Churching of Women following Childbirth

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The husband does not participate. It is between the woman and the priest alone. Even if Horton was a “he” she wouldn’t have seen it done unless it was about herself.
 
“… before she could return to Mass and Holy Communion.” So there was a time when in the Catholic Church when post-delivery a woman wasn’t even allowed to attend Mass - based on Church law, not medical issues - until after the “churching?”
Phemie said:
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Horton:
It does appear to be a Christian tradition. I’m not sure it is used much anymore. I have never seen it done.
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I don’t think it’s something you would have seen done unless it was your wife. From what I was able to glean from the women here it was something done almost in secret before she was allowed to return to church. This at a time when women didn’t usually go out until 40 days after childbirth and the first stop was the church to be churched before she could return to Mass and Communion the next Sunday.

From what I knew of the Jewish tradition of ritual purification it’s certainly was my thought on the process. That may not have been its purpose but the women who were having it done certainly believed that. That’s why they were shocked that a priest would not know what they were talking about.
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So there was a time when women were excluded from both Mass and Communion because of having a baby?!
 
Mattapoisett64 said:
“… before she could return to Mass and Holy Communion.” So there was a time when in the Catholic Church when post-delivery a woman wasn’t even allowed to attend Mass - based on Church law, not medical issues - until after the “churching?”

So there was a time when women were excluded from both Mass and Communion because of having a baby?!
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No, it was never a Church teaching. I grew up in the 50s & 60s and had never heard of churching. If it had been a Church law you can be sure my mother would have told me I was supposed to have it done, but I doubt she’d ever heard about it.

Sadly, it was how it was interpreted by some women in some countries. If you read the two articles I linked, one to The Compass and one to Our Sunday Visitor, you’ll see that the rite is explained and the misunderstanding is also explained.

People misinterpret things all the time. You’ll have people today who’ll swear you have to be fasting for an hour before Mass starts if you want to go to Communion. You’ll have others who swear you can only receive Communion once a day. Both are wrong, both are misconceptions of what the Church actually says.
 
Vico said:
We do the churching rite in our Byzantine Catholic parish.
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We also do the churching rite. With my last baby, I stayed away from Sunday liturgy for a full 6 weeks, but one day, about a month after the birth, I went to Vespers with just baby, but without the family. The priest asked if I was ready to come back, meaning ready to resume regular attendance at the Divine Liturgy. I told him that I wasn’t quite ready for that yet.( I was having an extremely difficult recovery from a C-section and he had encouraged me to stay home until I felt ready to deal with climbing stairs and taking care of squirmy toddlers.) He just told me to let him know when I was ready to be back for good, and we would do the churching then. We ended up scheduling the baptism during that conversation and we did the churching at the baptism, the same as we’ve done with most of the other kids.

It is a beautiful ritual and a beautiful custom.
 
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Guessing this question came up because of the Masterpiece Theater recent episode of “Victoria” where the young queen was Churched after the birth of her child.
 
Well sort of. At least in the Orthodox practice it’s common for mothers to just stay home for about 40 days and recover from the birth and bond with her child. Once she is ready to return, she is churched. Although it’s not like people get scandalized when a mother comes back to a service before she gets churched, but it’s just normative to get churched before returning since that is what it’s for.
 
I have never heard of this before. It sounds like a very beautiful tradition.
 
What do you mean about fasting for an hour before Mass? Everywhere I have read say that’s still true.
 
Well that’s what I thought but then what is Phemie saying when she says “You’ll have people today who’ll swear you have to be fasting for an hour before Mass starts if you want to go to Communion.”?
 
Two different things. The beginning of Mass and when we process to receive are at two different times. We only have to fast one hour before the latter
 
Because the average US Sunday Mass will not begin Communion until 30/40 minutes after the beginning of Mass.
 
Oh ok well that’s true I thought they were saying that there was no fast anymore. I’m tracking now.
 
SusanneT said:
Does anyone know anything about this practice or where I can find more information ?
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COPIED FROM THE ROMAN RITUAL
http://www.sanctamissa.org/en/resources/books-1962/rituale-romanum/49-blessings-of-persons.html
  1. BLESSING OF A MOTHER AFTER CHILDBIRTH
{This blessing is often referred to as the churching of women, but the Roman Ritual more appropriately calls it simply the blessing of a woman after childbirth. The practice of “churching a woman” developed out of a related practice in the Old Testament (cf. Lev 12.1-8). According to the Mosaic Law a woman incurred legal uncleanness in childbirth and remained unclean until her legal purification. This view, that a woman incurs some kind of defilement in childbirth, persisted even in Christian times, especially in the East, but in the West too, despite the opposition of Pope Gregory the Great (d. 604). The sufferings of childbirth were looked upon as part of the penalty imposed on Eve and on all her daughters. Yet it must be understood clearly that the Jews did not say there was actually any stain of sin on the mother in consequence of giving birth to a child, but merely a restriction imposed by law. With Christ’s coming womankind was elevated and ennobled, and motherhood too was more clearly seen as something honorable, deserving a blessing rather than a purification. The exact time of origin of this sacramental is not known, except that it is very ancient, and dates possibly from the first half of the fourth century.}
  1. After giving birth to a child a mother may wish to give thanks to God in church for a safe delivery, and to obtain the Church’s blessing. This has long been a devout and praiseworthy practice. The priest, vested in surplice and white stole (assisted by a server who carries the aspersory), goes to the threshold of the church. The woman kneels there, holding a lighted candle.
{The very fact that the priest goes to meet her and escort her into the church is in itself a mark of respect for the mother, and puts one in mind of a bishop who meets a royal personage or anyone of high rank when the latter comes to a cathedral to attend a solemn function. The rest of the rite speaks for itself; but it may be pointed out that psalm 23, which the priest recites over the woman, is a psalm of majesty, praise, and gratitude.}
 
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The priest sprinkles her with holy water, saying:

P: Our help is in the name of the Lord.

All: Who made heaven and earth.

He then says the following antiphon and psalm 23:

Antiphon: This woman shall receive a blessing from the Lord and mercy from God, her Savior; for she is one of the people who seek the Lord.

Psalm 23
[not typed here]

After psalm 23 the above antiphon is repeated.
  1. Then the priest places the end of the stole hanging from his left shoulder in the hand of the woman and leads her into the church, saying:
Come into God’s house. Adore the Son of the blessed Virgin Mary, and thank God who has given you the grace of motherhood.
  1. The woman kneels before the altar, giving thanks to God for the benefits He has bestowed on her. The priest continues:
Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Our Father (the rest inaudibly until:)

P: And lead us not into temptation.

All: But deliver us from evil.

P: Save your servant.

All: Who trusts in you, my God.

P: Lord, send her aid from your holy place.

All: And watch over her from Sion.

P: Let the enemy have no power over her.

All: And the son of iniquity be powerless to harm her.

P: Lord, heed my prayer.

All: And let my cry be heard by you.

P: The Lord be with you.

All: May He also be with you.

Let us pray.
Almighty everlasting God, who by means of the blessed Virgin Mary’s childbearing has given every Christian mother joy, even in her pains of bringing forth her child; look kindly on this servant of yours who has come in gladness to your holy dwelling to offer her thanks. And grant that after this life, through the merits and prayers of that same blessed Mary, she and her child may be deemed worthy of attaining the happiness of everlasting life; through Christ our Lord.

All: Amen.
The “Collectio Rituum,” both for Germany and the U. S. A., provide the following blessing for the child:

Let us pray.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, begotten before time was, yet willing to be an infant within time; who love childhood innocence; who deigned to tenderly embrace and to bless the little ones when they were brought to you; be ready with your dearest blessings for this child as he (she) journeys through life, and let no evil ways corrupt his (her) understanding. May he (she) advance in wisdom and grace with the years, and be enabled ever to please you, who are God, living and reigning with the Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, forever and ever.

All: Amen.
4. The priest again sprinkles her with holy water, saying:

May the peace and blessing of almighty God, Father, Son, + and Holy Spirit, come upon you and remain with you forever.

All: Amen.
5. The blessing of a woman after childbirth ought to be given by the pastor, if he is requested to do so. But any priest may impart it in any church or public oratory, in which case he should notify the superior.
 
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So there was a time when women were excluded from both Mass and Communion because of having a baby?!
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In many cultures throughout time, it has been expected that women recovering from childbirth would stay home entirely for 6 weeks (approximately 40 days). Our own modern culture often fails to recognize that this is the time needed for the internal healing after childbirth. Although our modern lives are often less physically taxing than in past times, we often fail to recognize that the healing still needs to take place. The woman was not excluded from Church for the 40-day period, she was exempt from going to Church in recognition of the birth and her need for recovery.

The best way to understand churching and its purpose is to read the rite itself.
https://www.fisheaters.com/churchingofwomen.html
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.
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From the East:

www.goarch.org

The Churching of a Mother and Child After Forty Days - Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America - Orthodox Church

The service for the churching of a mother and child 40 days after birth.
www.goarch.org www.goarch.org
Priest: O Lord God Almighty, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who by Your word has made every rational and irrational creature, that brought all things out of nothingness into being: we pray to You and implore You, cleanse this Your servant (Name), whom by Your Will You have preserved, and who now comes into Your Holy Church, from every transgression, so that she may be accounted worthy to partake of Your holy Mysteries without condemnation.

For You are a good and loving God, and to You we send up all glory: to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen.

Bless also this child which has been born of her; increase it sanctify it, give it understanding and a prudent and virtuous’ mind; for You alone have brought it into being, and have shown him (her) the light which bodily sense perceives, so that he (she) might be accounted worthy also of the ideal light and be numbered with Your holy Flock; through Your Only; Begotten Son, with Whom You are blessed, together with Your All; Holy, Good and Life; creating Spirit, both now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen.

Priest: O Lord God, Who ever draws near for the salvation of the human race, come also to this Your servant (Name), and through the prayers of Your venerable Priesthood account her worthy to find refuge in Your holy Catholic Church, to obtain entrance into the Temple of Your Glory, and worthy also to partake of the Precious Body and Blood of Your Christ. In the fulfillment of the forty days, wash away from her every transgression, voluntary and involuntary, so that accounted worthy to enter Your holy Temple, she may glorify with us Your All; Holy Name, of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, both now and ever, and to the ages of ages.
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@on_the_hill, I’m not sure why this showed up as a reply to you. It was meant for @mattapoisett64.
 
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