Page 19 - Saints of the Month: February

Saints of the Month: February

THE law of God, given by Moses to the Jews,
ordained that a woman, after childbirth,
should continue for a certain time in a state
which that law calls unclean, during which
she was not to appear in public, nor
presume to touch anything consecrated to
God. This term was of forty days upon the
birth of a son, and double that time for a
daughter. On the expiration of the term, the
mother .vas to bring to the door of the
tabernacle, or Temple, a lamb and a young
pigeon, or turtle-dove, as an offering to God.
These being sacrificed to Almighty God by
the priest, the woman was cleansed of the
legal impurity and reinstated in her former
privileges.

A young pigeon, or turtle-dove, by way of a
sin-offering, was required of all, whether
rich or poor; but as the expense of a lamb
might be too great for persons in poor
circumstances, they were allowed to
substitute for it a second dove.

Our Saviour having been conceived by the
Holy Ghost, and His blessed Mother
remaining always a spotless virgin, it is
evident that she did not come under the law;
but as the world was, as yet, ignorant of her
miraculous conception, she submitted with
great punctuality and exactness to every
humbling circumstance which the law
required. Devotion and mal to honor God, by

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