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Women were not supposed to enter the altar area at all--though I suspect this was often ignored when it was a question of cleaning. Nevertheless, purists would not allow women to touch the sacred vessels either. Thus any untoward effect of women's natural functions was contained reasonably well. There is a famous letter attributed to Gregory the Great in Bede's Ecclesiastical History denying the idea that women could be considered "polluting" when menstruating or giving birth or otherwise functioning according to God's plan but in general ecclesiastical authorities were inclined to take no chances. Jo Ann The law locks up the man or woman Who steals the goose from off the common But leaves the greater villain loose Who steals the common from the goose. -----Original Message----- From: Stephanie Budin <[log in to unmask]> To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]> Date: Monday, February 12, 2001 9:46 AM Subject: Re: de[con]secration/de-secration (bloodshed) > Many Greetings from a new member, > > Concerning bloodshed and sexual acts as defiling, was there any >prohibition against giving birth within church space? > > Stephanie Budin