Reply to Renihan - 6
It may have occurred to you that going to church at this time was more like
going to the theatre than attending a modern church service. This was
noticed at the time. Some approved of it, others deplored it. Already in
the ninth century one Agobard of Lyons was complaining about the "theatrical
mannerisms and stage music" encouraged by the likes of Amalarius of Metz.
And about the year 1100 a certain Honorius wrote the following interesting
passage:
"It is known that those who recited tragedies in theatres presented the
actions of opponents by gestures before the people. In the same way our
tragic author [i.e. the priest celebrating Mass] represents by his gestures
in the theatre of the church before the Christian people the struggle of
Christ and teaches to them the victory of his redemption.
"Thus when the celebrant says the 'Orate fratres' ['Pray, brethren, that our
sacrifice may be acceptable to God the almighty Father'] he expresses Christ
placed for us in agony, when he commanded His apostles to pray.
"By the silence of the 'Secreta' [the Prayer over the Gifts, at that time
recited silently] he expresses Christ as a lamb without voice being led to
the sacrifice. By the extension of his hands be represents the extension of
Christ on the cross. By the chant of the Preface he expresses the cry of
Christ hanging on the cross . . .
"Through the secret prayers of the Canon [the Eucharistic prayer] he
suggests the silence of Holy Saturday. By the kiss of peace he represents
the peace given after the Resurrection and the sharing of joy."
Here we have an explicit comparison between the liturgy and classical drama,
incidentally expressing a common medieval misapprehension that in the
ancient theatre the actors mimed while a reader recited the text.
A little later in the twelfth century Aelred of Rievaulx (he lived not far
from your village - Rievaulx is about 20 miles north of York) had complained
in his 'Mirror of Charity' of singing suggestive of feminine voices, sighs,
sudden dramatic silences, vocal imitation of the agonies of the dying and
suffering, and priests who contorted the whole body with histrionic
gestures. These practices, he observed, amazed the common people, but were
proper to the theatre, not the oratory.
When you went to church on one of the great festivals you might even have
seen an actual play interpolated into the service. I don't think this would
have happened at your little village church, but if you ever went to one of
the big churches in your area, like York Minister or St Mary's Abbey, or
Beverley Minster, you might have seen one.
Let's talk about the liturgical drama tomorrow.
Bill.
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