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Euchologion >

Rite of the Churching of a Child

The following texts, translated from the Roman Malyj Trebnyk (1952), are based on the work of the Inter-Eparchial Liturgical Commission of the Byzantine (Ruthenian) Catholic Metropolitan Church of Pittsburgh, and being made available for study by cantors enrolled in the courses of the Metropolican Cantor Institute. These texts are unofficial and provisional, and you should obtain episcopal permission before using them for any purpose other than private self-study.

The Rite of Churching is performed when the child is first brought to the church.  The priest and deacon meet the child and the parents (and godparents) in the narthex.

          Deacon:      Let us pray to the Lord.

Response:    Lord, have mercy.

          The priest blesses the child and prays:

Priest:         Lord our God, according to the Law you were brought to the temple as an infant on the fortieth day by your holy Mother, the Virgin Mary. You were held in the embrace of the righteous Simeon. Now, Almighty Master, bless this child brought here to be presented to you, the Creator of all things. Bless him (her) and grant him (her) growth in wisdom, that he (she) may be pleasing to you in everything. O Lord, protector of infants, drive out from him (her) every hostile power by the sign of your cross. Grant that he (she), being deemed worthy of holy baptism, may, together with the elect, share in your holy Kingdom. Protect him (her), together with us, by the grace of the holy, consubstantial, and undivided Trinity.

For to you is due all glory, thanksgiving and worship, together with your eternal Father, and your all-holy, good, and life-creating Spirit, now and ever and forever.

Response:    Amen.

If the child is being baptized the same day, this following prayer is not said, and the priest proceeds immediately to the churching of the child.

If, however, baptism is to follow on another day, then this prayer is now said:

          Priest:         Peace be to all.

Response:    And to your spirit.

          Deacon:      Bow your heads to the Lord.

Response:    To you, O Lord.

Priest:         O God, Father Almighty, through your mighty prophet Isaiah you foretold the virgin birth of your only-begotten Son and our Lord.  In these last days, through your compassion for us, he chose to become a child by your good pleasure and the working of the Holy Spirit.

According to the custom of the Law, after the days of purification, he, the true Law-giver, permitted himself to be brought into the holy place and to be received in the arms of the righteous Simeon. This mystery was foreshadowed by the prophet, who was touched by the burning coal from the altar. Through grace we the faithful imitate this mystery.

O Lord, protector of children, bless this child, together with his (her) parents and sponsors. Grant that this child may be reborn by water and the Spirit and be united to the holy flock called by the name of your Christ.

For you dwell on high yet look upon the humble, and to you we give glory, to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and forever.

Response:    Amen.

Churching

          The priest takes the infant and makes the sign of the cross with it before the doors of the nave.

Priest:         The servant of God (name) is churched in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

          As they enter the church:

Priest:         I will enter your house. I will bow down before your holy temple.

          In the middle of the church:

Priest:         The servant of God (name) is churched in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

          Priest:         In the middle of the church I shall praise you.

          At the holy doors:

Priest:         The servant of God (name) is churched in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

          Standing with the child before the holy doors, the priest says:

Priest:         Now you may dismiss your servant, O Lord, in peace according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared before the face of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.

At the holy doors, the priest gives the child to the godparents, who bow three times and receive him (her) from the hands of the priest.

          Dismissal: (if baptism or liturgy does not follow immediately)

Priest:         May Christ our true God, who for our salvation deigned to be held in the arms of the righteous Simeon, have mercy on us and save us, through the prayers of his most pure Mother and of all the saints; for Christ is good and loves us all.

Response:    Amen.