Easter Pageants & Passion Plays

[TommyWommy]

During this time of year there are Easter pageants and Passion plays being performed at various churches. The ones I am aware of are at Protestant churches. I’ve not known a Catholic church that had one, although I watched the one in Australia for the World Youth event on EWTN. So, I generally consider these events to be primarily a Protestant thing, mainly because that’s where I notice them being promoted and performed. Some of the churches really go all out with huge Broadway production styles, especially a mega church in my area. Anyway, as I was thinking back on the last one I saw, a few things occurred to me that I thought might be worth mentioning for comment and/or discussion.

In the play, an actor portrays Christ being crucified. It was the first time I ever saw a crucifix in a Protestant church. (Much more “real” than a statue)

The play presents Christ in a very “real” fashion. In fact, it was so realistic, it was as if Christ was really, physically present. I marveled at the parallel between the Real Presence of the Eucharistic Lord in the Catholic Mass, and the need for this realistic portrayal of Christ’s body and blood in the play, at a church. There is an intrinsic desire for us (Christians) to have Him present in more than “just” a spiritual form. The Catholic can experience His real, physical presence every day.

Protestants generally use the play as a means of evangelization. They hope people will come to see a production, but be moved by the message of Christ. That’s a good thing. They get excited about the production and put a lot of time and energy into it. They expect people to be converted by being in the “presence” of Christ at the foot of Calvary and by witnessing His sacrifice for them. Again, Catholics have access to this reality every day. How many Catholics take this for granted?

I have mixed emotions about these plays. Part of me appreciates them, but part of me feels like they are a Protestant attempt to create what they are missing in the Mass. I don’t mean that it is a conscious attempt. I mean more like an unconscious attempt to replace a critical part that the Reformation robbed them of: The Real Presence.

One more parallel: Catholics have only male priests to represent Christ. One would never (I hope) see a female playing the part of Christ in one of these plays.

I’m not trying to take jabs at Protestants here or stir up controversy. I simply see some fascinating parallels and I’m wondering if other Catholics have made similar observations.

 

[Eucharisted]

Catholic parishes do Passion plays on Passover. The plays are Catholic. Protestants borrrowed them from the Catholic Church.

 

[TommyWommy]

Catholic parishes do Passion plays on Passover. The plays are Catholic. Protestants borrrowed them from the Catholic Church.

I was raised Catholic in a devout family, but I never saw one of these plays growing up (that I remember). It wasn’t until I moved into Protestant circles that I even knew about them. I have since returned to Catholicism, and I still only hear of Protestants doing these plays. I don’t know if it has anything to do with where I live(?)

 

[e61iuser]

I was raised Catholic in a devout family, but I never saw one of these plays growing up (that I remember). It wasn’t until I moved into Protestant circles that I even knew about them. I have since returned to Catholicism, and I still only hear of Protestants doing these plays. I don’t know if it has anything to do with where I live(?)

Probably.

Every year in the Philippines during Holy Week we go all-out with Passion Plays and “Pabasa” (readings of Scripture centering around the passion of our Lord, sung to dolorous music). I don’t know why Catholics in the US don’t have these anymore.

 

[TommyWommy]

Probably.

Every year in the Philippines during Holy Week we go all-out with Passion Plays and “Pabasa” (readings of Scripture centering around the passion of our Lord, sung to dolorous music). I don’t know why Catholics in the US don’t have these anymore.

Sounds like I need to pay a visit to the Philippines.

 

[patrick457]

Catholic parishes do Passion plays on Passover. The plays are Catholic. Protestants borrrowed them from the Catholic Church.

Correct. If I can expand on this further:

The origins of Passion plays are very Catholic: they originated from various rituals in the Church, which prescribes, among other things, that the Gospel on Good Friday should be sung in parts divided among various persons (we still do so today, if you’ve noticed). In the medieval period the celebration of liturgical feasts was as rich and varied as they were numerous; poetry and music, in particular, were used to impress on the congregation the significance of the events commemorated.

Later on, these dramatizations became a separate event from the Liturgy and full-fledged ‘mystery plays’ made their firsy appearance. Plays was originally done in Latin but later conducted in vernacular languages as well; contents and forms were adapted more to audience expectations, until, in the 15th century, the popular religious plays of Europe had developed. One interesting thing is that many, if not most, of these medieval plays are not performed during Holy Week, but at the feast of Corpus Christi.

The only four surviving mystery plays from medieval England are:

• The York Cycle: Performed in the city of York from the Middle Ages until 1569, at the feast of Corpus Christi. The plays continued after the Reformation, when in 1548 Corpus Christi was abolished in England. The plays accommodated themselves to the new religious orthodoxy, by cutting ‘Catholic’ scenes, but were eventually suppressed. There have been several attempts to revive this play in modern times.
• The Wakefield Cycle: Performed somewhere during the late Middle Ages until 1576 in the town of Wakefield, also most likely at or near the feast of Corpus Christi. Catholic references in the play were actually excised and “corrected” during its latter days by Protestant censors (for example, in the only surviving manuscript of the play, twelve leaves are completely missing, which scholars suspect contained plays about the death, assumption, and coronation of Mary).
• The Chester Plays: Dates back to at least the early part of the 15th century and also originally performed at the feast of Corpus Christi, later expanded into a three day cycle on Whit Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. It was banned during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I because it was seen as ‘Popery’, though it was still performed in 1568 and 1575. The plays have been revived in modern times, and are presented in the city of Chester, England, every five years (the last one was on 2008).
• The N-Town Plays: A cycle from between 1450 and 1500, most likely performed in some town in the East Midlands.

Reasons why most of these medieval plays did not survive are because of the Reformation (many Protestants held these plays in low esteem and even viewed it as “too Catholic”) and ‘misguided’ reform within many Catholic sectors (effort was made in Germany, particularly in Bavaria and the Tyrol, to destroy even the remnants of the tradition of medieval play during the late 18th-early 19th century).

One play which did survive in modern times is the Oberammergau Passion Play. It all dates back from the year 1633, when the townsfolk of Oberammergau vowed that if God were to spare them from the effects of the bubonic plague ravaging the region, they would perform a play every ten years depicting the life and death of Jesus. Eventually, the death rate among adults, which rose from one in October 1632 to twenty in the month of March 1633, slowly subsided to one in the month of July 1633; the villagers believed they were spared after they kept their part of the vow when the play was first performed in 1634. The town kept good to its vow and conducted the passion play every ten years (save for two instances in which the scheduled performance did not take place). Eventually, the Church succeeded in halting the performance of all other passion plays in Bavaria by 1830, leaving only the Passion Play of Oberammergau remaining.

 

[patrick457]

Probably.

Every year in the Philippines during Holy Week we go all-out with Passion Plays and “Pabasa” (readings of Scripture centering around the passion of our Lord, sung to dolorous music). I don’t know why Catholics in the US don’t have these anymore.

It would seem that many American Catholics did not inherit the tradition of the passion play from their forbears (or even religious theatre) as we Filipino Catholics did from the Spanish (in Catalonia in Spain, it is common for villages to present different passion plays every Easter, for example).

 

[TommyWommy]

Correct. If I can expand on this further:

The origins of Passion plays are very Catholic: they originated from various rituals in the Church, which prescribes, among other things, that the Gospel on Good Friday should be sung in parts divided among various persons (we still do so today, if you’ve noticed). In the medieval period the celebration of liturgical feasts was as rich and varied as they were numerous; poetry and music, in particular, were used to impress on the congregation the significance of the events commemorated.

Later on, these dramatizations became a separate event from the Liturgy and full-fledged ‘mystery plays’ made their firsy appearance. Plays was originally done in Latin but later conducted in vernacular languages as well; contents and forms were adapted more to audience expectations, until, in the 15th century, the popular religious plays of Europe had developed. One interesting thing is that many, if not most, of these medieval plays are not performed during Holy Week, but at the feast of Corpus Christi.

The only four surviving mystery plays from medieval England are:

• The York Cycle: Performed in the city of York from the Middle Ages until 1569, at the feast of Corpus Christi. The plays continued after the Reformation, when in 1548 Corpus Christi was abolished in England. The plays accommodated themselves to the new religious orthodoxy, by cutting ‘Catholic’ scenes, but were eventually suppressed. There have been several attempts to revive this play in modern times.
• The Wakefield Cycle: Performed somewhere during the late Middle Ages until 1576 in the town of Wakefield, also most likely at or near the feast of Corpus Christi. Catholic references in the play were actually excised and “corrected” during its latter days by Protestant censors (for example, in the only surviving manuscript of the play, twelve leaves are completely missing, which scholars suspect contained plays about the death, assumption, and coronation of Mary).
• The Chester Plays: Dates back to at least the early part of the 15th century and also originally performed at the feast of Corpus Christi, later expanded into a three day cycle on Whit Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. It was banned during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I because it was seen as ‘Popery’, though it was still performed in 1568 and 1575. The plays have been revived in modern times, and are presented in the city of Chester, England, every five years (the last one was on 2008).
• The N-Town Plays: A cycle from between 1450 and 1500, most likely performed in some town in the East Midlands.

Reasons why most of these medieval plays did not survive are because of the Reformation (many Protestants held these plays in low esteem and even viewed it as “too Catholic”) and ‘misguided’ reform within many Catholic sectors (effort was made in Germany, particularly in Bavaria and the Tyrol, to destroy even the remnants of the tradition of medieval play during the late 18th-early 19th century).

One play which did survive in modern times is the Oberammergau Passion Play. It all dates back from the year 1633, when the townsfolk of Oberammergau vowed that if God were to spare them from the effects of the bubonic plague ravaging the region, they would perform a play every ten years depicting the life and death of Jesus. Eventually, the death rate among adults, which rose from one in October 1632 to twenty in the month of March 1633, slowly subsided to one in the month of July 1633; the villagers believed they were spared after they kept their part of the vow when the play was first performed in 1634. The town kept good to its vow and conducted the passion play every ten years (save for two instances in which the scheduled performance did not take place). Eventually, the Church succeeded in halting the performance of all other passion plays in Bavaria by 1830, leaving only the Passion Play of Oberammergau remaining.

Thanks very much for this information. I learned more about my faith today. That’s why I come to this forum.