“Rituals… enact belief through celebration, sharing, obedience, submission, purification and movement, bridging belief and practice”. (Investigating Religion, Peta Goldburg, 2009, pg 26) The opening mass of Mount Alvernia College is a religious ritual manifesting the ethos, beliefs, values and legacy of the Missionary Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, therefore, diverging from a traditional Catholic mass. This divergence between the Opening Mass and a traditional Catholic Mass as decree by conical law of the Catholic Church is shown through the structure, participants and place and also the symbols.
A ritual is a performance of ceremonial acts prescribed by tradition or by sacerdotal decree. (Britannica, 2014) Rituals can range
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Symbols such as the College candle and plants, which are strategically placed around the stage, were a huge significance in the mass. Our college candle was lit to represent God’s presence with everyone in the Mass, for our God is a consuming fire. (Hebrews 12:29) The candle also is a significantly different candle as it embodies the Franciscan coat of arms; clearly representing the manifestation of the stigmata received by St Francis on the top of La Verna (Mount Alvernia) (N.A, The Stigmata of St. Francis of Assisi, N.D) Flora was placed around the altar to represent St Francis’ love for ecology. This is uniquely Franciscan as St Francis was named the Patron Saint of Ecology and was a worshiper of God’s creations. (N.A, St. Francis of Assisi, 2014) Another crucial symbol of the mass was the difference in the crucifix. A Catholic mass or celebration will use the crucifix of Jesus on the cross in a Church or wherever the sacrament is being held. In the College’s Opening Mass, the San Damiano crucifix is used and hung on the wall. The San Damiano cross is the cross that St Francis was praying to before he received the commission from God to rebuild the Church. It is a symbol of the living God. This crucifix contains the story of death, resurrection and ascension into glory. (Fr. Michael Scanlon, San Damiano Cross, Paragraph seven, N.D) This cross features the resurrected Jesus rather than the crucified Jesus. The shape of the cross has been changed to allow images of persons or animals that have part in the meaning of Jesus’ life. (Fr. Michael Scanlon, San Damiano Cross, 2007) This cross invites everyone to participate with a lively faith just like St Francis did. Therefore giving the Mount Alvernia College Opening Mass a Franciscan flavour, outlining the divergence from a Catholic