Ritual Tradition

What are some rituals we have already established since coming to Notre Dame?

routine ceremonial “Traditions, ceremonies, customs, and rituals provide meaning to human existence.” (Cook, 2001)

 Repetitive occurrences—often performed unconsciously  Reminders of cultural values  Provide structure and meaning

“Let us remind ourselves that we are in the presence of God.” John Baptist de LaSalle

 Daily prayer as a school community  Classroom prayer  School-specific prayers  Multi-cultural prayer

“without expressive events, any culture will die” (Deal & Peterson)  School ceremonial rituals  Pep rallies, science fairs, banquets  Catholic Culture  Feast days, Holy days, Commemorative ceremonies  Graduation

 Background  New principal learning about the culture of the school. He wants to ‘wait and see’ but notices that some traditions lack Catholic Identity.  Problem  Some traditions are explained well, but some are done simply because they are ‘tradition’

 Evaluate current traditions with a committee of staff and students  Discern which established traditions are essential to the current culture of the school  Add components of Catholic Identity to existing traditions. ie. missioning