Los Angeles herald., 1910-02-13
RESENTS TALK
OF SACRILEGE
OF PASSION PLAY
OFFERS EXPLANATION
Rev. Father casslan Reeounts History
of Religious Drama in Support
of Coming Local Pro-
duction

Since William Stoermer made public
his intentions to produce the Passion
play, written by Rev. Josaphat Kraus,
o. f. NJ, of San Francisco, at the Tenn
pie Auditorium the week of March IA,
| there has been some discussion in GER
tain quarters as to the propriety of
presenting the figure of the Christus on
i the stage. 'It would be sacrilegious,"
is the objection some have made.
! To those who take this view Of the
matter, it will be interesting to learn
| how the Franciscan fathers, who are
Irresponsible for the American produc-
fion, answer the criticism. Rev. Cas-
| sian TritZ, pastor of st. Joseph'S
church, head of the Los Angeles branch
| of the Franciscan order and sponsor of
the Passion play, was much surprised
| that there should be any diSapproYal of
| the undertaking.
what do people mean when they say
| it is sacrilegious to put the character of
Christ on the stage? That which is
sacrilegious abuses a thing. There can
be no reproach in presenting the sacred
story of the sufferings of our Lord in
dramatic form when it Is given in q
reverent spirit. Only irreverence makes
it b1asphemous. If 1t is sacrilegious to
portray his character in a play, it is
sacrilegious to show him in moving
pictures, paintings or in any form, or
| even to speak of him.
|
| Passion play If it were known how
carefully we guard the sacred charac-
| ter of Christ; the holiness of the Cod
| head is ever kept uppermost in the
| minds of those who take part in the
| drama 1t is because the Passion play
is new to the majority Of the people OF
| this country and therefore SO little
understood, that objection is made
| to it."
Presents Dramatic History
For the benefit of those who are not
familiar with the history of biblical
plays Rev. Father Cassian wrote the
following:
The stage has ever been a strong fac
| tor in educating the people. The
Greeks and Romans had their classical
plays. by which they instilled love for
| liberty and country. Christianity made
use of the stage to disseminate religious
and taoral ideas This gave origin to
| the so-called Mysteries or Miracle
Plays" in which events of the ola and
| New Testaments were represented To-
gether with these mystery plays dp-
| peared the so-caaled 'Moralities, or
| Moral Plays" in which sentiments and
abstract ideas were represented by per-
| sons. The opportunities to enjoy these
plays were abundant, because they
were given in every city and village.
How completely the people of each
town were engaged in the presentation
of these plays can be judged from the
| fact that the various trade guilds then
| in existence took part in them. Much
of their spare time was spent in pre-
pairing for these dramatic perform
ances, studying and practicing their
parts and making everything ready for
| competition with their craftsmen.
One might think that such dramas,
| constantly repeated, the subjects all
ways the same and only the cast vary
| ing from year to year, would become
| intolerably familiar and might, after
time, degenerate into the merely
| contemplate. AS matter of fact,
however, they did not. These old
stories of religious heroes were written
| so close to the heart of nature, involved
| so intimately all the problems of life,
| that they are of undying interest. Their
repetition was only from year to year,
and this did not give opportunity for
the familiarity which breeds contempt.
1t might be argued, too. that the
| peopIe themselves would scarcely be
possessed of the histrionic talent neces-
Isary to make the plays effective.
| Ordinarily, however, as we know from
| our modern city life, much less of the
actors art is needed than Of interest
| in the action, to secure the attention
of the audience The actor is moro
born than made, in spite of the number
of dramatic schools that are supposed
to be turning out successful rivals of
Richard Mansfield.
The American Passion Play. written
by Rev. Josaphat Kraus, o. F. NJ, of
st. Boniface, San Francisco, is mod
eled closely after the Oberamnergau
but illusions in the latter that might
be offensive to the Jewish people will
lnot be found in this version. There
are no caricatures of the noble MEM
bers of this race, but all are shown
in the dignity that invested them when
they were on earth.