Title:
Symbolism, Rituals and Traditions in the Catholic Church
Introduction:
In this ethnographic paper, I elected to write on Symbolism, Rituals and Traditions in the Catholic Church. Our textbook states, “There is no general agreement among scholars as to why people need religion, or how spirits, gods, and other supernatural beings and forces come into existence.” Scholars cannot determine why people practice religions; I thought it would be interesting to explore the many customs and practices within the Catholic Church and why 1.2 billion people in the world practice them.
Background and Methods:
For this analysis I Interviewed my Great Grandmother Regina at her 91st birthday party held at my Uncle’s home in Anaheim. My grandmother …show more content…
The Foundation of Qualitative Research in Education states, “In taking an emic approach, a researcher tries to put aside prior theories and assumptions in order to let the participants and data “speak” to them and to allow themes, patterns, and concepts to emerge.”
While I interviewed my grandmother, I tried to incorporate the emic approach and kept an open mind and listened to her talk about her religious beliefs and rituals. While doing my research I tried not to add my own bias or perceptions. On this level, I was able to gain an understanding of what it means for a believer to participate in the ritual and traditions in a church with over 1.2 billion people. I found it interesting that my grandmother unquestionably practices all of the rituals and she did know the history and religious reasons behind all of them.
The “etic approach (sometimes referred to as “outsider,” “deductive,” or “top-down”) uses as its starting point theories, hypothesis, perspectives, and concepts from outside of the setting being studied.” In trying to apply the etic approach to my research. I tried to incorporate my grandmother’s micro experience and analysis with the macro large church experience to compare to see if she was aware of the traditions and reasons stated by the church and she was in alignment with her church …show more content…
In the Gmelch article he mentions that, “Some players, especially Latin Americans, draw upon rituals from their Roman Catholic religion. Some make the sign of the cross or bless themselves before” My grandmother’s response to making the sign of the cross, “too acknowledge Jesus’ death on the cross and that it is through his sacrifice that they pray to God. A Catholic will always make the sign of the cross after they pray.” Additionally she stated, “That you cross when confronted with evil to keep bad things away.” K Benedict XVI confirms that “the Sign of the Cross is the fundamental act of our prayer, of Christian prayer. Making the Sign of the Cross — as we will do during the blessing — means saying a visible and public ‘yes’ to the One who died and rose for us, to God who in the humility and weakness of his love is the Almighty, stronger than all the power and intelligence of the world.” Ember describes this type of ritual as a belief in magic “the performance of certain rituals that are believed to compel the supernatural powers to act in a particular way.”
Lastly, I asked her why do people kneel and what is genuflecting. She replied that “People kneel to show reverence to God.” Rabanus Maurus, an expert on the Catholic religion states that, "The bending of the knee is an expression of penitence and sorrow for sins
Symbolism, Rituals and Traditions in the Catholic Church
Introduction:
In this ethnographic paper, I elected to write on Symbolism, Rituals and Traditions in the Catholic Church. Our textbook states, “There is no general agreement among scholars as to why people need religion, or how spirits, gods, and other supernatural beings and forces come into existence.” Scholars cannot determine why people practice religions; I thought it would be interesting to explore the many customs and practices within the Catholic Church and why 1.2 billion people in the world practice them.
Background and Methods:
For this analysis I Interviewed my Great Grandmother Regina at her 91st birthday party held at my Uncle’s home in Anaheim. My grandmother …show more content…
The Foundation of Qualitative Research in Education states, “In taking an emic approach, a researcher tries to put aside prior theories and assumptions in order to let the participants and data “speak” to them and to allow themes, patterns, and concepts to emerge.”
While I interviewed my grandmother, I tried to incorporate the emic approach and kept an open mind and listened to her talk about her religious beliefs and rituals. While doing my research I tried not to add my own bias or perceptions. On this level, I was able to gain an understanding of what it means for a believer to participate in the ritual and traditions in a church with over 1.2 billion people. I found it interesting that my grandmother unquestionably practices all of the rituals and she did know the history and religious reasons behind all of them.
The “etic approach (sometimes referred to as “outsider,” “deductive,” or “top-down”) uses as its starting point theories, hypothesis, perspectives, and concepts from outside of the setting being studied.” In trying to apply the etic approach to my research. I tried to incorporate my grandmother’s micro experience and analysis with the macro large church experience to compare to see if she was aware of the traditions and reasons stated by the church and she was in alignment with her church …show more content…
In the Gmelch article he mentions that, “Some players, especially Latin Americans, draw upon rituals from their Roman Catholic religion. Some make the sign of the cross or bless themselves before” My grandmother’s response to making the sign of the cross, “too acknowledge Jesus’ death on the cross and that it is through his sacrifice that they pray to God. A Catholic will always make the sign of the cross after they pray.” Additionally she stated, “That you cross when confronted with evil to keep bad things away.” K Benedict XVI confirms that “the Sign of the Cross is the fundamental act of our prayer, of Christian prayer. Making the Sign of the Cross — as we will do during the blessing — means saying a visible and public ‘yes’ to the One who died and rose for us, to God who in the humility and weakness of his love is the Almighty, stronger than all the power and intelligence of the world.” Ember describes this type of ritual as a belief in magic “the performance of certain rituals that are believed to compel the supernatural powers to act in a particular way.”
Lastly, I asked her why do people kneel and what is genuflecting. She replied that “People kneel to show reverence to God.” Rabanus Maurus, an expert on the Catholic religion states that, "The bending of the knee is an expression of penitence and sorrow for sins