Serm. 2, p. 961.
4. According to the ceremonies then in use.
5. John i. 9.
6. Luke ii. 3.
7. Matt. v. 6.
8. Exod. xxviii. 20.
9. 2 Macch. iv. 22.
10. Adv. Vigil. p. 304.
11. Can. 3.
12. Hymn 2.
13. Nat. iii. v. 98.
14. See the pastoral charge of the late Dr. Butler, bishop of Durham.

{341}

_On the Christian rite of churching women after childbirth._

God, in the old law, declared several actions unclean, which, though
innocent and faultless it themselves, had a constant but remote regard
to sin. One of these was childbirth, to denote the impurity of man's
origin by his being conceived and born in sin. For the removal of legal
uncleanness in general, God established certain expiatory rites,
consisting of ablutions and sacrifices, to which all were strictly
obliged who desired to be purified; that is, restored to the privileges
of their brethren, and declared duly qualified members of the synagogue
or Jewish church. It would be superstitious since the death of Christ,
and the publication of the new law, to stand in awe of legal
uncleannesses, or to have recourse to Jewish purifications on account of
any of them, whether after childbirth or in any other cases. It is not,
therefore, with that intention, that Christian mothers come to the
church, as Jewish women did to the tabernacle, in order to be purified
from any uncleanness they contract by childbirth. It is not on any
consideration peculiar to the Jews that this ceremony was established in
the Christian church, but on a motive common to all mankind, the
performing the duty of thanksgiving and prayer. Hence in the canon law,
pope Innocent III. speaks of it as follows: "If women after childbearing
desire immediately to enter the church, they commit no sin by so doing,
nor are they to be hindered. Nevertheless, if they choose to refrain out
of respect for some time, we do not think their devotion ought to be
reprehended."[1]

In some dioceses this term is limited to a certain number of days. Where
this is not regulated by custom, or by any particular statute, the party
may perform this duty as soon as she is able to go abroad. Her first
visit is to be to the church: first, to give God thanks for her safe
delivery: secondly, to implore his blessing on herself and her child. It
ought to be her first visit, to show her readiness to acquit herself of
this duty to God, and to give him the first-fruits of her recovery and
blessing received; as the first-fru