Hazel

Where did the ritual take place? Villa Maria College Chapel, Christopher, New Zealand 2. Why did you choose this location? I went to school at Villa Maria College and I had an affiliation with the location. I liked the quaint, small size of the chapel where the guests felt closeness to the wedding ritual. I chose a Catholic chapel due to Roman Catholic being my religion. 3. What symbols were used in the ritual? What significance did they have? Rings- Symbolism our everlasting love that we bound as one, wedding dress- white homebodies my purity and is a tradition. . How were these symbols Important In the ritual for you? The rings symbolized for me our love and commitment for the rest of our lives, they were important as we picked them together. The wedding dress was special to me as it was white, it made me feel beautiful and it was traditional. I chose a traditional wedding dress, as it is apart of the Christian ritual. 5. What was the purpose of the ritual for you? Because for us, It was a commitment for the rest of our lives and It meant that we would raise children In the Catholic community. It also expressed our everlasting love for each other. 6.
In your opinion, what was the climax of the ritual? When we said our vows and exchanged rings. 7. Did you have to do anything Involved with the ritual before the ceremony? Engagement, apply for a certificate of marriage, planning the ceremony. 8. Did you have to anything involved with the ritual after the ceremony? Honeymoon. 9. Which parts of the ritual were most special to you? The exchanging of rings and vows was most Important to me. Also, In the ceremony my mother sung, “Love changes everything” by Michael Crawford because It was meeting that she loves to do and it was special as it played an important part of the ceremony. 0. How did the ritual change you as a person? I changed my social status and there felt a real deference between living together 1 1 . Who attended the ritual? The wedding party, family and close friends. 12. What roles did the participants play? My mother sung as said previously and my mother in law and close friend said a reading at the ceremony. My close friend was a bridesmaid and my brother in law was the best man. My nieces were flower girls and nephew was ring bearer. 13. How was the community involved in the ritual?
The Villa Maria College nuns that lived next to the chapel, helped to prepare the chapel for the ceremony. 14. What features in the ritual displayed your religion? The bible where the readings were from, the prayers of the faithful and the hymns. One reading I chose was Corinthians 13: 4-7 as it displays what real love is like. ORAL Good morning, my name is Hazel Faulkner and today I will discuss a rite of passage, marriage, from the variant Roman Catholic. A ritual is a ceremony that involves different actions, symbols and writings which are performed according to a set order.

Rituals are apart of everyday life and can even be as simple as a morning routine. Religious rituals are important as they help adherents connect with their deity. A rite of passage is a ceremony or event that marks a change or transition in someone’s life from one phase to another. They include birth, adolescence, marriage and death. Over the years, scholars of religion have provided ways to analyses rituals. For example, Arnold Van Genes argued that a rite of passage involves three stages: pre-lamina, lamina and post-lamina. Sacred refers to the adherent being connected o or dedicated to their deity.
Profane or secular is the opposite of sacred, it means something or someone is not concerned with religion. Marriage is a rite of passage and getting married is an important part of Christians lives. Marriage is a life long commitment between husband and wife made in the presence of God. Catholics generally have a Nuptial Mass which involves Eucharist and takes place in a church. The transition in marriage is being single to becoming one with your bride or groom. Catholic marriage fits most appropriately into Van Genie’s model and Love’s five-step approach.
The difference between a marriage and a wedding is that the marriage is the life long commitment where as a wedding For the investigation of a Catholic marriage the interviewee was my mother, Sue Faulkner. Her role in the rite of passage was the bride. Some of the questions asked were where did the ritual take place, what symbols were used, what significance did they have and what was the climax of the ritual. The interviewee’s marriage took place at Villa Maria Chapel in Christopher, New Zealand. The questions helped to find useful information on the ritual and to discover an individuals view on marriage.
A Catholic marriage has a clear structure. The first main element of a Catholic wedding is the wedding procession. It includes the bride walking down the aisle either by herself or with one or both of her parents as well as the wedding party. The symbolism of this element is the beginning of a change of status and new life. Another element includes the readings from the Old Testament and New Testament. The purpose of the readings is to outline the importance of a Catholic tradition and make the presence of God in the marriage clear.
The declaration of intention is also an important part of the wedding. This stage outlines the promises of commitment to each other throughout the struggles in marriage. The blessing of rings and exchanging of vows is often seen as the most important part of the wedding as the couple expresses the love they shares for each other and the vows symbolism commitment. Christians believe during the vows Christ becomes present. My interviewee saw this element as the climax of the ritual. The pronouncement of marriage is the stage where the change in status is almost completed.
The signing of the register is a formal and legal recognition of the marriage and completes the stage f status for the couple. The recession concludes the ritual ceremony, thus the change of status is final. As stated before, marriage suitably fits into Van Genie’s model. He argued that there were three stages of a rite of passage, one being pre-lamina. The pre-lamina stage is the first stage in a rite of passage. It involves the separation from the couple’s previous life. In a Catholic Marriage, the pre-lamina stage involves the bridal procession as it marks a beginning of a new status for the bride.
It also involves the declaration of purpose where the priest outlines the significance of marriage and its repose in a Catholic context. The lamina stage involves transitioning from one stage to another and is often seen as the most important stage. The lamina stage in a Catholic marriage takes place after the giving away of the bride to the end of the exchanging of rings. The blessing of rings and exchanging of vows physically marks the change in status and transition. The post lamina stage in a Catholic marriage is the reincorporation stage where the couple is now ready to enter society with their new status.
The post lamina stage in a Catholic marriage would include the signing of the register where the couple omelets their change in status and the recession where their change in status is Another model that is suitable to show and explain the structure of the ritual is Love’s five-step approach. The model includes five steps, the first being the entry in which the participant leaves the ordinary world and enters the ritual. In a Catholic marriage this would include the proposal and declaration. The couple is now engaged and candidates for marriage.
The second step is called the “preparation” in which the couple is involved in some sort of preparatory rite. This would include pre- Raritan counseling. The third is the climax of the ritual, which is the central, or highpoint of the ritual. In a marriage ceremony, the climax would be the exchanging of rings and vows. My interviewee agreed with this. The forth step includes the celebration which would be the wedding reception and the fifth step is called the “return” where the participants (bride and groom) leave the ritual and return to the ordinary world.
The marriage ceremony marks separation from the ordinary or profane for the couple. The declaration of the couple as ‘husband’ and Wife’ displays that they are prepared from the community as they are now married. One element in a Catholic wedding which reinforces doctrinal teachings, is the readings. A common reading used is Psalm 103:8 which is a responsible psalm. “The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. ” The message of the psalm is that the Lord is kind and merciful. The four major rites of passages are birth, adolescence, marriage and death.
These passages will happen whether or not they are acknowledged with a ritual. Although, Christians choose to mark them with a special ceremony as they are important ruinations in people’s lives. The models by Van Genes, Turner and Loved are important as they help to break down rites of passages to better understand them. Catholic Marriage fits best into Van Genie’s model as well as Love’s. Marriage is important to Catholics as it promotes the same love that exists in the Holy Trinity and for the procreation of life, another aspect that mirrors the Trinity. Marriage creates a union between spouses.
It is a sacrament and an institution created by God. B. WRITTEN SUBMISSION This investigation has helped to expand my knowledge on rituals, rites of passage ND marriage. I learnt that a ritual can be as simple as a morning routine and that there are many varieties of a ritual. Before the investigation, I had only a brief understanding of the models. The investigation helped to develop my knowledge on the particular models by Van Genes and Loved. The models helped me also to better the pre-lamina stage (separation), lamina stage (transition), and post-lamina stage (reincorporation).
Love’s model involves five steps: the entry, preparation, climax, celebration and return. These models are not only used for Christian rituals but for tails of any religion. The Buddhist view of marriage is considered a secular affair and is not seen as a religious duty. Buddhism marriage is a personal and social obligation. In Islam, marriage is a legal contract and the religion is a strong advocate for marriage. Referring to Hinduism, Hindus view marriage as a sacrament. They have similar views as Christianity in terms of marriage, believing that marriage is a union and Joins two individuals for life.
Judaism also has similar views as marriage is viewed as a bond commanded by God in which a man and woman come together to create a legislations in which God is involved. Also, Jewish married couples are traditionally expected to have children. Australia is a multicultural society and therefore, we have a variety of different religions such as Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and Judaism and many others, which are continually developing in Australian society. This means marriage ceremonies in Australia significantly differ depending on the religion. The participant’s culture may be expressed through clothing or music.
My interviewee’s wedding did not take place in Australia but New Zealand. Australia ND New Zealand are very similar thus my interviewee’s wedding did not significantly differ from a traditional Australian wedding. In an Aboriginal marriage ceremony, couples are commonly involved in a traditional smoking ceremony which makes the couple feel cleansed and free, going into the marriage with no bad spirits to bring them bad luck and it is also performed to create a lifelong bond between the couple. Marriage in Aboriginal societies is complicated and has puzzled anthropologists for centuries.
In a Catholic marriage, the most important or common symbol is the rings. The rings present a never-ending circle of eternal love. They also represent the union and commitment of the couple. Other marriage symbols include the veil, wedding bells, the wedding dress and the bible. Marriage successfully draws participants beyond the ordinary and into the transcendent as it is does not Just simply include the man and woman being in love. It is something larger in which the partners have a special ceremony which expresses the very meaning of their life together.
Even though the institution of marriage that binds the couple together is invisible actions such as the stating the vows and exchanging of rings expresses the love and union. Although my speech mostly discusses the wedding ceremony, the preparation of the doesn’t Just involve getting the wedding dress, flowers, rings etc. Couples are encouraged to attend pre-marital counseling which helps them prepare for marriage. After the couple is officially married, they may decide to go on a honeymoon. Also, the couple may decide that they want to have children, as marriage is essentially the ideal foundation for the making of children.
The investigation was interesting yet difficult at times. The most challenging part of he investigation was finding what the pre-lamina, lamina and post-lamina stages of a Catholic wedding are. Information on the internet told me that pre-lamina stage of a Catholic wedding is the engagement, lamina is the ceremony and post-lamina is the honeymoon. However, I wanted to find the stages in the specific ceremony, as it was my main focus. The investigation helped me to better understand the concept of a ritual and a wedding ritual. Bibliography Austere, L, What is transcendence and why does it matter?