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I really really want to hear Part 6 from Bill >East! And any other parts. I was on the verge of trying to find the set >of responses from Bill and others in the archives to use in my classes, >where I often have students with the same view of medieval religion as >Mr. Renihan. I must say that the responses to this query have been the >most polite, gentle, interesting, and instructive that I have ever seen >in a scholarly discussion group. > So, Bill, would you mind indulging me a bit further as a surrogate >for Mr. Renihan? I am not asking for new replies, but just the >finishing bits of whatever you have begun. Thanks. >Karen Jolly > How kind! Here's a bit I prepared earlier, and was intending to send to our young friend. Reply to Karen - 1 (formerly Reply to Renihan - 7) At Easter, in one of the big monasteries or churches, you may have seen a play of the Resurrection inserted into the Mass, or perhaps tacked on the end of Matins (Morning Prayer). Here's the text of one of the earliest versions of the play, this one occurring at the end of Matins: "While the third lesson is being read, four of the brethren shall vest, one of whom, wearing an alb as though for some different purpose, shall enter and go stealthily to the place of the 'sepulchre' and sit there quietly, holding a palm in his hand. "Then, while the third responsory is being sung, the other three brethren, vested in copes and holding thuribles [censers] in their hands, shall enter in their turn and go the the place of the 'sepulchre' step by step, as though serching for something. "Now these things are done in imitation of the the angel seated on the tomb and of the women coming with perfumes to anoint the body of Jesus. When, therefore, he that is seated shall see these three draw nigh, wandering about as it were and seeking something, he shall begin to sing softly and sweetly, 'Quem quaeritis' - 'Whom do you seek?' "As soon as this has been sung right through, the three shall answer together, 'Ihesum Nazarenum' - 'Jesus of Nazareth.' Then he that is seated shall say, 'Non est hic. Surrexit sicut praedixerat. Ite, nuntiate quia surrexit a mortuis.' - 'He is not here. He is risen, as he predicted. Go, announce that he is risen from the dead.' "At this command the three shall turn to the choir saying, 'Alleluia. Resurrexit Dominus' - 'Alleluia, the Lord is risen.' When this has been sung, he that is seated, as though calling them back, shall say the antiphon, 'Venite et videte locum' - 'Come and see the place.' And then, rising and lifting up the veil, he shall show them the place void of the cross and with only the linen in which the cross has been wrapped. "Seeing this the three shall lay down their thuribles in that same 'sepulchre' and, taking the linen, shall hold it up before the clergy; and, as though showing that the Lord was no longer wrapped in it, they shall sing this antiphon: 'Surrexit Dominus de sepulchro' - 'The Lord is risen from the Sepulchre.' They shall then lay the linen on the altar." The dialogue is simple enough, taken more or less word for word from the Bible, but the stage directions imply a remarkable attempt at dramatic illusion. The brother representing the angel is to leave the choir unobtrusively, as if on some other business, and to sit quietly at the sepulchre. The three Marys advance 'pedetemptim', step by step, as if looking for something. There are stage properties: three thuribles, representing spices for embalming, and the linen cloth, representing the shroud. This was the beginning of liturgical drama, and indeed of our whole tradition of modern drama. And yet those responsible for it would scarcely have realised they were doing anything new or significant. They were simply giving a visual dimension to the words of the Bible, as the entire liturgy was doing, according to their understanding. It is notable that the two props used in the play, the thuribles and the linen cloth, were liturgical objects used in every celebration of the Mass, and that symbolic functions were usually assigned to them in the liturgical treatises. The corporal, the linen cloth on which the vessels are placed during the Mass, was said to represent the shroud in which Christ's body was wrapped; what more natural than to use it as such in a play? Bill. Perhaps I should leave it at that, as there is some controversy as to whether these postings are appropriate. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%