290 THE GERMAN PASS1ON-PLA Y 



Some account of the Christmas Day ritual is given 

 by Martene (De antiquis Ecclesiae Ritibus, Liber iv. 

 cap. 12, 9 et seq.) In most churches the lessons were 

 distributed among several readers, so that the recital 

 might be given a dramatic character. The verses of 

 the Erythraean Sibyl were also read (see Martene, Lib. 

 iv. cap. 12. 13), to which practice we doubtless 

 owe the Sibyl's appearance in the passion - plays. 

 At Kouen, Nantes, Tours, Laon, etc., there was a 

 ritual similar in character to the office of the Three 

 Kings, which I shall consider later ; it was, however, 

 less fully developed. At Kouen a manger was erected 

 behind the altar and the image 1 of the Virgin placed 

 upon it. A boy in the choir, representing an angel, 

 announced the birth of Christ. The shepherds then 

 entered the choir, and going to the manger greeted the 

 Virgin and Child. Their progress was accompanied by 

 the hymn Pax in terris. Mass was next celebrated at 

 the altar, and after it the priest said to the shepherds : 

 Quern vidistis pastores f to which they replied, Natum 

 vidimus. There were only slight variations in the 

 ritual at other French churches. At some, choristers 

 with crooks took the part of the shepherds, but they do 

 not appear to have said more than Natum vidimus, or 

 Infantem vidimus. It seems singular that no form of 

 this ritual for English or German churches should have 

 been preserved, but I have not been able to find one. 



1 Here, as in other like rituals, the most sacred persons were not at first 

 represented by the clergy themselves, but by symbols or images. Exception 

 must possibly be made in the case of a Besan9on Advent ritual in which a well- 

 dressed maiden replied to the deacon, who represented the archangel Gabriel 

 (Martene, Lib. iv. cap. 10. 30). According to Martene, this ritual dates from 

 the early thirteenth century, and is the first case known to me of a woman 

 taking part in the ritual. 



