Prayers for the Churching of a Mother and Child After Forty Days
Standing together with the mother, child and sponsor before the doors of the nave of the church, the Priest says:
PRIEST
Blessed is our God always, now and ever and to the ages of ages.
( Amen. )
READER
Trisagion Prayers.
Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us. (3)
Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Both now and ever and to the ages of ages. Amen.
All-holy Trinity, have mercy on us. Lord, forgive our sins. Master, pardon our transgressions. Holy One, visit and heal our infirmities for Your name’s sake.
Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Both now and ever and to the ages of ages. Amen.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [GOA]
PRIEST
For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and to ages of ages.
( Amen. )
Over the bowed heads of mother and child, the Priest makes the sign of the Cross. He then lays his hand upon the mother’s head and says:
PRIEST
Let us pray to the Lord.
( Lord, have mercy. )
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. [HC]
( Amen. )
Then he touches the child’s head and says:
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. [HC]
( Amen. )
Peace be with all.
( And with your spirit. )
Let us bow our heads to the Lord.
( To You, O Lord. )
Let us pray to the Lord.
( Lord, have mercy. )
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. [HC]
( Amen. )
Let us pray to the Lord.
( Lord, have mercy. )
O Lord our God, Who on the fortieth day was brought as a child into the Temple of the Law by Mary, the Virgin Bride and Your holy Mother, and was carried in the arms of the righteous Symeon, do You also, Sovereign Master All-Powerful, bless this presented babe that it may appear before You, the Creator of all things. And do You increase in him (her) every good work acceptable to You, removing from him (her) every opposing might by the sign of the likeness of Your Cross; for You are He Who guards infants, O Lord. So that, accounted worthy of holy Baptism, he (she) may obtain the portion of Your Elect of the Kingdom, being protected with us by the Grace of the Holy Consubstantial and Undivided Trinity. For unto You do we send up Glory, Honor and Worship, with Your Eternal Father and Your All-holy, Good and Life-creating Spirit, both now and ever, and to the ages of ages. [HC]
( Amen. )
Let us pray to the Lord.
( Lord, have mercy. )
O God, the Father Almighty, Who by the loud; voice Prophet Isaiah has foretold to us the incarnation from a Virgin of Your Only; Begotten Son and our God; Who in the latter days, by Your good pleasure and by the cooperation of the Holy Spirit have willed, through measureless love, to become a child of her for the salvation of men; and, according to the custom of Your Holy Law, after the fulfillment of the days of purification, submitted to be brought into the Sanctuary, being Himself a true lawgiver, and willed to be carried in the arms of the righteous Symeon, of which mystery we have a prototype declared in the aforementioned Prophet by the taking of coals with tongs from the Altar, and of which we Faithful also have an imitation in Grace. Do You, Who are He that watches over babes, Yourself, O Lord, bless (+) this child, together with its parents and sponsors, and account it worthy, at the fitting time, to be born again of water and the Spirit. Number it with Your holy Flock of rational sheep, who are called by the Name of Your Christ. For You are He that dwells on high, and gives regard to the things which are lowly, and to You do we send up glory: to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever, and to the ages of ages. [HC]
( Amen. )
Then, taking up the child, the Priest lifts it up in the sign of the Cross before the Gates of the Temple, saying:
The servant of God (Name) is churched, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. [HC]
( Amen. )
And he carries the child into the Holy Temple, saying:
I will come into Your house, O Lord; in fear of You I will worship toward Your holy temple. [SAAS]
Coming to the center of the church, he says:
The servant of God (Name) is churched, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. [HC]
( Amen. )
In the midst of the church I will sing to You. [SAAS]
Then he brings the child before the Doors of the Altar, saying:
The servant of God (Name) is churched, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. [HC]
( Amen. )
If the child is male the Priest carries him into the Altar; if a female, the child is carried only as far as the Holy Doors. He then says:
Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word; for my eyes have seen Your salvation which You have prepared before the face of all peoples. A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel. [NKJV]
Glory to You, O Christ our God. Glory to You.
May He who condescended to be held in the arms of righteous Symeon, for our salvation, Christ our true God, through the intercessions of His all-pure and all-immaculate holy Mother, the power of the precious and life-giving Cross, the protection of the honorable, bodiless powers of heaven, the supplications of the honorable, glorious prophet and forerunner John the Baptist, of the holy, glorious, and praiseworthy apostles, of the holy, glorious, and triumphant martyrs, of our righteous and God-bearing fathers, (local patron saint); of the holy and righteous ancestors of God Joachim and Anna, and of all the saints, have mercy on us and save us, as He is good, benevolent, and merciful God.
Through the prayers of our holy fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us.
( Amen. )
After the Amen, the priest makes the sign of the Cross over the forehead, mouth, and chest of the child, invoking the name of the Holy Trinity.
He then returns the child to the mother.