Message, Celebration, Offering: the Place of Twelfth- and Early Thirteenth-Century Liturgical Drama as ‘Missionary Theatre’

Abstract

The Church of Christ, whether congregation, building, or organization, demands at all times continuity in the expression of its message to reinforce the faith of believers and in its purpose to spread the Word among non-believers. In the twelfth and early thirteenth centuries, the growth and development of liturgical drama assisted in the expression of a corporate faith, not only that of well-established communities of monks and cathedral clergy, but also that of the laity for whom dramatic presentations could provide the necessary stimuli to worship. On the frontiers of Christendom too, where missionary endeavour was crucial, the dramatization both of the liturgy and of biblical events helped to lay the foundations for a projected continuity of worship amongst neophytes and those whose faith was not yet secure. Problems inevitably arose as new situations provoked liturgical changes. It thus became essential to ensure that neither the central faith nor the purpose of worship were weakened, diminished, or lost in the face of such change.