The power of ritual. Lesson 170

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Domine, non sum dignus, ut intres sub tectum meum: sed tantum dic verbo, et sanabitur anima mea.
-- Pre-communion liturgy of the Tridentine Rite

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Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
--Arthur C. Clark, science fiction writer and inventor

The longest running public ritual, with the largest number of participants, in modern recorded history is, arguably, the Roman Catholic Mass known as the Tridentine Rite. There are arguments for the Jewish Shabbat Temple service rivaling the Roman Catholic Mass in terms of length of time, however, we believe the mass has been more formulaic and had the participation of a larger population. The Tridentine Rite version of the ritual was practiced daily by millions of people worldwide, and on Sunday, as was mandatory at the time, by perhaps 5 to 10 times As many people as the daily service.

The Tridentine Rite, commonly called the Latin Mass, was made the standard by Pope Pius V in 1570 A.D. and was practiced millions of times around the world until Pope Paul VI in 1962, when the current version of the Mass in the vernacular (local language) was introduced and made mandatory. Later popes reintroduced approval to celebrate the Latin Mass with local approval.

We use the Latin Mass only has a very large example of a ritual practiced regularly around the world. There are many other examples of ritual, public, private and secretive which to a greater or lesser extent exhibit the same properties.

We call this property focused intention, or more commonly, just intention.

There are many organizations which have specific rituals for initiations, progression through the ranks of the organization and so forth. Most college fraternities and sororities (often called the Greek societies), The Masons, the Rosicrucians, the Knights of Columbus, the Lemurian Society, the Shriners, the Fraternal Order of Eagles (FOE), the Elk Lodges and Moose Lodges the YMCA, even organizations expressly for young people such as the Campfire Girls, Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts have initiations and advancement or progression rituals which have been practiced for years, sometimes even centuries. Certainly there is a social aspect to these rituals, a sense of brotherhood or sisterhood. But the idea of ritual has a rich history that extends 2000 years or more BC.

What is humanity's fascination, one could even say obsession with ritual practices? Is there a reason that the practice of ritual has been such a significant, compelling and enduring part of human society?





References:
https://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AZ1nweotz-8MZGNiNHB6YzhfNjlobTljNmhkOA&hl=en
http://www.dailycatholic.org/holymas5.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tridentine_Mass#Recent_Popes_and_the_Tridentine_Mass