrive, together with her offspring, at the joys of everlasting happiness. Through Christ our Lord.[3]
The “Order for the Blessing of a Mother after Childbirth” is still used, primarily for those mothers who were unable to attend the baptism, and is not necessarily held in a church. It may be imparted by a priest, deacon or authorized lay minister.[13]
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