CHARACTERS

•      Jesus
•      Mary Magdalene
•      Thomas
•      Peter
•      Andrew
•      John
•      James the Greater
•      James the Less 
•      Matthew
•      Philip
•      Simon
•      Judah

THE MYSTERY OF MARY MAGDALENE AND THE APOSTLES

[Now Mary comes to the apostles, and says to them in Galilee:

Mary Magdalene. Now, O apostles,
  I will tell you news:
Jesus is risen from the tomb;
  I saw him lately,
I spoke to him also,
  I looked on his wounds,
Pitiful it was to see them;
  To the world they bring healing.

Thomas. Silence, woman, with thy tales,
  And speak truth, as I pray thee;
Christ who was cruelly slain,
  To be alive I will not believe;
Waste no more words,
  For lies I do not love;
Our Lord is dead;
  Alas! I tell the truth.

Mary Magdalene. I speak true, Thomas,
  And I, though poor, will prove it.
Lately I saw him,--
  The Lord (none equal to him),
And by me he sent,
  I swear to ye, as ye may know,
Like as he promised;
  He named to me none but Peter.

Thomas. Silence, and speak not, woman!
I pray thee, mockery with us
  Now do not make;
Stout though Castle Maudlen be,
If thou mock, I will break thy head
  About thee from above.

Mary Magdalene. I will not be silent from fear
I will prove it true what I say
  Before we separate.
Like as he is King of heaven,
He is with God the Father,
  On his right side.

Peter. Ah! Jesus Christ, happy am I
To hear that he is risen
  Out of the tomb;
For I know very well
That he is son to Mary,
  And God likewise.

Thomas. Peter, peace, and leave thy mockery,
For idle it is to say
  That he is risen.
Never can, for the world,
Any man be raised
  After dying.

James the Greater. Thomas, very well it may be;
The Son of God will rise
  When he will;
For Jesus, Son of Mary,
He made heaven, and this world,
  And every thing that was not.

Thomas. O James, it is no use for thee;
A man who is dead certainly
  Does not live again.
Foolish idleness, not to leave it,
But to go to assert
  A thing of no benefit.

John. O Thomas, thou art a fool;
That is the belief of all:
  Jesus Christ after dying,
To be put into the ground;
After that to rise again
  At the end of three days, and to stand up.

Thomas. O John, be not absurd,
For my wonder,--it is great,
  That thou shouldst speak folly.
Christ through sufferings was
Indeed put to death on the cross tree;
  My curse on him that did it!

Bartholomew. Thomas, believe me, though I am gray;
Man could not have power
  To put him to death.
For us he would die,
And go into the tomb, and rise,
  To carry all Christians to heaven.

Thomas. O Bartte, thou art mad
And fond beyond all men
  Who are fools.
God, without dying, might have
Caused all men to be saved,
  Over all the world.

Matthew. That is true, he could
Destroy every thing again,
  That it be no more.
But nevertheless for us,
Christ wished to go into the ground,
  And to live again.

Thomas. And thou art a fool, Matthew;
If thou art wise thou wilt be silent,
  And withdraw.
He lives not, through all thy words,
When I saw him, he was dead
  On the cross tree.

Philip. Alas! to be so foolish!
Crooked, wilt thou not believe
  The Head of sovereignty;
And he saying to us
That after dying he would rise
  Out of the tomb?

Thomas. Sit silent, wilt thou, Philip,
For in faith thou swearest wrongly
  About him.
Christ's limbs were bruised,
And on his body a thousand wounds;
  Alas! he is not risen.

James the Greater. O do not say so,
That Jesus the best Lord
  Cannot rise,
For very truly he is risen;
To be his servant thou art not worthy,
  It appears well.

Thomas. O thou James, if he were alive
His servant I would be
  Very joyfully.
But he is not alive, leave off thy noise;
The thorn even into his brain,
  Went to his head.

Simon. Though the thorn went into his head,
And through his heart and side
  The spear was seen,
Nevertheless need is to believe
Jesus Christ will rise again,
  As he is true God.

Thomas. O Simon, do not speak a word;
Never, never, unhappily,
  He has not risen again.
But if it were so,
Together we should all be
  Exceedingly at ease.

Judah. Sir Thomas, it is so,
He has risen again to-day
  Out of the tomb.
For if he should not rise again,
Never with us would there be
  Joy without end.

Thomas. O Judah, Judah, leave thy belief;
His heart torn in pieces
  I saw.
Notwithstanding what any man may say,
That same body will remain;
  It has not risen.

Andrew. Peace, Thomas, and say not a word;
Very truly our dear Lord
  Is risen again.
Surely too much thou hast disbelieved,
For Mary has spoken
  With him to-day.

Thomas. Thou art a fool, Andrew;
The girl has told a lie,
  Do not think otherwise.
That he ever rose again
I will not believe it.
  As long as I am alive.

Mary Magdalene. I have not said an untrue word;
For to me all his wounds
  He shewed.
And to that I will
Bear witness at all times,
  That the tale is true.

[Here let Thomas and Mary Magdalene go down.

Thomas. Notwithstanding vain words,
I do not believe thee; thou failest
  To make me believe.
Though thou dost chatter so much,
Any thing from thee regards me not,
  Though thou be busy.

Mary Magdalene. I tell thee the truth;
 The angel said to us,
  Surely at the tomb,
That he was risen up,
And was gone to the bright heaven,
  With many angels.

Thomas. Peace, chattering woman, say no more;
I will not believe thee,
   That is gone to heaven.
The body, which I saw dead,--
Great are my anxieties
  After it.

Mary Magdalene. Surely Mary, mother of James,
And Mary Salome,
  Will witness to me;
Like as I saw,
So I tell the tale to thee;
  Do believe it.

Thomas. Never can it go into my heart,
That the body dead before us
  Should rise again;
When I think on his passion,
Grief takes me immediately
  For him, woe is me!

Mary Magdalene. There is to me wonder of thee,
That thy heart is so hard,
  Thou believest it not.
If thou doest not believe it,
Never shalt thou come to the joy
  Surely which is in heaven.

Thomas. Silence thou, now, for shame;
With Jesus thou hast no secrets:
  Surely not! I believe
Thou art a sinner, without a mistake;
The greatest that was in the country
  By every body thou wast called.

Mary Magdalene. I have been a sinner;
I have sinned wondrous much;
On Jesus I cried,
  That he would forgive me my trespass;
And he said to me,
Thy sin is forgiven to thee,
Through thy faith thou art saved:
  Now no more, do not sin.
  Thomas, thou art very stupid,
Because thou wilt not believe
The Lord to have risen
  Easter-day morning.
Who believes not shall not be saved,
Nor with God shall he dwell,
And for that, I pray thee,
  Believe in time.

Thomas. Hold thy prate, nor be busy,

For I will not believe thee;
The body was seen by me
  Fastened on the cross with nails;
With a sharp spear they pierced him,
So that it passed through the heart;
To the earth the blood fell,
  And made him soon dead.
That body cannot live,
Nor rise up again,
  Surely, thou woman.
There is not any man of this world
Who shall make me now
  Believe otherwise.

Mary Magdalene. Thomas, thou art mad,
And in madness lost;
  Evil it is with me now.
I advise thee believe,
And if thou dost not, seriously,
  Thou shalt have sharp repentance.

Thomas. With you since there is no peace,
From you I will go
  My ways in the country.
Are ye not now fools?
So God help me,
  I love not lies.

[Then Jesus comes to the apostles, and says (in Galilee, the doors being closed, he kisses them):

Jesus. The peace of God, O apostles!
I, Christ, to rise from the tomb,
  Believe well;
For certainly as many as believe it,
And are faithfully baptized,
  Shall be saved.

Peter. O dear Lord, happy is my lot
To see thee risen again,
  Jesus, though I denied thee.
Abundant mercy, I pray,
As the Jews are always
  Here laying snares for us.
  Jesus, Lord of heaven and earth,
And Saviour to us also,
Pardon me my trespass,
  For great are my sorrows.
For sharp repentance falls on me
For denying thee: now
Mercy I pray at all times,
  Certainly, with full heart.

Jesus. Peter, pardon thou shalt get,
For thy repentance is perfect,
  Through the Holy Ghost.
Like as I redeemed thee dearly,
Strengthen also thy brethren
  In full belief.

John. O Lord, I am glad
That thou wouldst come with us
  Hither, for our joy;
That I will say likewise,
We are, through great longing,
  After thee pining.

Jesus. From you I go to my country;
At the right side of God the Father,
  I shall sit.
To strengthen you in belief,
To you the comfort of the Holy Ghost
  I shall send.

James the Greater. Lord, it is wonderful;
When thou comest, Jesus powerful,
  To look at us,
And to speak peace to us,
Though they were fast, thou didst open
  Our doors.

[Here Jesus goes away from the apostles.

He is the Lord of power,
And he has purchased with his blood
  The people of the world;
That Jesus Christ is risen again,--
A day is coming that shall tell
  All them that do believe it not!