Nice. I didn't know the Latin Church celebrated this feast. In Orthodoxy it is a very major feast. It is also a practice at least in the Greek Church that a mother and newborn present themselves to the priest forty days after the birth for the presentation of the child to God and the purification of the mother. Between birth and day 40, both the child and the mother stay home and do not go to church.
**that a mother and newborn present themselves to the priest forty days after the birth for the presentation of the child to God and the purification of the mother.**
I don't think this is widely practiced in the Latin Church, but I think it would be a wonderful ritual for all concerned.
SOLEMN MASS: PRESENTATION OF OUR LORD & WORLD DAY FOR CONSECRATED LIFE, WITH POPE BENEDICT XVI, VATICAN BASILICA, ROMA LIVE (2 HOURS)
Thursday February 2, 2006 11:30 AM LIVE
Thursday February 2, 2006 9:00 PM ENCORE