Rituale Romano-seraphicum, 1910 r.

Rituale Romano-seraphicum, 1910 r. - Praca Zbiorowa

A devotion familiar to all Franciscans which has survived the test of the last three decades is the Transitus. Each year on the third evening of October, we ritually remember the passing of Francis of Assisi from this life into God. In fact, the Transitus has become a significant and even a necessary annual event. To ritually revisit the story of Francis' passing is vital; without it something significant is missing. It specifies the living memory of Francis; it intensifies our commitment to follow Christ in the way of the poor man of Assisi. Since this rite of intensification has become an annual expectation for most friars, sisters, and seculars, a consideration of its origins and meanings seems worthwhile and timely. It is surprising that no historical study of the Transitus has been undertaken in the past three decades when so much ritual flux has been the order of the day. Questions begin to emerge when Franciscans with a living memory of the pre-conciliar era think critically about the Transitus. Who fills the roles of the various ministries in the rite? Who presides? Does it matter who presides? What does the presider wear? Does it matter what the presider wears? What do Franciscans in the assembly wear? Does it matter what they wear? Who reads the narrative text? Who cantors? What is the role of the assembly? What texts, sung or spoken, are included or not included in the rite? When is the rite celebrated? Where is the rite celebrated? How is the rite enacted? What are the gestures and postures taken by the ministry, by the assembly? What are the primary ritual objects? How do they interact with one another? Why do we even bother to enact the rite each year? In the asking of such questions, very telling meanings and values come to the fore which are tacitly operative in the rite. Non-verbals often yield more significant data in ritual analysis than the verbal elements. Ritual texts are important, but rituals are more than texts. Only within the lived context of the people who enact the rite do the ritual texts take on meanings which spill over the texts and into others forms of ritual expression. At times the non-verbals disclose more meanings than the verbals. In other words, the rite may say more than we wish to tell!