Wednesday Liturgy: Follow-up: Churching After Childbirth

ROME, AUG. 23, 2011 (Zenit.org ()).- Answered by Legionary of Christ Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy at the Regina Apostolorum university.

With respect to our reply on the churching of women after childbirth (see July 26 ()), a Mississippi reader mildly chided me for being too "Novus Ordo centered" and leaving out the fact that some form of churching exists in other Catholic rites.

He wrote: "When we had our fifth child over 10 years ago, the day of the baby's baptism [into the Byzantine (Ruthenian Greek rite) Catholic Church] my wife was 'churched' and our baby daughter was presented prior to the commencement of the Divine Liturgy, during which she was baptized, chrismated, and given her first Holy Communion. The churching was a beautiful service -- our little girl was held aloft and moved in the sign of the cross before the holy icons."

One of the advantages of this follow-up section is the possibility of making amends for such omissions, although I think our reader will understand that this column's character as a brief response to concrete questions does not always allow us to cover every possible angle of a question.

It is also worthwhile pointing out that churching may still be imparted according to the norms of the pre 1962 rites of blessing.

Another reader, from Honduras, described a common custom in that country: "In the part of Honduras where I am volunteering there is the custom for the parents to present the child, usually at Mass, about 40 days after the birth of the child. The child and parents are blessed, and the priest usually raises the child up above his head, facing the congregation, presenting the child to the assembly. This most often takes place at Masses in rural villages, but I have also experienced it at Masses in smaller churches in town."

Similar customs probably exist elsewhere. Since the rite of blessing a mother does not foresee its being held during the celebration of Mass, I believe that it is not correct to present the child during Mass. I see less difficulty, however, in doing so immediately before or, preferably, after the Eucharistic celebration.