Passion Plays are great ways to commemorate Good Friday

James and Peter waiting for the play to begin

Good Friday is the day we join in the Passion Play celebrated at The Pauline Fathers Monastery at Penrose Park, NSW, Australia.
It is worth the drive (about 1 hour from the outskirts of Sydney or 90 minutes from Canberra) to take part in the recreation of the Passion of Christ, from the events of Holy Thursday night through to Jesus' death and burial.

Rose, Clare and a friend ready to play the wailing women.

As the weather today was perfect there was somewhere around 7,000 or more people watching and praying as the play proceeded from the front gate through to the grotto on the 100 acre property.
The best part about the Passion Play is it works on all five senses.  You see the actors playing all the roles, you hear not only the words, but also the murmurs of the crowd and props such as weapons and armour.  You smell the dust and people around you and feel the sun above and ground beneath as you follow the scenes and also feel the bumps and crush of the crowd at pivotal points. And lastly you can taste the air and remember the hunger on this day of fasting.
Combined with the prayer and reflection, you get a more immersive exposure to the story of Christ's passion.

That's a lot of people

Another memorable part is the worldwide collection of languages and nationalities making up the crowd. We become pretty used to the worldwide or universal nature of the Church, but a visitor attending his first play mentioned to me how the diversity really hit home the worldwide nature of Catholicism.

The actors are sourced from local homeschooling families and youth groups from the various parishes run by the Pauline Fathers in Sydney.  The costumes and sets improve each year, building on what came before.  The passion play that was part of World Youth Day provided a gift of the costumes they used to the organisers of the Pauline Fathers' play.

Jesus during the Last Supper

At the start of the long road to the crucifixion

Along the road with one of the thieves following

Easter. Time of joy!

We have been enjoying the most important time of Easter together as a family and a Church. The Easter Triduum is full of history, symbolism, worship and memories. Lent comes to a close with the three day combination of Holy Thursday (Last Supper and Agony in the Garden), Good Friday and the Easter Vigil Mass on Saturday evening.
Once more the local monastery hosted the Passion Play. This Passion Play has been performed now for the last 17 years and Passion Plays have been performed since early days of the Church, almost 2,000 years ago. As human beings we are physical and spiritual beings. Passion Plays are a very good way of teaching the faith via all of our senses.
This time Lana and the two little girls stayed at home as Lana is now finding it too uncomfortable to walk long distances. (We have only between one and three weeks to go!)
In this photo you can see Ariel and her other girl friends all dressed for their roles as "Weeping Women" or women that gathered around the outside fire during the trial. Ariel played the part of Veronica and the boys and I did an important job as spectators and "the crowd".
The day began with a very heavy and constant drizzle. We figured there would only be a couple of hundred brave souls, but there ended up being over 2,000 visitors. The rain stopped just before the scheduled start time of 11:00am and held off until after it was completed at around 1:00pm.The actors in the play were drawn from the Monastery's regular supporters include many Polish pilgrims and lots of our homeschooling friends.
We all follow Jesus and the other actors from scene to scene, starting with Palm Sunday, Judas accepting his 30 pieces of silver, the Last Supper, Agony in the Garden, betrayal by a kiss of Judas, Trial before the Sanhedrin, Trial before Pontius Pilate, Scourging at the Pillar, Crowning with thorns, Carrying of the Cross including Jesus' falls and his meeting with Veronica, Mary and the wailing women, and the Crucifixion and burial.
Just before Ariel's scene she approached me very concerned about her forthcoming public scene. I told her to "just do it" and she did very well. The crowd of onlookers all jostle for position and each scene happens whether the onlookers are ready or not. Luckily I ended up in a great position to catch Ariel (Veronica) wipe Jesus' face with her cloth. She spoke very clearly so all could hear and in a moment Jesus had moved on towards the Crucifixion. Ariel didn't have time to think about the scene as she next had to move on and follow the Cross to be there at the end.
This type of thing really helps the children (and adults) understand the full story of what happened at that time. Too often we read about the events, or perhaps see it in a movie, but experiencing the scenes as they are replayed before our eyes, ears and all our senses is very exciting.

Triduum Day 3 - Easter!

After a quiet, in-between sort of day, we participated in the most important Mass of the year - The Easter Vigil. This is full of symbolism and scripture, sights, sounds and smells.
It begins with everyone gathered around a small fire outside the Church. All are given unlit candles and the priests, brothers and altar boys arrive and we begin with the blessing of the Paschal candle.
This candle is lit and we proceed towards the darkened church led by the words, "The Light of Christ" and response, "Thanks be to God". At the entrance we light our small candles from the Paschal Candle and the darkness recedes with all of our lights, effectively demonstrating the power of all the members of the church working together.
We then hear the chanted Exultet and then up to seven readings from the Old Testament, with a psalm between each, a New Testament reading and the Gospel followed by the homily. Last night the priest based his homily on one preached by St John Chrysostom (a Father of the Church, archbishop of Constantinople around 407 AD) full of glory and praise for the sacrifice Jesus made.
Blessing of the Baptismal waters, litany of the Saints, and finally communion completed this joyous Mass. This Mass can take up to three or more hours depending on the singing and number of readings. We had Clare baptised at the Easter Vigil five years ago and it was such a exciting experience with all the Joy of Easter, the three hours went by very quickly.
Now that we have remembered the Resurrection, and prepared with the fasting of Lent, it is time for compulsory celebrations for this coming week. Woo hoo!

Triduum Day 2 - Good Friday

Bringing Jesus before the Sanhedrin. Note the crowd.Day two of the Triduum focuses on Good Friday, and the trial, judgement and death of Jesus.
The local monastery has a Passion Play with many homeschoolers and other pilgrims playing each of the parts. The fellow playing Jesus has been doing it for many years and really has the part just right.
There were at least 2,000 people attending the play today and it was difficult to get in position for good photos. I attended with the older three leaving Lana at home with the littlies. Here are three snapshots of the play which started with Judas making his deal with the Sanhedrin and Jesus wandering in to shouts of "Hosanna!" to the Last supper and the rest of the Stations of The Cross.

Peter is denounced as Jesus' disciple - by his daughter!The narrator's mission included some elements of crowd control and the guards also kept back the more enthusiastic crowd members. At the beginning, the narrator announced, "Please leave room for Jesus and the actors to get to each scene. Please do not go in front of Jesus. Remember we are followers of Jesus not leaders." Immediately the crowd rushed ahead to get their position for the next scene!
The Play completed after about an hour and a half. There were other devotions in which to paricipate such as The Divine Mercy chaplet and Meditations on the Stations of The Cross until 3:00pm for the service of Veneration of the Cross.
This service is the actual second stage of the Triduum. The rest are bonus devotions.
As Jesus, present in the hosts concecrated last night, was in the Altar of Repose, the altar was still bare and the tabernacle empty. The first reading was from Isaiah 52:13 to 53:12, then Psalm 30, Hebrews 4:14-16, 5:7-9 and a Gospel reading from John 18:1 to 19:42. Traditionally this gospel is read in parts by a narrator, other people and the priest reading all of Jesus' speaking parts. At the words, "... and bowing His head He gave up His spirit" everyone in the church kneels.
The priest's homily focussed heavily on the cross and Jesus's death being the only way we were able to get to heaven. It is through his death and resurrection we have any entitlement to heaven at all.

This enthusiastic Roman must have seen "The Passion"Then we had the Veneration of the Cross and shared out communion hosts finishing off with benediction.
So in summary, today was a great reminder of:
- the reason for the season;
- the historical story using all our senses - hearing, seeing, feeling, tasting and touching;
- the scriptures, brought home in multiple ways;
- the universality of the Church. Those 2,000 people come from a wide variety of nationalities and cultural backgrounds. Many peoples, one Church.
Now we have a quiet, in-between day waiting for tomorrow's Vigil Mass.

The Triduum Begins

Holy Thursday is the feast of the Last Supper - The Institution of the Eucharist.
It is also the first part of the Easter Triduum, the three Church ceremonies that are central to our celebration of Easter.
Tomorrow is Good Friday and the last of the Triduum is the Saturday Evening Easter Vigil Mass.
The Triduum is a powerful means of transmitting the faith, impacting on all our senses - sight, smell, sound, touch and taste. The best part is that this has been going on for almost 2,000 years and we are continuing a tradition begun by the Apostles.
Our preparation began on Ash Wednesday, followed by the period of Lent with fasting and additional positive practices and prayers.
On Holy Thursday the first reading at Mass is from Exodus when Moses instructs the Israelites for the first Passover and the Gospel is from the Last Supper and Jesus' washing of the Apostles' feet. Then if there are enough men attending, the priest washes the feet of twelve men, reminding us of the Last Supper.
Often the communion is given under both kinds, with the host dipped into the chalice and given with the words, "The Body and Blood of Christ".
At the end of Mass, the Blessed Sacrament is taken from the tabernacle in the main part of the church to an Altar of Repose. Many churches then have a prayer vigil in the area containing the Altar of Repose, remembering the time in the Garden of Gethsemene.
After the Mass is over, the priests return in basic white robes and strip the altar, as well as remove other decorations. The red light which is ALWAYS on reminding us of the presence of Jesus in the Tabernacle is also put out.
So by the time we completed Mass tonight the altar and surrounding area was incredibly barren. The tabernacle is open and empty. The altar is bare. The light is out. The statues are covered in purple cloth. Jesus has been taken away.
Tomorrow we have Good Friday with its Passion Play and 3:00pm service.