Every pregnant woman has a moment when she begins to worry and worry more and more about her baby, because it is never known how the matter will end. Many people think that they need to turn to God in prayer. This will help the woman calm down, since she will be protected by higher patrons.
(Lev.12:1-7)
“And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Tell the children of Israel, If a woman conceives and gives birth to a male child, she will be unclean for seven days; as in the days of her suffering by purification, she will be unclean; on the eighth day his foreskin will be circumcised; and she must sit for thirty-three days, cleansing herself from her blood...If she gives birth to a female child, then during her cleansing she will be unclean for two weeks, and sixty-six days she must sit, cleansing herself from her blood....
Many Orthodox people believe that they need to pray to God for a successful birth. This will help the woman calm down, as she will be protected by higher patrons
After childbirth, a woman can visit the temple only after 40 days
Uncleanness according to the Old Testament indicates whether an Orthodox person can take part in any church rituals. Ritual purity is something incomprehensible to the human mind, but for the church it is not so important. One law that still exists today is nida.
Nida is female impurity. After the birth of a child, a woman cannot avoid bleeding. Nida occurs until the eighth clean day, when the discharge has already stopped.
A pregnant woman after giving birth cannot visit the temple. And it can be no earlier than 40 days. If a woman wants to visit the temple before the baptism of her child, then she needs to perform a ritual ceremony. The ceremony is performed by a priest.
If a woman wants to visit the temple before the baptism of her child, then she needs to perform a ritual ceremony. The ritual is performed by a priest
About the uncleanness of people in the church
Human “dirt” in Christianity is called uncleanness - we are not talking about physical or even spiritual dirt. Uncleanness is a state of a person that does not allow him to take part in church ritual ceremonies. This is a law that is determined at the sacred level, so it should not be associated with hygiene procedures. A person becomes defiled by uncleanness on certain occasions. For example, a person becomes defiled by uncleanness if he has been in the same room with the deceased for some time.
Here we can also highlight the simple feeling of the deceased - in this case, for a week it is forbidden not only to take part in ritual ceremonies, but also to enter the temple. People who have visited the grave or touched the grave soil or slab are prohibited - this is the law. The water, which can often be found under the deceased in the coffin, can be polluted by uncleanness - during the funeral service for the deceased, the vessel was not brought into the temple.
This is interesting: Getting rid of uncleanliness is difficult, but it is possible. True, for this you will have to go through a certain ritual, even with a sacrifice. It may not be necessary to make a sacrifice today in the form of killing an animal, but this should not be ruled out.
The main prohibition for visiting the temple is that a woman should not shed blood.
But it is worth mentioning not only about religious issues regarding the ban on visiting a church for a young mother and her child. This, for example, is the fact that many people can get sick, even with simple colds, and this can greatly affect the child’s health.
What other prohibitions should you know about visiting a temple? It is also important that in the church a woman should not shed blood - this is a great law. Therefore, nowadays there are many hygiene products that women can use.
Currently, no rituals are performed in the temple.
To go to temple after childbirth, there is a special prayer. The prayer should be read before the priest. If you follow the laws of the Bible, then this happens on the fortieth day after birth. In order to get to your child’s baptism, you need to read the 40th day prayer.
About the uncleanness of a pregnant woman or young mother
A woman is defiled by uncleanness during the period of bloody discharge from the vagina - this can occur during menstruation or after childbirth. In the Old Testament there are a huge number of laws for conducting various ritual ceremonies regarding women during the period of bloody discharge and the time of uncleanness. Today, in Orthodox churches only the nida ritual is performed, which also undergoes noticeable changes in getting rid of impurity.
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Nida is a ritual rite that begins on the seventh “clean” day (after the complete cessation of bleeding). Next, before visiting the temple, a special ritual is performed - the woman is washed in the mikveh. A mikveh is a special font built according to the laws of the Bible. The ritual ceremony is performed by the priest of the church. In the future, the woman can visit the temple until the next bleeding.
This is interesting: A correctly performed nida ritual means a complete absence of sexual contact with a man. God forbids touching, hugging, kissing. A woman should even sleep in a separate bed from her husband - this is followed for a clean week. Otherwise, she does not get rid of impurity.
After childbirth, a prayer is read - permissive
Prayer after childbirth is permissive. It is this cleansing prayer that gives permission to visit the Church.
Permissive prayer:
Our Lord Jesus Christ, by His Divine grace, the gift and power given by His holy disciple and apostle, to bind and solve the sins of men, said to them: receive the Holy Spirit; Their sins, if you forgive them, will be forgiven them; hold them, they will hold; and even if you bind and loose on earth, they will be bound and loose in Heaven. From them, and upon us, we receive each other (successively, one after another) by the grace that has come, so that through me, the humble one, this child (name) may be forgiven in spirit from all, even if, as a man, he has sinned against God in word, deed, or thought, and with all your feelings, willingly or unwillingly, knowledge or ignorance.
If you were under an oath or excommunication by a bishop or a priest, or if you swore an oath to your father or mother, or fell under your own curse, or broke an oath, or committed some other sin (here: was forbidden, was subject to a curse), but repent of all these with a contrite heart and from all those guilts and burdens (from what binds) let him (you) be released; great for the weakness (and everything that is due to weakness) of nature was given over to oblivion, and may she forgive him (her) everything, for her love for mankind, through the prayers of our Most Holy and Most Blessed Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary, the glorious and all-praised apostle saints and all the saints. Amen.
Purification prayer gives a woman permission to attend Church
A cleansing prayer is read after the end of bleeding
There is also a cleansing prayer. A young mother should read it before visiting the temple of God, but only after the bleeding has stopped.
This is a prayer to the Most Holy Theotokos, which is read for three days three times a day. You can read the prayer after the birth of the baby.
A cleansing prayer is read to the Mother of God
Purifying Prayer of the Mother of God:
Virgin Mary, rejoice. Blessed Mary, the Lord is with you; Blessed are You among women and blessed is the fruit of Your womb, for You have given birth to all our souls as the Savior. Mother of the Most Holy Theotokos, Virgin Beautiful Mary, I ask You, Thy servant (name). Just as You gave birth to Your son, Jesus Christ, so regenerate me, the servant of God (name), restore my blood, and veins, and joints, and my bones. So that, just as the cartilage of a small child is restored, so the face of God’s servant (name) is restored and reborn with my birth. Amen.
Uncleanness - what is it and where did the concept come from?
The concept of uncleanness comes from the biblical Old Testament. Purity or impurity determines the state of a person, allowing him to take or not take part in the temple cult. In essence, this is ritual purity.
In complex Jewish law, ritual purity goes hand in hand with the idea of holiness. The laws set forth in the books of Moses covered all aspects of life, which reliably prevented the penetration of pagan culture into religion and reflected the ancient idea of the Jews about the close connection between God, man and the Universe.
Unlike the commandments, which are classified as explainable from the point of view of the human mind, the commandments about ritual purity are classified as incomprehensible to reason and accepted a priori, that is, perceived as a law unconditionally and without a rational explanation of its premises.
Many consider these laws as hygienic rules, but the Bible clearly defines that they have a sacred meaning, not a material one. (eg Lev. 11:43-44)
According to Jewish laws, any person without exception could become defiled by uncleanness. Both old and young, and even a newborn one day old could be defiled by all its varieties.
The highest degree of uncleanness is cadaveric, and anyone who was in the same room with the deceased, touched him or the grave, was considered ritually unclean after that for 7 days and was not allowed to enter the Temple. Interestingly, uncleanness extended not only to people, but also to the water in open vessels located next to the corpse. It was possible to eliminate the state of impurity after the prescribed period had passed through special cleansing rites, often with sacrifice.
Before a caesarean section, you can also turn to God and the saints in prayer
Also in medical practice there is such a word as caesarean section. How does it go? And what is this? A caesarean section is an operation in which the baby is delivered through an incision in the uterus. Sometimes it happens that the expectant mother cannot give birth herself due to the physiological structure of the body. In such cases, a caesarean section is performed.
Many women also go through this process. Prayers should also be read for a successful delivery. How will such a prayer help? This prayer will help:
- gain peace of mind;
- the surgical intervention will take place without any complications;
- the child will be born healthy.
A woman in labor needs to start reading prayers 2-3 months before surgery
Comments from clergy
Believing women live with prayer every day because they realize its great benefits for the soul. And during such special periods in life as pregnancy and childbirth, expectant mothers try to participate more often in divine services, confess and receive communion. The power of prayer is determined by the strength of faith. The Lord is the only giver of life, and first of all, all petitions should be directed to Him. The Virgin Mary is the patroness of motherhood and is highly revered among future and current mothers. Not only the woman herself, but also her closest relatives and friends can pray to the Lord, the Mother of God, and the saints for the health of the woman in labor.
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Prayer of a woman in labor before a caesarean section - read 2-3 months before giving birth
Who should I pray to? You can pray not only to the Supreme Patron, but also to the Saints, for example, Matrona of Moscow, Healer Panteleimon.
But it is important to understand that your prayer must come from the heart. It is better to forget about sadness and completely surrender to thoughts about the birth of the baby. A mother's prayer may be offered when she gives birth to her daughter.
When a daughter gives birth, her mother can pray for her
Prayer of a woman in labor before a caesarean section:
Jesus Christ, who was born of the eternal Father, with the assistance and pure favor of the Holy Spirit, help us, who keep Your basic commandments, to grow and multiply, to fill our Earth. Do not despise your servant (name), who gives birth in the name of His Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Forgive her all her sins, both voluntary and involuntary, grant her strength with Your grace, help her get rid of the burden, save her and the baby’s life, try to protect her with Your Angels from the machinations of evil, unkind spirits.
Prayer to Matrona of Moscow - will help to undergo surgery
A prayer to Matrona of Moscow will help you endure surgery with ease, and will also help you heal faster.
A prayer to Matrona of Moscow will help you endure surgery with ease, and will also help you heal faster
Prayer to Matrona of Moscow:
Matrona, your soul is far away, guarding the Golden Throne of the Lord, but the ashes remain on the ground. Hear my appeal, allow slave (name) to find peace and ask God to provide me with his protection. Let me give birth to a healthy baby, don’t make him pay for my sins, which I sincerely repent of every day and night. I trust only in You and believe that Your mercy will be limitless. Amen.
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