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→Churching of the mother: pastoral considerations
The mother traditionally comes to church on the fortieth day after childbirth for special blessings. After the birth of her child a mother remains at home for forty days to recuperate and to care for her child. However, if the child has not survived, the woman still remains at home to heal physically and emotionally. During the time of her confinement, the mother does not normally receive Holy [[Communion]], unless she is in danger of death. As the service is practiced in some traditions, churching involves both the blessing of the mother and the presentation of the child to God.
In contemporary practice, it is rarely medically necessary and sometimes not even possible for the mother to remain confined in the home for forty days. Pastors must determine whether it is more important pastorally that the churching be the first thing the woman does upon leaving the home or that the churching happen on the symbolic fortieth day. Not all pastors make the same determination. On the fortieth day after childbirth, the mother comes to the temple to be churched, that is, to receive a blessing as she begins attending church and receiving the [[Holy Mysteries]] once again. The child, that has already been cleansed and washed, is brought by the mother accompanied by the intended godparents who will stand at the child's baptism. They all stand together in the [[narthex]] of the [[church]] before the doors of the [[nave]] of the temple, facing east toward the [[altar]]. The [[priest]] blesses them and says prayers for the woman and the child, gives thanks for their wellbeing and asks God's grace and blessings upon them.
===Churching of the Child===