300 THE GERMAN PASSION-PLA Y 



continued : Go announce that lie has arisen from the 

 dead. With this the priests returned to the choir, and 

 the Te Deum of the morning service followed. 1 Such a 

 primitive form is, however, exceptional. In most cases 

 the ritual, or play for there is little to distinguish them 

 -begins with a hymn or series of responses as an intro- 

 duction, various portions of which are still retained in 

 the fully developed passion-plays. In a twelfth-century 

 version from Einsiedeln we find a double choir, one half 

 of which represents the prophets, and chants the fine 

 Christmas hymn : 2 



Gloriosi et famosi 

 regis festum celebrantes 



gaudeamus, 



cuius ortum, vitae portum, 

 nobis datum praedicantes 



habeamus, etc. 



Then there is an expanded dialogue, and the action is 



1 I may add a few references to rituals not given by Milchsack. The 

 Bremarius Havelbergensis of 1511 (c. iiii b ) orders that in churches where the 

 holy and praiseworthy custom of the visitation of the sepulchre is maintained, it 

 shall be performed without ludibrio seu qua vanitate, and according to the local 

 use. It should conclude with Christ ist upgestanden from the folk, and the Te 

 Deum. The Breviarium Frisingense of 1516 (fol. 197 b ) has the rubric fit 

 inter ea processio ad sepulchrum; et ibi representatur planctus mulierum 

 sepulchrum visitantium ; angelorum quoque apparitio Christi resurrectionem 

 nunciantium. The words of the dialogue given are of the primitive type 

 above referred to, but they conclude with : Populus : Christ ist erstanden, 

 Chorus : Te Deum. The introduction of the vernacular into these rituals is of 

 interest. Much valuable information as to the Visitatio will be found in 

 Martene, loc. cit. Liber iv. cap. 25. In 17 we have a primitive form from 

 Tours ; in 11 a peculiarly interesting and full form from Narbonne (cf. 

 Milchsack, G, p. 58). In 8 there is a primitive form from Laon ending 

 with the Victimae Paschali. In columns 500-507 (Antwerp edition, T. iii. ) will 

 be found various other rituals from Strasburg, Vienne, etc. At Vienne there 

 appear to have been two distinct forms, one based on the sequence Victimae 

 Paschali and the other on the gospel narrative. As a rule, but not quite 

 invariably, the ceremony is stated to have concluded with the Te Deum. 



2 B, vol. i. p. 10 ; G, p. 36.' 



