A Comparative Analysis of Three Locations of Ritual Activity at Saint Joseph's Oratory in Montreal

St. Joseph's Oratory in Montreal is the most popular centre of pilgrimage in Canada. At the Oratory there are three distinct locations of ritual activity, the votive chapel, the crypt church and the basilica, that are expressive of three different types of religion which can be interpreted alon...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of religion and popular culture
Main Author: Nixon, Laurence (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: University of Saskatchewan [2009]
In: Journal of religion and popular culture
Online Access: Volltext (Resolving-System)
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Summary:St. Joseph's Oratory in Montreal is the most popular centre of pilgrimage in Canada. At the Oratory there are three distinct locations of ritual activity, the votive chapel, the crypt church and the basilica, that are expressive of three different types of religion which can be interpreted along a continuum from folk to popular to elite Catholicism, respectively. A systematic examination of the ritual space and processes of these sites, as well as citations from the publications of the Oratory, make it clear that there is a tension between the elite and folk ritual expressions—a tension which I suggest is mediated, at least in part, by the locus of popular ritual activity, the crypt church.
L'Oratoire St. Joseph est le centre de pélerinage le plus populaire au Canada. A l'Oratoire il y a trois lieux principaux d'activités rituelles (la chapelle votive, la crypte et la basilique). Ces trois sites expriment trois types de religion (folklorique, populaire et élitiste). Un examen systématique de l'espace et des processus rituels nous montre qu'il y a une tension, sinon un conflit, entre l'expression folklorique et l'expression élitiste. A mon avis, cette tension est quelque peu diffusé par le cérémonial populaire de la crypte.
ISSN:1703-289X
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of religion and popular culture
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.3138/jrpc.21.suppl_1.004