But though the mysteries may still continue to be performed in Roman Catholic countries, it is neverthe- less a fact that a Roman (^atholic country struck the first blow for their extinction — this was done in the
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Roman Catholic south of Germany, where th(M> niii i- cle plays and mysteries liad preserved nio^t ol tlitir old religious character. They had begun to be tainted there, too, though only to a limited extent, with the burlesque element, which had brought tliem into dis- repute elsewhere, lu 179y a manifesto was issued by
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ihL iirinoe-arclibislMip of Salzburg condemning them, and prohibiting their performance on the ground of their ludicrous mixture of the sacred and the profane, the frequent bad acting in the serious parts, the distrac- tion of the lower orders from more edifying modes of instruction, and the scandal arising from the exposure
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of sacred subjects to the ridicule of free-thinkers. This ecclesiastical denunciation was followed by vigorous measures on the part of the civil authorities in Aus- tria and Bavaria. One exception was made to the general suppression. In 1033 the villagers of Oberam- mergau, in the Bavarian highlands, on the cessation of a plague which desolated the surrounding countrj-, had vowed to perform every tenth year Christ's pas- sion, out of gratitude, and as a means of religious in- struction— a vow which has ever since been regularly
house to Golgotha; our Lord and the thieves carrying their huge crosses: liis interview with his mother and the other women of Jerusalem. This contained the legendarj' or traditional incident of the wii)ing of Christ's face by St.Veronica; but there was no attempt to show the miraculous impression of the sacred coun- tenance on the handkerchief, which forms the point of the legend. 6. The last dreadful scene— the uprearing of the three crosses with their living burdens, and all the cruel incidents of that most cruel and lingering
observed. The pleading of a deputation of Ammergau death" (Eadie, Kecks. Cyclop, s. v.). I'lays of an hum- peasants with Max Joseph of Bavaria saved this mys- . blc description, from subjects in legendary or sacred his- tery from a general condemnation, on condition of ev- i tor}', are not unfrequently got up by the villagers around erything that could offend good taste being expunged, j Innspruck, which show a certain rude dramatic talent, It was then and afterwards somewhat remodelled, and | though not comparable to what is exhibited at Ammer- is perliaps the only mystery or miracle play which has survived to the present day. The last performance took place in 1870 (see its photographic representation in the .•I Ibiim of the Passion-play of Ohtr-A mmcrfjau, by J. P. Jackson, Lond. and ^lun. 1873, 4to). The inhabitants of this secluded village, long noted for their skill in carving in wood and ivory, have a rare union of artistic cultivation with perfect simplicity. Their familiarity with sacred subjects is even beyond what is usual in the Alpine part of Germany, and the spectacle seems still to be looked on with feelings much like those with which it was originally conceived. What would elsewhere ap- pear impious is to the .Vlpine peasants devout and edi- fying. The personator of Christ considers his part an act of religious worship ; he and the other principal per- formers are said to be selected for their lioly life, and consecrated to their work with prayer. The players, about live hundred in number, are exclusively the vil- lagers, who, though they have no artistic instruction ex- cept from the parish priest, act their parts with no little dramatic power, and a delicate appreciation of character. Tlie New-Testament narrative is strictly adhered to, the only legendary addition to it being the St.Veronica handkerchief. The acts alternate with tableaux from the Old Testament and choral odes. Many thousands of the peasantry are attracted by the spectacle from all jiarts of the Tyrol and Bavaria, among whom the same earnest and devout demeanor prevails as among the
gau. Girls very generally represent both the male and female characters. See, besides the authorities quoted in the article, Onesime le Koy, Etii(hs sur Its Mys/eres (Paris, 1837, 8vo), ch. i; Edelstand du Meril, Orii/ines (111 Theatre moderne (Paris, 1849, 8vo) ; Wriglit, Karly Mysteries, etc. (Lond. 1838, 8vo) ; Collier, Hist, of Emjl. Dramat. Poetry ; Magnin, Les Orir/ims du Theatre mo- derne (Paris, 1838) ; Devrient, G'esc/iir/ite d. iicli(nispiel- kimst (Leipsic, 1848) ; Hone, Knylish Mystfi'ies (Lond. 1823) ; Marriott, Knylish Miracle-plays (Basle, 1856). For monographs, see Volbeding, Index Programmaium, p. 172.
Mystery (pvartipiov'), a term emploj-ed in the Bi- ble (N. T.), as well as in some of the pagan religions, to denote a revealed secret. See Grossmann, I)e .Jvdao- nnn arcani disciplina [see Essenks] (Lips. 1833-4); and on the Christian "secret discipline," the mono- graphs cited by Volbeding, Index Proyramm. p. 138 sq.
I. Etymoloyy of the Woi-d. — Some have thought to derive the Greek pvarijpioi', from which the English mystej-y is plainly a transfer, from a Hebrew source, but sound philology forbids this. It is clearly a derivation, through fxvfTTi}c, an initiated person, from ^ivilocai, to initiate, and thus ultimately from pvm, to close the eyes or mouth, i. e. to keep a secret. The derivative /jvarij- piov had always a reference to secrets of a rdiijious character, and this sense is retained in the Bible.