The Churching of Women: Victoria Ordinariate (Saint John Henry Newman)
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| Reception in the narthex of the church: mother kneeling with son. |
The Churching of Women (
benedictio mulieris post partum), i.e., the blessing of one woman with her brand new baby boy (who is less than a week old!), on Monday, February 17th, the memorial of the Seven Holy Founders of the
Servite Order, at Our Lady Queen of Peace Church.
Celebrating Motherhood!
The brief and beautiful ceremony, of 15 minutes or so that involved family and friends gathered before God, was a first for this blogger.
Churching is the woman's way of giving thanks to God for the birth of her child, and predisposes her, through the priestly blessing that is a part of the ritual, to receive the graces necessary to raise her child in a manner pleasing to God.
Congratulations to the happy parents, Fr. Kenyon and wife Elizabeth, on the arrival of their second son!
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| Saints Sebastian and Edward: pray for him. |
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| Procession to the Sanctuary |
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| At the Gate: sprinkled with holy water. |
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| The eldest son serving; Father Kenyon officiating. |
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| Mum with five of her six children and grandparents. |
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TRUE PARTICIPATION IN THE MASS
"I was gathered into the offering of the Son to the Father. I participated in the self-offering of God today."
FEATURED SCRIPTURE | Revelation 7:9-12
AFTER this I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no man could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all the angels stood round the throne and round the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God for ever and ever! Amen.”
THE GOLDEN ARROW
May the most holy, most sacred, most adorable, most incomprehensible and unutterable Name of God be always praised, blessed, loved, adored and glorified in Heaven, on earth, and under the earth, by all the creatures of God, and by the Sacred Heart of Our Lord Jesus Christ, in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. Amen.
FEATURED QUOTE
When you want to help people, you tell them the truth. When you want to help yourself, you tell them what they want to hear. ― Thomas Sowell
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