Drama reenacting the assumption of Mary returns to Valencia Cathedral after 400 years

After 400 years, the Valencia Cathedral hass reintroduced the performance of the “Mystery of the Assumption of the Virgin” drama as part of the basilica’s festivities to celebrate the Aug.15 Marian solemnity. / Credit: Rachel Thomas

Rome Newsroom, Aug 14, 2024 / 15:36 pm (CNA).

After 400 years, the Valencia Cathedral has reintroduced the performance of the “Mystery of the Assumption of the Virgin” drama as part of the basilica’s festivities to celebrate the Aug. 15 Marian solemnity.

Father Álvaro Almenar, canon of the Valencia Cathedral — officially called the Metropolitan Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption of Our Lady, Holy Mary, of Valencia — expressed his hope that the revival of the 15th-century play performed Tuesday evening will help Catholics better understand the Marian dogma of the Assumption affirmed by Pope Pius XII in 1950, which declares that the Virgin Mary did not undergo human decay but was assumed body and soul to heaven at the end of her earthly life.

“It is like a small catechesis of what we celebrate in the liturgy, which aims to help us understand this mystery of the transit of the Virgin to heaven,” Almenar said in an article published by the cathedral.

Until this year, the “Mystery of the Assumption of the Virgin” play was banned in the cathedral following the 1631 Synod of Bishops, which prohibited the recitation of poetic texts and the performance of dramatic representations in temples.

Together with Grup de Mecha, a nonprofit cultural association aimed at reviving and promoting civic and religious traditions in Valencia, Almenar organized the reenactment of the assumption of Mary into heaven to take place inside the cathedral after an intensive five-year study into the late medieval play.

The Aug. 13 reenactment of the assumption of Mary at the Valencia Cathedral is considered to be an “auto sacramental” (“sacramental act”), a genre of drama linked to Catholic rituals and traditions that first developed in Spain during the 16th and 17th centuries.

Roberto Bermell, first vice president of Grup de Mecha, said the project to bring back the “Mystery of the Assumption of the Virgin” to the cathedral also holds a wider cultural significance for the people of the east coast province of Spain.

“We want to recover, conserve, and maintain the cultural, civic, and religious traditions in Valencia because they are our roots and our identity as a people,” he explained in an online article published by Valencia Cathedral.

Fourteen actors connected to the Grup de Mecha played the roles of the Virgin Mary, the Twelve Apostles, and an angel in the 2024 adaptation of the “Mystery of the Assumption of the Virgin” drama, which was divided into six scenes and included musical interludes. 

According to the play’s director and author, Carles Bori, next year’s performance will include a completed and finalized musical composition reminiscent of the 15th-century musical heritage of Spain.

The historical reintroduction of the “Mystery of the Assumption of the Virgin” at the cathedral was attended by thousands of spectators on Tuesday evening to commence the city’s annual religious celebrations marking the Marian solemnity.