Misteri Play d’Elx. World Heritage

Misteri Play d’Elx. World Heritage

Second Act or Festa

The second act of the Elche Mystery Play also begins after singing the solemn Vespers of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. As in the first act, the actors leave the shrine of San Sebastián in procession as the day before, arriving at the main door of the Basilica de Santa María. All of them ascend the ramp and the church’s Archpriest and the three Gentlemen kiss the feet of the Virgin, whose bier has been placed on the right of the stage. Having done this they take their seats. The Apostles then venerate the Figure of Mary and remain standing around her.

For the second act Saint Peter has replaced his tunic with an alb, stole and a white chasuble. Moreover, it is worth noting that during the time between the conclusion of the Vespra and the beginning of the Festa a large square hole has been opened in the centre of the stage which has been bordered by a balustrade of wreathed columns representing the grave that has been prepared for the body of the Virgin. Mary Salome, Mary Iacobe and the entourage angels have not followed the rest of the actors onto the stage and remain at the threshold of the main door, at the foot of the ramp. Three of the Apostles then sing quatrains, approaching Mary’s entourage and inviting them to take part in her burial.

Par-nos, germans, devem anar
a les Maries pregar
devotament vullen venir
per a la Verge sepel·lir.

These three Apostles plus another one then descend the ramp and address the Marys and Angels with the following entreaty:

A vosaltres venim pregar
que ensems anem a soterrar
la Mare de Déu gloriós,
puix tant de bé ha fet per nós.
E anem tots
ab amor i alegria,
per amor del Redemptor
e de la Verge Maria.

To which the entourage replies:

Vosaltres siau benvinguts,
parents e amics de grans virtuts.
Promptes som per a anar
a la Verge soterrar.

After their positive response, all walk together up the ramp towards the stage. When they arrive, the members of Mary’s entourage kiss the image’s feet and then go to the seats they had occupied in the first act but which are now on the left of the stage.

Saint Peter then takes the palm leaf lying across the Virgin’s breast and, addressing Saint John, asks him to carry the palm during the funeral:

Preneu, vós, Joan, la palma preciosa
e portau-la davant lo cos glorificat
car aixi ho dix la Verge gloriosa
ans que als cels se n’hagués pujat.

Saint John, obeying Peter’s Christ-given authority, obeys:

De grat prendré la palma preciosa
e compliré lo que haveu manat,
puix que haveu potestat copiosa
de condemnar e delir tot pecat.

As in the first act, when the palm leaf is transferred from one person to another, the ritual of kissing it then touching the forehead with it is observed by both the person giving and the person receiving it, then all of the Disciples kneel around Mary’s tumulus and begin an laudatory canticle as a preparatory step in the burial:

Flor de virginal bellesa,
temple d’humilitat,
on la Santa Trinitat
fon enclosa e contesa.

Pregam-vos, cos molt sagrat,
que de nostra parentat
vos acord tota vegada
quan sereu als cels pujada.

Once the canticle has finished, everybody stands up and sings Psalm 114, When Israel went out of Egypt, typical of the funeral liturgy. However a numerous group of Jews, attracted by the singing and led by the Chief Rabbi, appear at the foot of the ramp. While most of the Jews remain on the first section of the ramp, two of their number slowly advance, their gestures expressing their puzzlement at this unknown music of unknown origin. These two extravagantly dressed Jews appear to be talking to one another and expressing their surprise at these unknown melodies.

They run down the ramp and address the rest of their companions, explaining with highly expressive gestures what they have just seen. The Jews become agitated, talking to each other and expressing their indignation and annoyance. Then they all together decide to attack Jesus’ Disciples in order to steal Mary’s body and to destroy it. By doing this, they aim to prevent the Apostles from saying, as they did with the body of Christ, that having interred Mary’s body, it rose from the dead.

At a given moment, the Psalm-singing of the Apostles is interrupted by the irate voice of the Chief Rabbi who, echoed by the rest of the Jews, expresses their hostile intentions while they advance menacingly up the ramp:

Aquesta gran novetat
nos procura deshonor;
anem tots a pas cuitat,
no comportem tal error.

No és nostra voluntat
que esta dona soterreu,
ans de tota pietat
vos manam que ens la deixeu.

E si aço no fareu,
nosaltres cert vos direm
que us manam en quant podem,
per Adonai, que ens la deixeu.

Surprised by the disturbance, the Apostles try to see what is happening offstage and to see where the shouts are coming from. The same Jews, who acted as scouts before, rapidly ascend the ramp ahead of the main press of Jews. Christ’s Disciples with Saints John and Peter at their head, realise that a group of people are approaching and sensing their intentions, decide to resist.

Saint John, brandishing the gilded palm as a weapon tries to stop the first Jew as he approaches. Similarly Saint Peter confronts the second Jew. They begin to push and shove and a violent fight ensues. Meanwhile, the rest of the Apostles place themselves in front of Mary’s body in order to protect it and to prevent it from being profaned.

However the large number of Jews fighting to steal the sacred body forces the disciples to retreat while they continue to sing their canticles. In spit of the Apostles’ stiff resistance, the first Jew finally manages to arrive before Mary’s tomb but when he is about to take the body, he becomes rooted to the spot, his hands paralysed.

As the rest of the Jew enter the stage, they see the miraculous event and fall to their knees, victims of a sudden paralysis, deeply repentant of what they had intended to do. At this moment all of them sing a canticle begging for help, their requests aimed especially at Saint Peter:

Oh, Déu Adonai
qui formis natura,
ajuda’ns Sabdai,
saviesa pura!

Som nós penedits
de tot nostre cor.
Pregam-te, Senyor,
nos vulles guarir.

Tal miracle mai
no féu creatura.
Ajuda’ns, Sant Pere,
qui tens la procura!

The Apostles, in order to help the Jews, and aware of the sincerity of their repentance, ask them to demonstrate their conviction of the virginity of Mary:

Prohòmens jueus, si tots creeu
que la Mare del Fill de Déu
tostemps fon verge, sens dubtar,
ans e aprés d’infantar.

Pura fon e sens pecat
la Mare de Déu glorificat,
advocada dels pecadors,
creent açó guarireu tots.

Still kneeling and unable to move due to their paralysis, the Jews ask the Apostles for forgiveness, begging to be baptised and demonstrating their firm belief that Mary is the Mother of God.

Nosaltres tots creem
que és la Mare del Fill de Déu.
Batejau-nos tots en breu,
que en tal fe viure volem.

Saint Peter takes the gilded palm from Saint John and with it baptises all of the Jews on the head. When they are touched by the palm they are miraculously cured. When the Jew who had been rooted to the spot before Mary’s body realises that he can move his hands, he immediately falls to his knees in repentance. The Jews joy turns into song:

Cantem, senyors!
Què cantarem?
Ab clamors façam gràcies i llaors
a la humil Mare de Déu.

A ella devem servir
tot lo temps de nostra vida,
puix sa bondat infinida
nos vullgué així guarir.

Doncs, cantem tots,
tots la lloem!
Ab clamors façam gràcies i llaors
a la humil Mare de Déu.

Once the Jews have been cured they all stand up, moving their hands to see if they have been cured completely and everyone, Apostles and Jews, prepare to finally bury Mary. There is a procession around the central opening and despite the narrowness of the stage the procession begins with the raising of the cross, carried by one of the Jews. The Apostles and Jews then take their places and then the actors bear Mary’s bier under a canopy. The rear of the funeral procession is brought up by Saint Peter, who officiates as prelate, the two Marys and the angels of the Virgin’s entourage. The committee makes a complete circuit of the stage, simultaneously intoning Psalm 114:

In exitu Israel d’Egipto
Domus lacob de populo barbaro,
Facta est Judea sanctificatio eius,
Israel potestas eius.

Once the circuit of the stage has been completed, the bier is deposited in its original position and all of the actors sing a beautiful canticle:

Ans d’entrar en sepultura
aquest cos glorificat
de la Verge santa i pura,
adorem-lo de bon grat.

Contemplant la tal figura,
ab contricció i dolor,
de la Verge santa i pura
en servei del Creador.

Respectant la tal figura,
ser de tanta majestat,
de la Verge santa i pura,
adorem-lo de bon grat.

The Apostles then take the image of the Virgin in their arms and place it inside the sepulchre. Her body is laid on an embroidered mattress and her head, placed upon cushions, is supported by the balustrade of the sepulchre. Kneeling before the image and following the funeral rites, Saint Peter wafts incense over it three times. Meanwhile, the Apostles and the Jews sing When Israel went out of Egypt anew.

Once the rites have concluded, the body of Mary, recumbent upon the embroidered mattress is lowered down the central trap door. Just as it reaches the bottom of the sepulchre, the organ sounds to announce that the Gates of Heaven have opened and the Araceli is descending again. As in the Vespra, there are four angels playing guitars and the harp while the Ángel Mayor holds the soul of Mary in his hands. The beautiful song of the choir of angels fills the church with the promise of the resurrection:

Llevantau’s, Reina excel·lent,
Mare de Déu omnipotent.
Veniu, sereu coronada
en la celestial morada.

Alegrau’s que hui veureu
de qui sou Esposa e Mare
e també veureu lo Pare
del car Fill i etern Déu.

Allí estareu sens tristor
on pregareu per lo pecador
e reinareu eternamente
contemplant Déu omnipotent.

When the Araceli reaches the stage, it enters the central trapdoor as it had during the Vespra It is worth noting at this point that there is a cavity in the floor of the church coinciding with the device’s perpendicular axis so that it can completely enter the stage interior and thus remain totally out of the sight of the audience. For the rest of the year, this cavity is concealed by wooden planking although it can be seen from at the entrance to the presbytery of Santa María.

 

When the Araceli reaches the stage, it enters the central trapdoor as it had during the Vespra It is worth noting at this point that there is a cavity in the floor of the church coinciding with the device’s perpendicular axis so that it can completely enter the stage interior and thus remain totally out of the sight of the audience. For the rest of the year, this cavity is concealed by wooden planking although it can be seen from at the entrance to the presbytery of Santa María. Thus from the artistic union of the soul that descends from heaven and the body that had been interred, the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in body and soul is perfectly depicted.

The ascent of the Araceli, the angels intoning the same canticle as when it descended, halts halfway. This is the moment for the Gentlemen Elect, who had left moments earlier to give Saint Thomas his cue, to return to the church. According to tradition, Saint Thomas had been preaching in the Orient and he arrives showing the same surprise and puzzlement as those before him, ignorant of the reason for his long and unusual journey. After advancing a few paces along the ramp, he sees the Apostles and the Jews before the sepulchre and immediately realises that Mary has died:

Oh, bé és fort desaventura
de mi trist, desaconsolat,
que no em sia ací trobat
en esta santa sepultura.

He takes a few more steps and stops abruptly as he is overwhelmed by the sight of the Virgin floating in the air surrounded by a choir of angels. He turns to the Holy Mother to ask for her forgiveness for his delay:

Prec-vos, Verge excel·lent,
Mare de Déu omnipotent.
Vós m’hajau per excusat
que les Índies m’han ocupat.

When, overcome by emotion, he finishes his canticle Saint Thomas falls to his knees. At this precise moment the Gates of Heaven open anew and to the sound of gentle organ music, the Coronación begins its descent. This is yet another aerial device, similar in structure to the Araceli, but somewhat smaller. It consists of a type of central seat, occupied by the Eternal Father with two children representing the other two elements of the Holy Trinity kneeling on platforms on either side. God the Father is the third of the characters in the Play who must be played by a priest. Slowly the Trinity approaches the Araceli while its occupants sing the following melody:

Vós siau ben arribada
a reinar eternament,
on tantost, de continent
per Nós sereu coronada.

Coinciding with the end of the quatrain and on the word “coronada”, or crowned, the Eternal Father, who is holding a golden imperial crown attached to a silken thread in his hands, slowly lowers the crown on the thread so that it descends the few metres that separate the two aerial devices. Meanwhile a golden shower of tinsel falling from the heavens, from both the Gates of Heaven and from a hole in the ceiling, covers both the players and the public. Finally the crown, discreetly helped by the angels in the Araceli, comes to rest upon Mary’s Head.

This is a truly indescribable moment. The people that fill the church burst into cheers and clap enthusiastically. All of the church bells, those inside, and those in the belfry peal out. A volley of rockets is launched from the courtyard of Santa María and the organ, all of its stops open, begins a magnificent tutti. The cry of Visca la Mare de Déu!, or Long live the Mother of God, erupts from the throats of both actors and audience. This is, literally and figuratively, the play’s crowning moment, the climax of the Mystery Play. The Virgin of the Assumption, Elche’s Patroness, has been crowned as Queen of all creation before all the townspeople of Elche.

The Festa’s oldest libretto known to exist is dated 1625. This text tells us that the lyrics for the Holy Trinity were revised by the Bachelor Comes yet it would seem that the correction, to be seen below, was never put into effect and thus the second version of the lyric was never sung:

Veniu, Mare excel·lent
puix que virtut vos abona,
ab esta imperial corona
reinareu etenalment.

During the moments of Mary’s coronation, the Apostles and the Jews on the stage watch the moving scene. They then understand that the Virgin is no longer in the sepulchre before them; she has been resurrected and now crowned, ascends heavenwards. They thus raise their hands and become part of the action as the copious golden shower of tinsel falls upon the stage and its surroundings.

Saint Thomas completes his journey to the stage and once he arrives, he greets and embraces Saints Peter Saint John. As the Holy Trinity ascends to heaven, John begins to remove the gilded palm and descending the ramp, makes his way through the crowd that fills the church. He then goes up to the official seating that has been erected at the sides of the aisle and gives a handful of palm leaves to the Lord Mayor and to the President of the National Trust for the Mystery Play.

When the Coronación arrives in Heaven, the Araceli begins its ascent to unceasing applause. The organ fills the Basilica with its music and, when the Araceli is about to enter into heaven, the actors on the stage conclude the play with a Gloria of thanksgiving:

Gloria patri et Filio
et Spiritui Sancto.
Sicut erat in principio
et nunc et semper
et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

The Araceli, with the image of the Virgin of the Assumption, leaves to great applause and then the actors – the Marys, the angels of the Virgin’s entourage and the rest of the cast, form a double file and go down the ramp towards the shrine of San Sebastián. Saints John, James and Peter bring up the rear, followed by the Archpriest and the three Gentlemen. The Elche Mystery Play has ended.