THE CONTENTS OF THE PASSION-PLAY 375 



choral interlude in almost the words of the Latin ritual. 

 The Magdalen starts with the hymn : 



Jesu Christ! auctor vitae. 1 



Upon which the disciples chant : 



Accessit ad pedes Jesu peccatrix, 



an antiphone of the Eoman Breviary, while the washing 

 of Christ's feet is accompanied by descriptive chants. 

 The whole is concluded by the chorus or the Magdalen 

 singing the wonderful hymn : 2 



Jhesu nostra redemptio, 

 amor et desiderium, 

 deus creator omnium, 

 homo in fine temporum. 



Then follows a scene in which the devils give vent to 

 their rage at the loss of the Magdalen's soul, but Belial 

 finally comforts Satan with the prospect of seducing 

 Judas. 3 



Sometimes before, sometimes after the repentance 

 of Mary we have the resurrection of Lazarus. It is 

 preceded by his illness. Death, personified, gives him 

 the * todes strigk,' and preaches a dance-of-death sermon 

 on the transitory life of all flesh. The resuscita- 

 tion scarcely needs comment, except for the emphasis 

 which, in order to magnify the miracle, the sisters lay 



1 See F, p. 106 ; C, p. 86 ; I, p. 118 ; and compare Mone, Lateinische 

 Hymnen, No. 1057. 



2 It is needless to point to the influence of the Church ritual. The reader 

 may compare Anglo-Saxon Hymnarium, Surtees Society, 1851, p. 83 (beginning 

 of eleventh century). 



3 See F, p. 107 ; C, p. 90. 



