Book of Common Prayer · Churching of Women (1662) · All versions
Sarum Manual: the Order for Purifying a Woman after Childbirth (the Use of Salisbury, as printed in the early 16th century)
English translation by AnglicanGuide from the Latin. Read the Latin edition. Words in [brackets] are supplied or summarise omitted matter.
The order the 1549 book translated: at the church door, Psalms 121 and 128, the lesser litany and Lord's Prayer, the suffrages "O Lord, save thy handmaid", the collect for one delivered "from the peril of childbirth", the sprinkling with holy water and the entry "Enter into the temple of God", and the rubric that women are not barred from church after childbirth. The Psalms, given in the manual by first words, are supplied in full. Translated by AnglicanGuide.
Source: W. Maskell (ed.), Monumenta Ritualia Ecclesiae Anglicanae, vol. I (1882), pp. 46–47 (Internet Archive); also W. G. Henderson (ed.), Manuale et Processionale ad usum Eboracensis, Surtees Society 63 (1875), preface, pp. xix–xx. Public domain (translation © AnglicanGuide).
The Thanksgiving of Women after Child-birth
At the Church Door
The Order for purifying a woman after childbirth, before the door of the church.
The Psalms
First let the priest and his ministers say the psalms following. Psalm. I have lifted up mine eyes [Levavi oculos meos]. Psalm. Blessed are all [Beati omnes]. Glory be to the Father. As it was.
[Psalm 121 (Vulgate 120), supplied in full:] I have lifted up mine eyes unto the mountains: from whence help shall come to me.
My help is from the Lord: who made heaven and earth.
May he not suffer thy foot to be moved: neither let him slumber that keepeth thee.
Behold, he shall neither slumber nor sleep: that keepeth Israel.
The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy protection upon thy right hand.
The sun shall not burn thee by day: nor the moon by night.
The Lord keepeth thee from all evil: may the Lord keep thy soul.
May the Lord keep thy coming in and thy going out: from henceforth now and for ever.
Glory be to the Father. As it was.
[Psalm 128 (Vulgate 127), supplied in full:] Blessed are all they that fear the Lord: that walk in his ways.
For thou shalt eat the labours of thy hands: blessed art thou, and it shall be well with thee.
Thy wife as a fruitful vine: on the sides of thy house.
Thy children as olive plants: round about thy table.
Behold, thus shall the man be blessed: that feareth the Lord.
May the Lord bless thee out of Sion: and mayest thou see the good things of Jerusalem all the days of thy life.
And mayest thou see thy children's children: peace upon Israel.
Glory be to the Father. As it was.
The Lesser Litany and Suffrages
Then let there follow: Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Our Father. And lead us not into temptation. But deliver us from evil.
O Lord, save thy handmaid: my God, who putteth her trust in thee.
Be unto her, O Lord, a tower of strength: from the face of the enemy.
O Lord, hear my prayer: and let my cry come unto thee.
The Lord be with you. And with thy spirit.
The Collect
Let us pray. Prayer. O God, who hast delivered this thy handmaid from the peril of childbirth, and hast made her devout in thy service: grant that, having faithfully finished her temporal course, she may obtain under the wings of thy mercy life everlasting and quiet. Through Christ our Lord.
The Entry into the Church
Then let the woman be sprinkled with holy water; and afterward let the priest bring her by the right hand into the church, saying:
Enter into the temple of God, that thou mayest have life eternal, and live for ever and ever. Amen.
The Rubric on Purification
Note that women after childbirth, whenever they will enter the church to give thanks, may be purified, and are not therefore burdened with any weight of sin; nor is entry into the church to be denied them, lest their punishment seem to be turned into a fault. If nevertheless out of reverence they wish to abstain for a while, we do not think their devotion is to be disapproved.
[A note in the Douay edition of the Sarum Manual (1610), quoted by Maskell:] The woman coming to her purification, according to the ancient custom of England, shall have her head covered with a white veil, carry a lighted candle in her hand, and be between two matrons.