When a child is born, every Orthodox mother wonders when after giving birth she can go to church. There are several rituals that must be performed on a newborn baby and his mother, among which the most important is baptism. The Orthodox Church has a number of restrictions on this matter. For some time after giving birth, a woman experiences postpartum bleeding. According to the majority of representatives of the Orthodox community, entering a temple, performing church rituals, or touching shrines during this time of the cycle and the postpartum period is prohibited. However, not all church ministers agree with him.
According to some clergy, prohibitions on visiting church are relics of the past; a woman can come to church at any time. Meanwhile, a visit to the temple by a mother and her child is necessary. The priest must read certain prayers over the woman and perform the ceremony of churching and baptism of the baby. These actions are mandatory for Orthodox people. When can you visit the temple, what restrictions may there be and what rituals must be performed? Details can be found by reading further.
Childbirth and temple visit
The church has special canons. According to them, only people who are spiritually and physically pure are allowed to touch everything holy. The church classifies the period of natural cleansing of the female body as physical impurity.
When spiritual shepherds are asked when a new mother can enter the church, they answer clearly and specifically: 40 days after giving birth. Then the mother is allowed to enter the temple with her baby. On this day, the clergyman offers a prayer for the mother, then for the baby. If before this period the baby has already been baptized, then the ritual of his churching is performed. This is a special sacrament, after which the child becomes a servant of God, a member of the Church of Christ.
There are several reasons why a woman who has recently given birth is prohibited from visiting the temple:
- Female uncleanness. During the period of postpartum discharge, the female body is cleansed and gets rid of impurities.
- Blood must not be shed in the temple. In ancient times, there were no special products that women use today for menstruation (pads and tampons). This is another taboo on visiting church on menstrual days.
- A large number of parishioners. Crowds of people in church can negatively affect a woman’s health. After all, not entirely healthy people come there. But for women with weakened immunity after childbirth, such contacts are not suitable. And active contacts with the outside world interfere with the natural unity of mother and baby.
Why do you have to wait exactly 40 days? Because physiological discharge in women after childbirth lasts approximately 6 weeks. This is exactly the 40 days needed to restore the body. This period should be devoted to taking care of your physical health, and then - about your spiritual health.
Let us note that today the opinions of spiritual shepherds regarding the observance of the forty-day taboo on visiting church are divided. Some believe that women can attend church services at any time, but after giving birth they cannot receive communion for up to 40 days. Others are categorically against women coming to the temple during this period. Therefore, a woman is recommended to pray for the baby in her own words or read special prayers for the granting of patience, dedicated to the protection of children. The child’s father, his grandmother, grandfather, and other relatives can go to church and light a candle for the well-being of the family. They bow to the icon of the Mother of God, St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, with mental requests to protect the child, protect him from trouble, grief, and give the mother the strength to raise the child. You can serve a prayer of thanks for the safe birth of the baby, or submit a note for the health of the baby’s mother, if she is baptized. Sorokaust is also served for her health. Spiritual care for a woman’s health is also the protection of her baby, because they are closely related.
Today, many parents try to baptize their child as soon as possible - a week, two, three after birth. And the ritual of churching takes place later, after 40 days from the moment the baby is born. And then his mother comes to the temple with him, bringing the child closer to spiritual shrines and rituals.
Doctors' opinions on church attendance for women after childbirth
Women are not advised to attend church for exactly 40 days, since that is how many days a woman’s discharge can last. These days, it is worth paying attention not to visiting temples and churches, but to taking care of the baby and women's health.
According to doctors, after the birth of a child, the female body is weakened, so it is imperative to pay attention to the young mother. It is thanks to her, her health, that the child will feel safe. Mother's warmth and mood are given to small children.
Why the mother cannot be present at the baptism of a child
It is worth knowing that in many churches mothers are allowed to attend such a sacrament, because it is on the day of the child’s baptism that the fortieth day prayer is read. In other churches, the mother is not allowed to attend the baptismal ceremony. She is invited to the Liturgy next Sunday, and a special prayer of purification is performed over her. This is the reading of “Prayers to the wife who gave birth, forty days at a time.”
The ban on the presence of the mother during this sacrament applies to those cases when the child is baptized before 40 days of age. Many modern priests are confident that such taboos are historical relics. After all, only sin defiles any person. As for the physiological processes of female cleansing, this is a natural phenomenon. There is nothing bad or sinful in him. This is nothing to be ashamed of.
When a woman who has given birth can come to church, her confessor will tell her.
Restrictions in the Upper Testament for women in labor
The Old Testament contains various restrictions on visiting God's temples. But Jesus Christ, according to the priests, abolished them with his sacrifice.
Different faiths have their own rules; some clergy do not prohibit a woman from going to church after giving birth. They believe that there is nothing wrong if a woman wanted to come and pray for herself and her child. It is not forbidden to baptize him, and his mother to be present during this ceremony.
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If we go deeper
When studying this issue, it is worth starting with the New Testament, which did not describe any clear ideas about the restrictions associated with the “postpartum ban” on entering the temple. This tradition takes its roots from biblical times. Thus, in chapter 12 of the Book of Leviticus it is said that a woman is spiritually “unclean” only for seven days after giving birth to a boy, and then for another 33 days she sits at home and does not touch any things of cult significance. And gender in this context played an important role, because for a girl this period was doubled: 40 days for herself and 40 for the “uncleanness” of the newborn.
In any case, it was believed that
a woman in labor, experiencing agony during the birth of a child, can make a vow to herself never to conceive a child again, so as not to experience such pain again. And for these thoughts, a woman was considered guilty before God and “spiritually unclean” after childbirth.
The New Testament is radically different. It says that only sinful thoughts can make a person like this, and in the 6th book of the Didascalia (decrees of the apostles) it is said that the birth of a child is pure and no physiological features of this process are disgusting to God. Therefore, not all priests are so categorical on the question of whether it is possible to go to church after the birth of a baby.
There is also some church pedagogy that says that in the first days of a child’s life one should become attached to him with soul, heart and body. Do not leave him under any circumstances, because he needs his mother more now, and you will go to confession and receive communion later. Now her obedience is serving the child, she needs to “forget yourself for the sake of your own child, and forget about your sins.”
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Breaking the rules
True, there are situations when no one asks the question of when it is possible to go to the temple of God. And then the new mother can break the prohibitions that the parish she belongs to adheres to. But everything could have turned out differently if the woman had known how to properly enter God’s temple after giving birth.
You can enter the shrine for the first time 40 days after the birth of the child. Then certain actions are performed in a certain sequence:
- confession is repentance and recognition of one’s sins;
- communion, which is a special sacrament with the eating of consecrated bread and wine (the blood and flesh of Christ);
- the reading of cleansing prayers over a woman who has undergone these rites, which allows her to attend the next services and sacraments;
- the baptism itself;
- churching, which means the introduction of a child into a church meeting and their inclusion in it, representing an “official act” that secures the rights of a new Christian.
Today, many families strive to baptize a child the day after birth, and perform the ritual of churching after 40 days. But it is worth considering that if the baptism takes place before this date, then the mother will be prohibited from attending it. They will tell her to go to the Liturgy next Sunday, after which they will pray for cleansing.
True, some clergy are confident that these are relics of the historical past. It is worth noting that if you want to take an unbaptized person as godparents, then he is forbidden to enter the shrine.
Taking into account all the factors, the most correct decision would be a conversation with the confessor of the church that the believing mother attends, who will tell you the correct answer.
Fears of the Pagans
The number 40 is sacred for representatives of many nations. It is often associated with birth and death. The idea that the soul of the deceased wanders in the world of the living for 40 days after death arose at the dawn of humanity. In the same way, pagans have always believed that during the first 40 days a newborn is not yet fully established in our world. And therefore, for the first month and a half, his mother should be extremely careful.
It is better for a young mother with a child not to appear in public places, so as not to run into the evil eye, because many people may envy her happiness. And since the baby is not yet fully part of the world of the living during the first 40 days after birth, this negativity can lead to sad consequences. Therefore, showing it to anyone other than relatives and close friends in the first time after birth was considered dangerous.
By the way, according to the Holy Scriptures, the Mother of God brought the newborn Jesus to the temple only after 40 days had passed since the birth of the baby.
Another reason for such a ban may be the fear that a young woman, whose body is weakened by childbirth, will inadvertently catch an infection in crowded places. Needless to say, for a newborn in the first days of his life, any disease can be fatal.
Fears of the Pagans
The number 40 is sacred for representatives of many nations. It is often associated with birth and death. The idea that the soul of the deceased wanders in the world of the living for 40 days after death arose at the dawn of humanity. In the same way, pagans have always believed that during the first 40 days a newborn is not yet fully established in our world. And therefore, for the first month and a half, his mother should be extremely careful.
It is better for a young mother with a child not to appear in public places, so as not to run into the evil eye, because many people may envy her happiness. And since the baby is not yet fully part of the world of the living during the first 40 days after birth, this negativity can lead to sad consequences. Therefore, showing it to anyone other than relatives and close friends in the first time after birth was considered dangerous.
By the way, according to the Holy Scriptures, the Mother of God brought the newborn Jesus to the temple only after 40 days had passed since the birth of the baby.
Another reason for such a ban may be the fear that a young woman, whose body is weakened by childbirth, will inadvertently catch an infection in crowded places. Needless to say, for a newborn in the first days of his life, any disease can be fatal.
Modern Russia
The opinions of modern Orthodox priests on this issue are divided. Some believe that centuries-old traditions should not be violated, while others think that the birth of a child should not be an obstacle to spiritual life. There are also supporters of the “moderate middle” who allow women during menstruation and immediately after childbirth to go to church and pray, although they are not allowed to receive communion or touch religious shrines.
As a rule, in this matter parishioners follow the instructions of those clergy whose flock they belong to. However, failure to comply with any rules from this series is not considered a sin, and this is not a reason to automatically condemn a woman. We are not talking about sin, but only about misconduct, if the rector of the church generally regards her behavior as such.
According to custom, 40 days after giving birth, like the Mother of God, a young mother comes to the temple with her child. The priest reads a special cleansing prayer over her. It is quite short, its essence boils down to one request to God: “... wash away her bodily filth and spiritual filth in forty days.” After this, the woman can receive communion.
Then the prayer is read over the child, regardless of whether he has already been baptized or not.
The priest turns to God with a request to bless the child. Facebook Doors and windows
Rituals after the birth of a child
Every Christian mother brings her child to the temple, as the Mother of God did on the fortieth day after the birth of the Savior. This tradition involves offering prayer over the mother, and then over the child. Even on the first day after giving birth, a prayer is read over the mother, and to bless the child and name him, prayers are read on the eighth day.
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During the rite of baptism, a person comes into a new life and is accepted into the ranks of the Christian society. The introduction of a child into the temple (or in other words, churching) is comparable to an action that consolidates the rights of a newly made member of this society. Through baptism a person receives the rights and assumes the responsibilities of a Christian believer, and on the fortieth day he enters into the community of those faithful to Christ and approaches the altar of the Lord, the concentration of Christian grace.
When can you go to the temple?
According to popular belief in Orthodoxy, a woman can enter the temple 40 days after giving birth. This is due to the fact that during this time the mother’s body is cleansed of excess blood that fed the uterus during pregnancy. Since this blood comes out through the genitals, such discharge is considered to be impurity, and the woman from whom it occurs is unclean. This impurity is comparable to menstrual flow. During critical days, going to temple is also prohibited.
For each woman in labor, the period when lochia is released may be different. On average this can last for 3-6 weeks. For breastfeeding women, this period may be significantly shorter. The Church has determined a period of 40 days during which visiting the temple is unacceptable. It is this value that young mothers should focus on. There are a number of other reasons why you should not visit the temple without waiting for this day.
Modern Russia
The opinions of modern Orthodox priests on this issue are divided. Some believe that centuries-old traditions should not be violated, while others think that the birth of a child should not be an obstacle to spiritual life. There are also supporters of the “moderate middle” who allow women during menstruation and immediately after childbirth to go to church and pray, although they are not allowed to receive communion or touch religious shrines.
As a rule, in this matter parishioners follow the instructions of those clergy whose flock they belong to. However, failure to comply with any rules from this series is not considered a sin, and this is not a reason to automatically condemn a woman. We are not talking about sin, but only about misconduct, if the rector of the church generally regards her behavior as such.
According to custom, 40 days after giving birth, like the Mother of God, a young mother comes to the temple with her child. The priest reads a special cleansing prayer over her. It is quite short, its essence boils down to one request to God: “... wash away her bodily filth and spiritual filth in forty days.” After this, the woman can receive communion.
Then the prayer is read over the child, regardless of whether he has already been baptized or not. The priest turns to God with a request to bless the child.
After the birth of a child, a woman can begin attending church again only 40 days after the significant event. As soon as the due date has passed, the priest must read a special cleansing prayer over her, and only then will she have the opportunity to receive communion.
