Matriculation at Michaelmas

The word matriculation is relatively modern (1570s) and moderns tend to view the ceremony as a bit old-fashioned. At Nashotah House, the ceremony can be very emotional for people--for those matriculating as well as others attending. It is a ceremony slightly strange to moderns because matriculation happens at the end of the first week, which for most “juniors” is preceded by orientation, so they have already been at Nashotah House for some time. Yet it is a special occasion, and one has the sense of being a proper Nashotah House student once it’s done.

The earliest universities were not merely institutions for teaching and learning but communities of knowledge where one went to gain wisdom. Masters of the arts and sciences would gather with their fellows and, as these communities developed their own regulations and rules, it became important to keep a record of those who had subscribed to the regulations and authority of a particular university. 

The signing of the register ( Latin matricula) evolved from a simple administrative task, into a formal event which marked the end of any entry process, and the beginning of a new life as a member of the academic community. 

Over time, the idea of community became more prominent. Today, ancient universities and seminaries retain a formal ceremony. At Oxford, for example, the ceremony of matriculation is still held in Latin, with all involved wearing formal academic dress. 

Nashotah House welcomes its matriculates in the tradition of their English counterparts. As a seminary, the formation offered by Nashotah House exists to form persons for ministry in the breadth of the Catholic tradition, for the Episcopal Church, churches in the Anglican tradition, the wider Anglican Communion, as well as our ecumenical partners, thus continuing to serve our historic role as “The Mission,” empowering the church for the spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

And why should such ceremonies take place at Michaelmas? 

Most likely the timing is thanks to the necessity of late summer being the time for harvest, and Michaelmas marked the first feast when academics could gather again to begin a new academic year.

Ministry is about gathering the harvest, after all.

On the evening of matriculation, new students will say the matriculation oath:

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

I hereby promise on my conscience and honour to obey during the term of my residence the Statutes and regulations of Nashotah House; to submit myself respectfully to its authorities, and in general, to conduct myself as becomes a Christian and, if it be the case, a Candidate for Holy Orders.

The first page of Nashotah House’s Matriculation book. Generations of men and women have signed this book, sharing in this beautiful vow.

Each student is then called forward to sign the register, a book that dates back to the 1920s and contains the name of every Son and Daughter of the House. The previous book, filled up in the 1920s, extends back to the 1800s.

Below are portions of Dr. Garwood Anderson’s homily from 2018. For many of us who have matriculated at Nashotah House, the words continue to capture what it means to be a Son or Daughter of the House. 

 [W]hen Christ’s people take up Christ’s cross and follow St. Michael into battle, no longer will it sound like a ludicrous misnomer to call us the “church militant” – yea, even the church belligerent. Not because, like so many Christians, we are at war with our neighbors, but because we are at war for them. We enter, as it were, enemy territory, releasing captives, leading others to freedom. We follow the slain Lamb who imposed no harm on his enemies but instead still bears the scars they imposed, and these he bore for their sake. Bearing those wounds, dying that death, he vanquished Satan…

Now, back to our original question: what has any of this to do with matriculation?

Much in every way! If you thought you were enrolling in a vocation-technical institute to prepare for a rewarding career – you know . . . good pay, short hours, long weekends –  it’s not too late. We’ve got a creed, some prayers, a confession, and absolution – plenty of time to slip out before signing this book.

If, however, your signing of this book and your joining of this community is viewed rightly – you will see it as another decisive step, not of entitlement, but of enlistment. You are enlisting in the cause for which Christ died and on behalf of which Archangel Michael is battling still – “rank on rank the host of heaven spreads its vanguard on its way.” This only looks like a seminary; it is actually – if you’ll forgive me – a war college. If you bristle at that militaristic image, you should, because “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Eph. 6:12). And we contend not against people, but for them, following a slain lamb into battle, bearing reproach, exchanging it for wholeness.

And in that battle, nothing you do here will be wasted…

So, then  . . . you are joining – we have joined – with the host of earth who are joining the host of heaven, led by St. Michael, following in the victorious train of Jesus Christ, in a counter-offensive for the sake of a lost and wayward world. He who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.

Welcome to the community!  Welcome to formation that will prepare you for ministry in large cities, small towns, colleges, or in the military or medical field. At Michaelmas, obedience, community and rule of life, began and will continue to mark the start of the academic year with a ceremony which gathers the academic community, and confers membership.