Passion Play

Last year I missed another of my favorite Lent traditions before Easter so I did not want to miss it again this year. For about 13 or 14 years, I would go to Felician College to see the passion play of The Jesus Story. I am a Christian and do not throw my religious or spiritual views onto anyone (in fact my religious view and spiritual views differ). But I find this play to be very inspirational for anyone interested in the story of Jesus and for any practicing Christian. They modify the play a little bit each year, and one actor who played Jesus did it for 12 years!

I of course invited my mentor, Professor Sargese, who is in fact a professor of theology and psychology, and thought she would really appreciate the play. If you're not a practicing Christian, then you would probably just see it as a really cool play. If you are a practicing Christian, then you will not see it as a play at all, rather than a phenomenal attribute to Jesus Christ. It is a musical, and there is some very inspirational music that gets you into the Easter spirit. Usually the play begins with Jesus's baptism by his cousin John, but this year they actually began with the annunciation of Mary, which was surprising and went through his birth and then manhood.

But the hardest part to watch, for me, and yet I remember this the most out of the entire play was when Jesus carried his cross. The actor who plays Jesus was all bloodied up from being scourged by Pilate, and a song plays while the actor Jesus goes around through the audience getting screamed at by the Roman soldiers and whipped. There were times that they are right next to you as he walks around and you cannot help but forget that it is all just a play, and emotions build up. It is probably the most emotional thing you can witness. Below is a video of that very song as Jesus walks around the audience carrying his cross. Watch at your own discretion:

But what I do look forward to is at the end of the play, the resurrection. Depending on the year, they really can go all out on the scene of the Resurrection. One year they actually had real animals like lambs and such and everything (I do not remember what year or HOW they managed that!) but they always have the same man sing the song Arise and the audience usually goes wild at the moment Jesus walks out of the tomb and he sends the actor Satan away. For Christians, it really reminds you what Easter is all about. There are a few more performances coming up at Felician College if interested I believe on Thursday and Friday at 8PM and Saturday at 4PM.

Yours in service,
ANDREW TRENTO