THE BAVARIAN PASSION PLAY.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XVIII, Issue 1, 2 May 1890, Page 5

THE BAVARIAN PASSION PLAY.

(Sydney Freeviarts Journal, April 19.)

The Very Rev. Aipbonsun O'Neill, Superior of the Passionists in Austialia, deliveri d ti is piomised iie-criptive lecture on ■' The Pa6Bion Puy nt Übciamtnergau " m the hall of ihr Catholic Readiog ttooms, William stree , on Monday evening

Tbe lee uri r opened with the confe-t-ion that it would be impossible for hi'u, 01 inue d for anj • Le, t give -ny fair idea of tbe beauty, tbe solemnity, aud the impress-iveuess of the I assiou P ay as presented by tbe pious villagrrs. To thorough y underbuild the Passion Play it was necessary to witness it, and he ventured 'o say that no one, he'ievor or unbeliever, could winets it without bei/ g deeply and profoundly moved. He himself had ben privileged to attend at the production in 1871 after the Franco-Pru.-s.an War, and again in 1880, the sacred drama being performed at intervals 'it 10 ypars. He went to Ooerammergau with what he might describe as a strong pn judice, feeling that the Passion of Our Lord was too sacred to be represented Bave by the consecrated priest at the altar. He had a suspicion that he might see something that would wound the religious susceptibilities of Catholics and afford non-Catholics cause for adverse comment. But all his prejudices were quickly conquered and all his fears were soon dispelled, first by the character of the people, in the second place by the position of the village, and thirdly by the circumstances and associations of tbe representation. On the occasion of his first vi3it to the historic village there were over 6000 people assembled from all parts of the world to witness the representation, and the thought occurred to him while looking at the immense gathering, including many who were not Catholics, that it would be something approaching profanity to expose the sacred Passion of Our Lord to such an assemblage, while at the same time he could not help also thinking that as far as the spectators, at all events, were concerned mere idle curiosity would prevail and the proper feeling of reverence, the proper spirit of religion, would be wantiug. — • But as with the play itself, bo his misgivings as to the spectators were soon set at rest. On both occasions he had witnessed the play the assemblage was stilled and awed by the Bcenes presented before ihem, and in the specially patheiic parts he had seen strong men weeping like children. Arusts, critics, writers, poets were gathered there, and all were under the spell of tbe heartmoving solemnity of the representation, and the feeling of reverences reigned so supreme that such demonstrations as clapping of hands or applause of any kind were never thought of. The unaffected piety of the actors and the all-pervading air of solemnity raised the Passion Play high above the most powerful and most thrilling theatrical performance, and the whole effect was so deeply moving, so soul-stirring, that the scenes and incidents could not fail to linger in the memory of the spectator to his dying day. On one of his visits to Oberammergau, the Prince of Wales was present, and he (Father O'Neill) remembered that the Prince— being deeply affected by all that he had seen— sent for the villager who played the part of Christus (Joseph Meyer), and taking a costly ring from his own finger, piaced it with many words of praißeand admiration, on the pious peasant's hand. The last home or resting-place of the Passion Play is the little village amocg the mountains of Bavaria. Sacred Mystery plays, tbe lecturer explained, were common in the ages of faitb tbroughout Europe and England, and the representations of the Nativity, the Lite and Death of Our Lord, as well as the Resurrection of Lazarus, the wise and foolish Virgins, and more of the same kind were given with the approval and often with the aid ot theOhurch. Tuese playa were the outcoire ol a strong religious feeling among the people. Time, however, brought changes, and when the old religious spirit which made these plays <- sacred things " to the spectator began to d^appear trom the performances the church uitc jumenanced, and finally suppressed the Mystery Plays. An exception was maie in the case of Oberammergau, and for a special reason which the lecturer explained. In tbe year 1633 a terrible pestilence swept over the country, and , the little village alone escaped. Unhappily, despite all the precautions taken, a villager who had been away for some time returned unobserved to see his family. This man brought the plague with him, with the result that, besides dying himself, some 80 of the other villagers also succumbed within a few days. Amidst the terror which the visitation inspired among the little community, it was resolved to make an appeal to God's mercy through the medium of the Passion Play, and this was done, with the wonderful result that no more deaths occurred. The villagers in gratitude for their deliverance made a vow to have a sacred representation of the Passion of Our Lord in their midst at stated periods, and eventually the custom of having the Passion Play every ten years was established. It waa in consideration of this vow so faithfully observed that the Church granted the special privilege to Oberammergau when the general order against the plays was issued. The village has a population of about 1000 souls, and at each representation 800, including women and children, take part. For a member of a family to be excluded from taking part in the representation is consideied the deepest disgrace. Ttie people are all extremely simple and rubtic in their ways of living, and unlearned, perhaps, m all but the sacred Scriptures, of which they have a wonderful knowledge. Their lives are spent in homely pursuits, and the men and children in the winter time employ themselves in making those curous and graceful carvings winch are sold abroad Where the humble workers who fashioned them are perhaps never thought of. Notwithstanding the simplicity of the place the villagero live in an atmosph- re of native art and native piety, lhe very approaches to the village, with the Stations ot the Umss instead of milißtunts a id the st-tues ot the taints for guideposts, are characteristic of the inhabitants, and in the village itself the front of almost fcveiy hov e is deco ated with a ciucifix, wLile there is not oue in which in tbe interior the cross and pic ures and h atues of tbe saints are not displayed. Without cultivating dramatic talent oy aruficial meanß, the villagers are born actors. The preparation for the Passion

Play does not take the form of artistic study, but in the leading of a holy life. All the actors are monthly communicants, and all who take part in the play receive Holy Communion on the morning of the performance. Masses are celebrated from three to five on the eventful morning, and then, after the band has proceeded through the village, all assemble at the rude wooden building in the meadows. The theatre, if it may be called such, is partly open and partly covered by an awning, and the mountains form a picturesque background for the stage. The huge structure, which has to accommodate between 5000 and 6000 people, is divided into three parts, the central part being about 100 feet wide and 200 feet in depth. In the side divisions are the hall of Pilate and the house of the High Priest, and during the play the processions move to and from these halls. In the centre stage there is a drop scene, and on this stage the principal scenes take place and the tableaux are shown. On the two side stages are scenes in Jerusalem.

The play was commenced at 8 in the morning, and lasted, with a brief rest of half an hour, till 5 in the afternoon, and it was from beginning to end so thoroughly religious in character, and so moving and soul-stirring, apart altogether from its unique features of dramatic beauty and artistic picturesqueness, that the enormous crowd of spectators, by a common instinct of reverence and sympathy, remained silent and almost spellbound during the whole of the period occupied by the presentation of the series of scenes and tableaux. The order of the play was lucidly set forth in detail. Besides the actual representation of the Passion, said the lecturer, the story of the Passion was, so to apeak, illustrated by means of a series of beautiful tableaux representing scenes and incidents in the Old Testament, prefiguring the coming of the Redeemer, His passion and death, and the redemption of the world. The completeness of the whole play was simply marvellous. All the principal scenes in the Passion were accompanied, or rather preceded by a suggestive Old Testament tableau, while the choir of village girls, simply but prettily attired, sang throughoat the " chorus," in which the connection between the types and figures ol the Old Testament and the realisation of the New were set forth. The first tableau represented the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, and the links in the prefigured plan of Redemption were commenced in the next tableau. The first scene of the Passion was the triumphal entry of Oar Saviour, the Redeemer riding on an ass admidst the jubliant multitude casting palms in his way and shouting songs of praise. The effect was indescribable, and the calm, beautiful features of the devout villager who played the part of Christ at once arrested attention and commanded reverence. This part of Christus had been performed (including this year's representation) three consecutive times by one man, Joseph Meyer. Of the tableaux the two most striking were perhaps the falling of the manna in the desert on the children of Israel — prefiguring the Last Supper and the institution of the Blessed Sacrament, and the erection by Moses of the brazen serpent, this being the type and symbol of the solemn final act of the Redemption. ]n these tableaux all the good villagers, men, women and children, were gronped on the stage, and even the little ones remained like Btatues, producing a marvellous effect.

There was a vivid representation of Christ expelling the moneychangers from the Temple, and the incidents in the conspiracy to bring about His death were presented with all the details of the Last Supper, the Agony in the Garden, and the mock trials before Caipbas, Pilate, and Herod. The first thrill that went through the spectators, said the lecturer, was whan Christ was struck in the face, and the crowning with thorns and scourging at the pillar brought home the sufferings of the Redeemer to the hearts of all in a way they had never befcre experienced. The scene of the parting of our Lord and His Blessed Mother brought floods of tears from men and women ; it was no natural, so overwhelmingly painful, as to be almost unbearable. All the scenes familiarly known as the Stations of the Cross were presented with unvarying completeness, and the last scene of all, on the Hill of Calvary, was affecting beyond description. The lecturer eaid that when the play ended with a reoresentation of the Resurrection all the spectators heaved a sigh of relief that the painful suspense was over, yet the whole performance seemed only to occupy a couple of hours.

There was no other part of the world (said tne lecturer) in which the Passion Play could be given with the same true piety and with the same religious and elevating effect. He was sorry to see that in Paris an attempt had been made to produce on the stage with professional actors, including Sara Bernhardt, an imitation of the pious performance of the devout peasants of Bavaria. God grant that they would never see any such theatrical representation in Australia. In conclusion, the lecturer advised all who possibly could to visit Oberammergau and see with their own eyes, and hear with their own ears, what voice and pen were powerless to depict.

The other morning (says the Transvaal Advertiser), " Charlie," State executioner, died at Six- Mile-Spruit, where he had been drinking heavily. He was conveyed into town, and that same night placed in a coffin. Next morning, just as the lid was being screwed down, he surprised the undertaker by getting up in the coffin and asking for a drink. The man is now quite well ; be was thus in a state of profound trance for over 24 hours.

'■ New York to-day," Bays a secularist contemporary, " is a pagan city. The majority of the people, and more especially the educated people, are as much pagans as the inhabitants of Tokio." Not so. There ia a seating capacity for about 600,000 people in the Catholic churches of the city. There are between four and five Masses, on a Sunday average, in our temples of worship. That would make between 2,500,000 and 3,000,000 attendants, for we are obliged, and by necessity compelled, to attend only one Mass on Sunday. Besides the seats there is standing room for 125,000 more, or for four Masses for half a million all told. Sometimes our congregations are crowded out into the vestibules, and we have frequently seen them kneeling on the pavements and in the very streets. Ob, no ; New York is not a pagan city ; it ia a Catholic town.