_On the fortieth day the child is again brought to the temple to be
churched, that is, to make a beginning of attending church. It is brought
by the mother, who hath already been cleansed and washed, accompanied by
the intended sponsor at the baptism._
_And the priest maketh,_
Blessed be our God.... _Trisagion._ O most holy Trinity ... _and_ Our
Father.... For thine is the kingdom....
_Then the troparion of the day, or of the commemorated saint._
_Glory. Both now._
Through the prayers, O Lord, of all the Saints, and of the God-bearing
one, grant us thy peace, and have mercy upon us, as the alone
compassionate one.
_And she, holding the child, boweth her head, and the priest maketh the
sign of the cross over him, and, touching his head, saith the prayer._
Let us pray to the Lord.
O Lord God Almighty, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who by thy word
hast made every rational and irrational creature, and hast led all
things into being from non-existence; to thee we pray, and on thee we
call, Cleanse this thine handmaid, _name_, whom thou hast saved by thy
will, and who cometh into thy holy church, from every sin and from every
defilement, that she may be counted worthy to partake uncondemnedly of
thy holy mysteries.
_Be it known that if the babe be not among the living, the prayer is read
thus far._
_Then, with a loud voice,_
For thou art a good and man-loving God....
_But if it be alive, read also this to the end._
Bless also the child which hath been born of her; increase it, sanctify
it, give it understanding, and a prudent and virtuous mind; for thou hast
brought it into being, and hast shewn unto it perceptible light; that at
the time which thou hast appointed it may be counted worthy of spiritual
light, and may be numbered together with thy holy flock, through thine
only-begotten Son, with whom thou art blessed, together with thy most
holy, and good, and life-creating Spirit, now and ever, and to ages of
ages. Amen.
Peace to all.
Bow your heads to the Lord.
_Prayer for the mother of the child._
O Lord our God, who didst come for the salvation of the human race;
come also unto thine handmaid, _name_, and, through thine honourable
presbytery, count her worthy of an entrance into the temple of thy
glory: wash her from bodily defilement and from spiritual stain in the
completion of the forty days, and make her worthy of the communion of thy
precious body and blood.
For hallowed and glorified is thy most honourable and majestic name, with
the Father, and the Holy Ghost, now and ever, and to ages of ages. Amen.
_Prayer ii., for the child, which, signing it, the priest prayeth._
Let us pray to the Lord.
O Lord our God, who on the fortieth day wast brought as a child into the
temple of the law by Mary, thine unmarried and holy Mother, and wast
carried in the arms of righteous Symeon; do thou thyself, O omnipotent
Master, bless this presented babe, that it may appear before thee, the
Creator of all things; and do thou increase it in every work that is
good and acceptable unto thee, removing far from it every opposing might
by the sign of the likeness of thy cross; for thou art he that guardeth
babes, O Lord; that, being counted worthy of holy baptism, it may attain
unto the part of the elect of thy kingdom, being protected with us by
the grace of the holy, and consubstantial, and undivided Trinity. For to
thee is due all glory, thanksgiving, and worship, with thine unbeginning
Father, and thy most holy, and good, and life-creating Spirit, now and
ever, and to ages of ages. Amen.
Peace to all.
Bow your heads to the Lord.
O God, Father Almighty, who by the loud-voiced prophet Esaias,
hast fore-announced unto us the incarnation from a Virgin of thine
only-begotten Son and our God, who, in the latter days, by thy good
pleasure and by the co-operation of the Holy Ghost, hath willed, through
immeasurable loving-kindness, to become a child of her for the salvation
of us men; and, according to the custom of thy holy law, after the
fulfilment 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 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 thou now, who art he that guardeth babes, thyself, O Lord, bless this
child, together with its parents and sponsors, and count it worthy, at
the fitting time, to be born again of water and of the spirit: number it
with thy holy flock of rational sheep, who are called by the name of thy
Christ. For thou art he who livest on high, and who regardest the lowly,
and to thee we ascribe glory, to the Father, and to the Son, and to the
Holy Ghost, now and ever, and to ages of ages. Amen.
_(And if the babe be baptized, the priest performeth the act of reception
into the church; but if not, he doeth this after the baptism. And, after
the prayer, he here maketh the dismissal.) Then, taking the child, the
priest traceth the cross with it before the gates of the temple, saying,_
The servant of God, _name_, or the handmaid of God, _name_, is received
into the church, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Ghost. Amen.
_Then he bringeth it into the temple, saying,_
He entereth into thy house, he worshippeth towards thy holy temple.
_And he bringeth it into the midst of the temple, saying,_
The servant of God, _name_, is received into the church....
_Then he saith,_
In the midst of the church he singeth praise unto thee.
_Then he bringeth it before the doors of the altar, saying,_
The servant of God, _name_, is received into the church....
_And he bringeth it into the holy altar, if it be of the male sex; but,
if of the female, only as far as the royal gates, saying,_
Now dismiss thy servant, O Master....
_And after these things he layeth it before the doors of the altar, and
there the sponsor, bowing thrice, taketh it up, and departeth. And the
priest, as is customary, maketh the dismissal._
[Illustration]
_Chapter IV._