The Book of Common Prayer offers a
beautiful service call 'The Thanksgiving of Women after Child-birth'
or 'The Churching of Women', and while not a frequently used rite, at
one time it was carried out whenever a new mother was able to leave
the house and after her baby had been baptized.
Churching remains a uniquely female way
of giving thanksgiving to God for the birth of a child, and
predisposes her, through the priestly blessing, to receive the grace
necessary to raise her child in a manner pleasing to God.
It is important to note that Churching
is not a rite of 'purification', and though it is modeled within the
lectionary on the 'Feast of the Purification of Saint Mary the
Virgin' (2 February), there is in no way a canon law of there being
any 'uncleanness' on the part of the new mother.
Let us therefore focus on thanksgiving
and asking for God blessing, and take advantage of this beautiful
ceremony.
