ficial person.

If there is a celebration of Holy Communion at the time of a
burial, it is a separate service, and the celebrant must remember
that the use of any Collect, Epistle, and Gospel, except the one
for the day, is very difficult to justify as being in accordance
with the rubrics of either service. See Rubric 6.

272. Then, while the earth shall be cast upon the Body by some
standing by, the Priest shall say, Forasmuch as it hath, &c.

273. Then shall be said or sung, I heard a voice, &c.

274. Then the Priest shall say. Lord, have mercy, &c.

THE THANKSGIVING OF WOMEN AFTER CHILD-BIRTH,

COMMONLY CALLED, THE CHURCHING OF WOMEN.

275. The Woman, at the usual time after her Delivery, shall come
into the Church decently apparelled, and there shall kneel down in
some convenient place, as hath been accustomed, or as the Ordinary
shall direct: And then the Priest shall say unto her, Forasmuch, &c.

By the direction that the woman should be decently apparelled, it
was originally meant that she should be veiled. This was part of
the general practice of her being (in the words of the Bishops at
the Savoy Conference), 'perspicuous to the whole congregation.' And
although the custom of veiling cannot be revived, yet its principle
of marking the individual should be borne in mind in the arrangement
of the Service, as e.g. placing the woman in a special place.

The convenient or proper place in which the woman was to kneel,
was 'near the church door' in the ancient English use, 'near the
choir door' in the Prayer-Book of 1549, 'nigh unto the place where
the Table standeth' in the book of 1552. The words 'as hath been
accustomed' refer to the one of these usages which has survived,
and been adhered to, in any old church. The place at the altar
rails was approved by the Bishops at the Savoy Conference, in
regard of the offering she is there to make. The Priest, in all
cases, should stand by her--i.e. near to, and in front of, her.

He is to say to her the Address and the Psalm. The congregation
should not join in the latter. Care must be taken not to replace
from an ordinary Psalter the verses omitted from the 116th Psalm.

In cases where the new-born child has died, it is better to use
the 116th Psalm.

276. (Then shall the Priest say the cxvith Psalm,)

277. Or _Psalm cxxvii_.

278. Then the Priest shall say,

Let us pray. Lord, have mercy, &c.

The Priest may at this point properly turn to look eas