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The
Mysterium Crucis is
shown on the grounds of the Sanctuary of the Virgin
Mary in Górka Klasztorna, which is located in the center of
Krajna, some 2 km North-West from the township of Łobżenica in the
province Wielkopolska. The Sanctuary is the oldest centre of
the worship of Virgin Mary in Poland. According to the
chronicles of the Bernardins, in 1079 the Mother of God revealed
herself to a local shepherd.
Throughout the ages the monastery went through a multitude of different
fortunes. During the Second World War, the Nazis established
here a concentration camp in which they interned the monks and priests
from the Sanctuary and nearby parishes, later the Jews and the Poles,
and since 1940 after Dunkirk, the British POWs. The memories
of those events brought local population with the help of the spiritual
leaders to honour all those murdered by staging production of the
Mysterium Crucis.
Górka Klasztorna with its topography does not resemble
Calvary. It differs substantially from other Polish
Calvaries, which were built with the worship of the Glory of Suffering
and Death of Christ in mind. Górka, as a place
chosen by the Mother of God, resembles more other centres of the
worship of Mary. However the tradition of the shows of
Passion left its mark in the look of the monastery and its surroundings.
The Suffering and Death of Jesus is not the only topic of the Mysteria
in the Catholic Church. Presently in Poland are also shown
the Sleep and Assumption of Mary into Heaven. Amongst
scenaria of Passion also known are the centuries-old Calvary of
Zebrzydow and the drama prepared by the Arch-brotherhood Of
Lord’s Suffering active since XVI century by the Franciscan
Church in Krakow.
The Architect, organizer and director of the first staging was Rev. Jan
Czekała.
The Script for the show was based on the Holy Evangely and the book by
Roman Brandstaetter „Jezus z
Nazaretu” (Jesus from
Nazareth).
The use of the novel about Jesus in writing the Mysterium introduced
passages that do not exist in the New Testament and expanded the
dialogues.
The Role of Christ in Górka’s Mysterium was played
by his priests. Since the time of Rev. Jan Czekała the
figure of Jesus would be embodied by, among others, Rev. Stanisław
Michalik MSF, Rev. Tomasz Górecki MSF, Rev. Marian
Kołodziejczyk MSF, Rev. Marek Michalski MSF, Rev. Sławomir
Wiktorowicz MSF, Rev. Joachim Leszczyna MSF and Rev.
Łukasz Grzonka MSF. Currently
the role of Jesus is performed by Rev. Robert Ablewicz MSF.
The whole Mysterium is overseen by the director, producer Rev. Piotr
Gałązka MSF, with selected group of other people, i.e. sound
technicians, makeup artists, stenographers, entire back-office staff of
specialists, information and order personnel, and numbers of other
helpers needed to stage such enormous production. Worth
pointing out are the realistically portrayed scenes of beating and
crucifixion, which add to the feeling of authenticity of the
presentation. A new addition is the music composed in 1998
for the Mysterium by Mr. Roberta Kanaana from Poznan.
For the Mysterium to have such a professional character and to
represent the Suffering and Death of Jesus Christ realistically there
are over one hundred actors taking part, all wearing gear reflecting
the times of the period. It is the only mysterium where to
encourage learning and to promote Christian culture most characters are
played by non-professional actors who in daily life are regular
farmers. The most important characters in the drama are
played for many years by the same people. Each year there are
some changes but only sporadic. All participants are well
known locally. The roles they take on are often affecting
their daily life. Once someone was missing from a rehearsal
because his cow was calving, on another occasion a butcher had to stop
his work for the rehearsal and was watched all the time by his client
to ensure that he’d get back to work promptly. And
then one keeps running into farmers referring to one another using
their names from the play i.e. „Caiaphas,
today you brought three cans
of milk”
or someone introduces to you „the
three kids of
Judas”.
This way the prosaic life
seems to be indirectly
linked to the mystery of faith. Even though people do not
realise it, their life became uplifted – reaching to the
heavens.
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The
Action of the Mysterium is staged on the Revelation
Place. Near the Well, where the Virgin Mary revealed herself,
the apostles and Christ have the last supper. To the left of
the gate leading to the Forest is a small elevation - The
Garden of Gethsemane on The Mount of Olives. Next to the
belfry is the location of the Pilate’s palace. Left
of the main stage is the Herod’s palace and to the right the
Sanhedrin and Caiaphas’s headquarters. Golgotha is
placed a few hundred meters away from the Place of Revelation, near the
parish’s cemetery. The crosses are left there
permanently.
On the Revelation Place the gathered audience is treated to nearly
three-hour long „Theatrum
sacrum”. The
show begins with a
scene in the palace of Caiphas, where before the public the plot for
capture of Christ is revealed. Members of the Sanhedrin talk
with Judas, and try to provide a justification for the imprisonment of
the subversive prophet from Nazareth. Then the action moves
to the supper. The actors replay the known from evangels
scene, in which Jesus washes feet of his disciples. During
the Last Supper the Son of God establishes the sacrifice of the
Eucharist. The bread from the table is shared with the
audience. Action of the mysterium moves again, to the Mount
of Olives. There Christ prays and later is betrayed and
dramatically captured. In the seat of high priest Annas Judas
receives his thirty pieces of silver. The first interrogation
takes place as well. In the meantime in the courtyard of the
high priest shows up Peter and Maria accompanied by John and
Jacob. Peter, recognised by Annans’s servants,
denies his master and escapes. John does not leave Maria and
together with Jacob they witness the prosecution of Jesus. In
the further curtains of the drama the audience watches Christ before
Caiaphas, Pilate, and Herod. Wife of the Roman
Governor attempts to stand up for Jesus and Pilate decides to utilise
the privilege of releasing one prisoner for the Jewish
holiday. The public however does not choose the Son of
God. Pontius Pilate releases Barabbas and condemns Jesus from
Nazareth to scourging and death by crucifixion. As the
scourging of Christ begins, Judas appears on the scene.
Desperate and remorseful traitor prepares a noose to hang
himself. Up to this point the passion was played in the area
of the Place of Revelation. The path to Golgotha leads
outside the walls of the monastery through the Sacred Forest framing
the monastery to the East and South with over six-hundred-year old oak
trees. Crucifixion takes place next on a especially prepared
hill on the North side of the monastery. After taking it down
from the cross, the Christ’s body rests in the arms of His
Mother.
The Audience throughout the presentation becomes its part -
they take on the role of the masses from the pages of the
evangel. People’s reactions are spontaneous, and
unpredictable. Sometimes happens that someone tries to
protect Christ from the brutal legionnaires, or someone starts a song
at the time Christ’s death. Amongst the spectators
are also people for whom the passion becomes an object of
jokes. In those moments the viewers take on the character of
the masses described in evangel where next to the believers were people
indifferent and those who mocked Christ. Through this the
mysterium becomes even more authentic. One of the actresses
playing the role of a weeping woman said: „I
tremble, afraid, that they
scourge Jesus too severely, and that the mounted soldiers do not
trample any one. What angers me the most is that I see young
people laughing off the scene of the crucifixion. Older
people are different – they cry and pray”.The
Atmosphere of
the Mysterium, the dialogues filed with content from evangel move both,
actors and spectators. First performer of the role of Jesus
described his feelings: „From
the
height of the cross one looks onto
the world differently, one is not human. There comes a moment
when I saw my entire life as it supposedly happens at the times of
deadly endangerment. When I walk with the cross on my
shoulders and children are crying and women are kneeling, even I forget
who am I ”.
Director: Ks. Piotr Gałązka MSF
e-mail: misterium@msf.opoka.org.pl
Musik: Robert Kanaan
Sound: Henryk Szopiński
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