Prayer on Returning to Church after Childbirth

What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits to me? Yes, the Lord hath done great things for me, whereof I am glad. O gracious and mighty God! I am now about to go to Thy house again for the first time, to thank Thee in Thy temple for Thy gracious help and mighty succor. Lord God, Thou hast happily delivered me, preserved my life, and let me look with joy upon the face of my child. Thou hast kept me, O gracious God, through these six weeks, preserved me from harm, and restored my strength, so that I am now able in health and comfort to go to Thy house. O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good; and His mercy endureth forever. I called upon the Lord in distress: the Lord answered me and set me in a large place. The Lord is my Strength and my Song, and He is become my Salvation.

Lord, I thank Thee that Thou didst preserve my life during my labor; I thank Thee that Thou hast restored my strength; I thank Thee that by Thy grace I am now able to go out, and to extol Thee in Thy temple for all Thy benefits. O Lord, accept my weak offering of praise. I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord. Our feet shall stand within Thy gates, O Jerusalem. One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple.

O my God, let my going out be blessed; give me new strength every day; let my child grow up to Thy praise. I bring to Thee today a pair of turtle-doves: my grateful heart and my adoring tongue. O do not despise my offering. I bring to Thee in true faith the perfect atoning sacrifice of the blood and death of Jesus. With this I cleanse and purify myself. I also offer to to Thee again my child, as I have already offered it in Holy Baptism. Be Thou its Father, its Guardian, its Preserver, its gracious God. Let the wings of Thy mercy be spread over me and my child in time to come. Let us live before Thee and praise Thy name. Grant that I may always remember this Thy great benefit to me, so that I may continue in faith and holiness, walk in Thy fear, and train up my children also in Thy fear and love. Grant to me and my children Thy Holy Spirit, that He may enlighten, sanctify, rule, and guide us in the right way, till at last we shall all enter into Thy glory, into the new Jerusalem, where Thou Thyself art the Sun and the Light. Amen.