Sacred Rituals In Religion

Various religions approach the aspect of sacred rituals in unique and purposeful manners. According to Livingston, “a religious ritual is an agreed-on and formalized pattern of ceremonial movements and verbal expressions carried out in a sacred context” (75). Though most people link sacred rituals to animal sacrifices, it is far more than that. “Rituals range from simple gestures, such as bowing or shaking hands, to elaborate ceremonial dramas, such as the Eastern Orthodox Liturgy” (Livingston 75). Contrary to popular belief, sacred rituals are not only used in Santeria, but in other religions such as Judaism and Catholicism as well. Though each of these religions have different rituals, they all use them as a “primary means of social communication …show more content…
The Conformation is the last of the three initiation rites (the first two being Baptism and the First Holy Communion). In the sacrament of confirmation, “the faithful are sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit and are strengthened in their Christian life” (“Confirmation” 1). In other words, the purpose of the confirmation is to strengthen the faith of a person and to be officially confirmed or declared as a Catholic. For the ritual, each person to be confirmed has a sponsor. The sponsor must be initiated with the three sacraments and will “lead the confirmed to receive the sacrament, . . . present them to the minister of confirmation. . . [and] for the Holy anointing” (“Rite of Confirmation” 343). It is important that the sponsor also promises to help ensure that the confirmed behaves in a manner that will not steer him or her away from the faith. During one’s confirmation, the ritual will involve “the laying on of the hands and the words ‘be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit’” (“Rite of Confirmation 345). Another purpose of the confirmation is catechesis. In other words, if a person is getting confirmed, it means that knows the official position of the church on doctrinal issues. The person confirmed should be well educated in his or her faith. Another reason that confirmation is so important in the Catholic faith is because many Catholics are baptized as babies, with no say in that decision. Getting confirmed …show more content…
While boys have their bar mitzvah ceremony at the age of 13, girls tend to have their bat mitzvah ceremony at the age of 12. The age roughly coincides with the time a child goes through puberty. “Reaching the age of bar or bat mitzvah signifies becoming a full fledged member of the Jewish community with the responsibilities that come with it” (“Bar and Bat Mitzvah” 1). These responsibilities include being responsible for one’s own actions, being eligible to read from the Torah as well as being able to lead or participate in a minyan, and many other Jewish responsibilities that are found in the Jewish law. This ceremony is usually held on “the first Shabbat after a boy’s 13th or a girl’s 12th birthday (“Bar and Bat Mitzvah” 1). It is the most commonly known Jewish ritual, and is only one of the many rituals that can be found in Judaism. What makes the Catholic confirmation so similar to the Jewish bar or bat mitzvah is that both rituals officially initiate a person into the religion. In a confirmation, you are confirming your faith and knowledge in the doctrines and one officially becomes a member of the Catholic church. In Judaism, the bar or bat mitzvah is a ceremony that signifies that one is officially a member of the Jewish community. However, both rituals differ in many obvious ways, one of which being that there is no specific age requirement to get confirmed, as long as you are old enough to have