Cultures tend to use a mildly intimidating military system to train their children properly, stories that serve to keep little boys in bed (“A godly man will have you!”). Most stories have grown out of but the person retains the action (or inaction) that has been impressed upon them. As a Catholic, and in Catholic education K-12th grades attending some stories, such as “You shall not masturbate. Hell – a dark place where your soul is tormented for the rest of eternity.
This ethnography was conducted in Columbia, SC. I used to attend this church (and elementary school), and since that was the case it would be irresponsible not to give it to you. the manner of a historical person. As I said above, I attended Catholic school from Kindergarten to twelfth grade (its five through eighteen). I am aware that what is considered “non-practicing” is mainly the fact that I no longer attend Mass or any other dogmatic Ritual (confession) that is consistent with Catholic practice.
Mass is a central ritual for the Catholic religion. We must begin by breaking it down into primary parts, in use from beginning to end: two readings (from the New Testament from the Christian Bible), a gospel read by a priest (from one of the four gospels. Christian Bible), a homily or a speech about the readings given by the priest and of the Eucharistic Liturgy (which will be explained more fully later). The mass in the manner of St. Joseph lasts between forty-five minutes and one hour. On the functional side, the Mass serves many purposes, from religious essentials to secular ones. Let us begin with the secular.
The church of Saint Joseph is quite large. There are about 40 pews (long benches) that can hold an average of ten people per pew. A typical high-attendance Mass (Sunday five-thirty in the afternoon) would have about 240 people in attendance. The congregation is predominantly Caucasian, with a good dispersion of ages (very old to very young). The type of clothing is properly type.
The people sat in close proximity to each other, and while (except for one instance) there is almost no communication between them during the Mass, a very close community is felt throughout the mass. The unity of the whole congregation is strengthened by the prayers and hymns all being performed in one voice during the Ritual. After the ritual, many people linger in the pews and talk around the church. The mass can be given to people as an introduction to the conversation later (“Nicaea ceremony” or “Good homily.”) as almost a type of ice breaker.
The rich aspects of ritual community should not be said to be strictly secular, but. Several authors have said that the idea of increasing spiritual life, staying close to God, and strengthening faith is the primary reason for observing the ceremony. Ceremonies that essentially “recharge” the people’s spiritual beliefs at least once a week come into view very quickly by talking to the messengers. It is not necessary, according to Catholic dogma, to attend at least one Mass per week (either on Saturday [afternoon] or Sunday). The lack of access due to circumstances preventing them from approaching, or the permission of the priest, is recognized by Catholics as a “mortal sin”. Mortal sin is the most serious type of sin for Catholics (it is called less venial), if it is not confessed to a priest and through penance (assigned to a priest) it can result in the damnation of the soul. I have been told by the witnesses that it is not a mortal sin to believe in missing the mass, but it is most evident that it is a very serious sin. I now think it appropriate to digress a little into the anecdotal evidence of the various views on this matter, and to assist us further in our examination of the Ritual.
I recently attended another Catholic rite known as confession, where you go to the priest and they confess your sins. The priest will listen, repent (normally consisting of a certain amount of precum), and forgive your sins in the eyes of God. >. To attend this rite especially to the family, and so I took the time to discuss with the priest my dissonance with the rite of Mass. We had a very kind conversation, and at one point he said to me, “Sometimes I also like to go alone by movement there. You are doing it wrong. But sometimes we all need a community that believes as we do to strengthen and grow our beliefs.”
Two things struck me most in the above story. 1) Catholic mass is a highly ritualistic ceremony, and adheres to strict guidelines that are repeated for each mass. The same parts listed above are performed for each Mass with a slight variation, and 2) The priest of the specific community names the aspect of the Mass as one of the main functions. In particular, he mentioned that the Mass could reinforce beliefs within the community (reminiscent of informants’ accounts). In fact, there is an absolute fusion of secular and religious meaning.
Ritual also, in terms of structure, challenges Catholics. The most powerful in the rites is the priest, who is essentially the master of ceremonies, but apart from the fact that only men who are ordained can be priests, they are essentially seen as first among equals. The congregation is very united and equal in the sense of structuralism. For non-Catholics, however, this does not apply, as the most significant part of the ritual, the reception of the Eucharist, is granted only to Catholic members.
Catholics’ opinions about the Eucharist are most likely the root of this exclusion. Typically speaking, there are really only two symbols in the Ritual. It is also important that the vehicles for the signs are “empty” until the Eucharistic Liturgy takes place. Our two vehicles are the host (or a loaf of bread) and wine. In the Eucharistic Liturgy each is brought to the altar presided over by the priest. The ritual prayer and responses of the congregation follow after the vehicles are brought to the altar. This one part of the dough lasts as long as the entire first half of the dough put together, if not longer. The priest implores God to accept his offerings (bread and wine) several times, and the people pray with the priest for his acceptance with a loud voice. They confess their faith together in the Creed called the Nicene Creed (which consists of several parts of faith in one God, the trinity of the mystery [three, in one God], with several other important professions). The priest uses several ritual movements to raise the bread and wine to the ceiling in turn, praying for God to bless the sacraments and hold them back again.
At this point, Catholics believe that the bread and wine become the very body and blood of Jesus Christ. . At this point our vehicle is assigned a signal, and we have our key symbols. This idea is known as “transubstantiation.” If the good sacraments are associated with Jesus Christ, and given that the bread and wine do not even become extensions of him, but a piece of him, they can help to develop an exclusive approach to receiving the Eucharist.
If one wants to find the point at which “recharging” takes place, this is when you meet with most of the indicators. After all have received bread (optional wine), the ritual concludes. Another cleansed and cleansed from the top with bread and wine reverently (everything outside of the wine is consumed; the blessed bread placed in a vessel on the altar called the Tabernacle), the priest gives the final blessing to which the people respond in unison with “Amen” (I believe it is meant. This part of the Mass is known as “The Great Amen”), the retreat and dispersion of the people follows. At this point the spiritual service ends and the people will be mixed together, fulfilling the ritual aspects of the secular community. Some young people later attend “youth groups” , among whom young people gather together to socialize as well as to talk about the Catholic faith (other secular and spiritual functions). beauty
In conversations and ritual attendance, I don’t think I’ve ever gotten a single, homogeneous idea of why Catholics attend mass. There is a huge mix of ideas and theories behind the whole ritual from an anthropological point of view. However, from the majority of attendees, I think that the Ritual function serves an essential role for these people, that it provides a mix of community both social and religious, which often meets to fulfill the need for the Congregation to confirm and act on their beliefs. among equals.
