The Churching of Women
A friend of ours visited us one Sunday afternoon a few weeks ago. He is a lover of the Tridentine Mass and of all things old and traditional that relate to the Catholic Church and its Sacraments or ceremonies.
In the course of talking about this coming baby, my pregnancy and how I was doing, he asked me if I had heard of the Catholic "old rite" ceremony of the Churching of Women. I had. My understanding of it was that it was a "purification" ceremony following childbirth that hearkens back to the Purification of Mary. In Jesus' time, every Jewish woman had to be purified before entering the temple because the blood of childbirth had made her unclean or contaminated.
So, I shrugged a little. I was not interested in the idea of being "cleansed" after my childbirths, as if I had just finished doing something ugly, dirty and degrading. Yes, Mary submitted to it humbly, but that was the rule of that time and that time was different. Why on earth the Catholic Church continued the ceremony, other than the (for me) not quite sufficient reason of simply imitating Mary, (and obviously, we do not repeat every Jewish custom that Mary did) escaped my comprehension completely.
And then, quite in spite of myself, I was struck speechless in wonder at the beauty of the explanation my friend gave of this ceremony.
The Sacred Vessels used for the celebration of Holy Mass are purified following their contact with the Body and Blood of God. This is not because of any understanding that they are dirty or in need of cleansing, but rather to signify their return to ordinary vessels. They will, for a time, no longer be in direct contact with Him who makes all things holy. They will simply be beautiful golden vessels waiting in the sacristy for the next time they will hold Jesus within their shining depths.
In the same way, a woman, having held within the depth of her body the immortal soul of a child, can be seen to need "purification" upon the delivery of this child. She has performed her task of carrying the soul to the beginning of it's life on earth, and now that she has been "emptied", must return to an ordinary vessel, and, for a time, be no longer directly touching the sacredness of this soul straight from the Heart of God.
And just as the special holiness of the Sacred Vessels comes from something that they hold rather than something that they do, the holiness of woman lies greatly (not solely -- I do not draw the analogy too far!) in that very special holding that she is blest with -- for nine months to contain what is most infinitely precious and holy in the eyes of God.
In the course of talking about this coming baby, my pregnancy and how I was doing, he asked me if I had heard of the Catholic "old rite" ceremony of the Churching of Women. I had. My understanding of it was that it was a "purification" ceremony following childbirth that hearkens back to the Purification of Mary. In Jesus' time, every Jewish woman had to be purified before entering the temple because the blood of childbirth had made her unclean or contaminated.
So, I shrugged a little. I was not interested in the idea of being "cleansed" after my childbirths, as if I had just finished doing something ugly, dirty and degrading. Yes, Mary submitted to it humbly, but that was the rule of that time and that time was different. Why on earth the Catholic Church continued the ceremony, other than the (for me) not quite sufficient reason of simply imitating Mary, (and obviously, we do not repeat every Jewish custom that Mary did) escaped my comprehension completely.
And then, quite in spite of myself, I was struck speechless in wonder at the beauty of the explanation my friend gave of this ceremony.
The Sacred Vessels used for the celebration of Holy Mass are purified following their contact with the Body and Blood of God. This is not because of any understanding that they are dirty or in need of cleansing, but rather to signify their return to ordinary vessels. They will, for a time, no longer be in direct contact with Him who makes all things holy. They will simply be beautiful golden vessels waiting in the sacristy for the next time they will hold Jesus within their shining depths.
In the same way, a woman, having held within the depth of her body the immortal soul of a child, can be seen to need "purification" upon the delivery of this child. She has performed her task of carrying the soul to the beginning of it's life on earth, and now that she has been "emptied", must return to an ordinary vessel, and, for a time, be no longer directly touching the sacredness of this soul straight from the Heart of God.
And just as the special holiness of the Sacred Vessels comes from something that they hold rather than something that they do, the holiness of woman lies greatly (not solely -- I do not draw the analogy too far!) in that very special holding that she is blest with -- for nine months to contain what is most infinitely precious and holy in the eyes of God.
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