This celebration's main focus is its historical re-creation. However, as with most religious celebrations, it is not based solely on its historical events. Citizens participate in the action that started the celebration by traveling to the church every year and remembering the redeeming qualities of God and Jesus that, legend says, saved their people from the plague. This is not uncommon, for religious celebrations usually have a “seemingly inevitable association with myth” (d'Aquili and Laughlin, Jr., 1979: 160). Therefore, though this celebration does re-create an actual historical event, because it is also based on legend, is also a “ritual re-creation of a legendary past” (Dorson 1982:55). Though variations from the original legend now occur, the participants continue the tradition that started back in the late 16th century with the ending of the plague (Henderson and Thompson 1997).
As Laughlin, Jr., and others stated, “Ritual is never random behavior but is highly organized, encompassing myriad discrete and symbolic elements intertwined in a complex behavioral matrix” (1979:1). The ritual of Festa del Redentore contains many of these such symbolic elements. Roman Catholicism centers around symbols (Turner 1982) and therefore many can be found within the masses held inside of Il Redentore . Every action and word that the priest and congregation ritually do is symbolic (such as saying ritual prayers, crossing oneself, taking communion, etc.) (Murphy, S.J. 1979). Also, there are many symbols found throughout the church such as crosses, statues, and candles (see Figure 4). Each of these symbols further emphasizes the importance of religion and the need to give thanks for having such a caring God.
Outside of the church, however, there are also symbols. Many boats tied together to form a bridge instead of a single, stationary bridge symbolizes the fact that though things are rapidly changing, if society comes together it can control this change. Also, it shows the importance of communal relations.
Festa del Redentore , like many other celebrations, relates this importance through what is known as communitas , which is “a bond… uniting people over and above any formal social bonds.” (Znaniecki 1936:chap.3 in Turner 1982:205). Families dine, dance, and enjoy the festivities together outside of the church and inside of Il Redentore the participants are also one unit listening to the word of God. Social stratification is down played as everyone travels across the bridge in an attempt to feel the spiritual power that stopped their common history's suffering and even after the celebration people will remember the day that everyone was equal (Gradante 1986). Due to this, Festa del Redentore is a ritual used “in the maintenance of social solidarity” (Burns and Laughlin, Jr., 1979:250).
Celebrations are not only meant to remember a common history, however. They use performance and entertainment to also relay social standards and values (Manning 1983). Through Festa del Redentore , Venice reinforces its citizens' need for a strong faith in religion and the need to work together in the community. The bridge of the boats would not be possible if a single person refused to do it and therefore proves that everyone in the society is important and that without working together nothing will be accomplished.
The contrasts between the playful festivities outside of the church and the somber masses inside of Il Redentore also reflect a common aspect of celebrations. “Play inverts the social order and leans toward license, whereas ritual confirms the social order and is regulated” (Manning 1983:7). The less serious activities allow participants to test the social standards in Venice , while the inspirational masses reinforce those standards. Finishing the celebration with a final mass allows society to maintain its order and standards and “conveys a version of the social order that is meant to be believed, or at least acknowledged and adhered to” (Manning 1983:27).
Another reason that this ritual celebration is so important “may be that Homo sapiens need some as yet undetermined minimal amount of ritual behavior to assist in the control of anxiety, to promote paradigmatic shifts, or to focus individual energies through selective attention and cue utilization” (Miracle, Jr., 1986). Though celebrations are often thought of in social terms, there may also be physical and psychological reasons as to why people feel that they must begin a ritual and then continue to recreate it.
Disaster often causes people to come together and try to create a psychologically enhancing ritual (Laughlin Jr., and d'Aquili 1986). During the plague of 1575, this was what the government was attempting to do. Though today the ritual is not practiced for this reason, it originated from this and therefore still has psychological aspects for today's participants. Through recreating what their ancestors did throughout history, Venetians are respecting those who died in the plague and also reminding one another that if anything disastrous should occur, they will be able to survive together.
Ronald Grimes stated that “A public celebration is a rope bridge of knotted symbols strung across an abyss. We make our crossings hoping the chasm will echo our festive sounds for a moment, as the bridge begins to sway from the rhythms of our dance” (1982:231, in Manning 1983:3). The celebration of Festa del Redentore exemplifies this metaphor through its use of symbolic images, actions, and words; its sense of communitas ; and its underlying psychological features. Not only does it follow the metaphor, it is the metaphor. Through bridging the boats together, the participants forget their problems for one day and celebrate their legendary history with one another, striving for “ communitas , the lively possibility of immediate human communion” (Turner 1983:190).