In the 21st century, the sacrament of baptism still plays an essential role within the confines of the Catholic Church. It holds significant transformative power for adherents by uniting them with their God and the guidance provided through the teachings of their religion. Van Gennep’s work The Rites of Passage works to compare the similarities present with a ceremonial ritual in a given society wherein an individual transitions from one status to another within that society (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2013). Van Gennep found three consistent events occurring in sequence in all rituals, the separation, the transition, and the incorporation (1960). Through a review of this particular rite of passage, it will be possible to see how this particular ritual has a transformative power for its adherents. By reviewing the three phases of the ritual, the pre-liminal, liminal, and post liminal, a better understanding of the relevance of this ritual and the transformative power it gives to its adherents may be seen in the context of 21st century society within the United States.
According to the Vatican, the baptism is the basis of the Christian life, and that individuals who receive the sacrament of baptism are “freed from sin and reborn as sons of God; (becoming) members of Christ (who) are incorporated into the Church and made sharers in her mission” (Vatican, 2013). In the pre-liminal stage, the individual wears all white as a symbol of purity and cleansing, separating themselves from all others who are present (The Catholic Sacrament of Baptism, 2013). Following the changing of clothes, the individual undergoes their transformation, being anointed with oil and pouting water over the head of the individual three times (The Catholic Sacrament of Baptism, 2013); this is the liminal stage. After the baptism is complete the post liminal stage starts, wherein the individual is considered to be incorporated within not just the church, but within the religion itself, being a member for life, albeit their membership may lapse if they fail to keep up with the other requirements of the religion itself.
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The pre-liminal, liminal, and post liminal stages of the ritual are akin to many different aspects of life within the 21st century, including any instance wherein an individual places on a different set of garments and works to adopt a persona that they feel is acceptable and appropriate for use with that particular costume. This persona may have views that differ from their own, but this does not mean that the individual cannot hold both sets of views as separate in their mind, still believing in each equally, and just shifting those beliefs as a result of the garments that they wear. One such example may be a person who dresses in a provocative manner and acts in a manner befitting their garments, but when wearing normal clothes looks adversely upon individuals who participate in that type of behavior, or an individual who believes that lying is immoral but has no problem telling an individual that a certain garment does not make their posterior look obtuse. Still a third example would be an individual whose religious beliefs tell them that stealing is wrong, yet they take home pens from work every day.
The 21st century is one of pluralism, not only do the majority of individuals have differing views, but individuals themselves may have differing views on the same subjects, based on contextual usage. The baptismal ritual serves as a means of transformation for the adherents that choose to follow the Catholic doctrine, in turn causing shifts in their beliefs as a result of becoming members of the church itself, working to provide a means of contextual change through the process of being transformed from an unsaved sinner into an individual with a chance at redemption. Through an understanding of van Gennep’s model of the rites of passage, it is possible to understand how the rites themselves have been utilized in order to provide transformative power to the adherents who opt to undergo this rite, and it may be seen how the different stages of the rituals themselves work well within the context of our society, having distinct transformative powers for individuals who undergo rituals, including those associated with garment variations and associated persona shifts.
- Encyclopedia Britannica. 2013. Arnold van Gennep (French anthropologist). [online] Available at: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/229199/Arnold-van-Gennep [Accessed: 3 Sep 2013].
- Gennep, A. 1960. The rites of passage. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
- The Catholic Sacrament of Baptism. 2013. [online] Available at: http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/the-catholic-sacrament-of-baptism.html [Accessed: 3 Sep 2013].
- Vatican. 2013. Catechism of the Catholic Church – The sacrament of Baptism. [online] Available at: http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p2s2c1a1.htm [Accessed: 3 Sep 2013].
