Describe what happens to the children including Saul when they arrive first at St. Jerome's. why are these acts symbolic?

They force Saul, and other children, to exchange their traditional clothing for “western” clothing, and they cut the children’s' long hair into a short crew cut. Lonnie, the boy who arrived with Saul, is forced to change his name because it isn’t biblical. He resists, because he is named after his father, and Sister Ignatius beats him, insisting that his only father is “the heavenly Father,” or the Christian God. The children are scrubbed in scalding hot water until their skin was raw.