On Saturday, March 15, 2025, the first performance of The Mystery of the Lord’s Passion took place at the Shrine of St. Anna in Smardzewice, Poland. The play was enacted by the novices of the Foederatio Europae Mediae et Orientalis (FEMO). Thus, after a seven-year break, this local tradition dating back to the mid-1990s was resumed.
Many parishioners gathered for the performance. Others attending included Friar Piotr ŻURKIEWICZ, the Minister Provincial of the Province of the Immaculate Mother of God in Poland (Warsaw); Friar Wojciech KULIG, the Minister Provincial of the Province of St. Maximilian M. Kolbe in Poland (Gdańsk); and a group of pilgrims from Łódź-Dąbrowa (Poland) led by Friar Mariusz SŁOWIK. Friar Mariusz KAPCZYŃSKI, the Guardian and Pastor in Smardzewice, welcomed everyone present.
The novices began working on the original script last November, while the intensive construction of sets and props began at the end of January along with many rehearsals. The Mystery presents the salvific events that occurred from the resurrection of Lazarus to the meeting of Christ with Adam in the underworld.
After the performance, Friars Piotr ŻURKIEWICZ and Mariusz KAPCZYŃSKI thanked all those involved in the event. At the end, Friar Piotr KŁYS, the Novice Master, invited everyone to attend the 50th anniversary celebration of the founding of the novitiate in Smardzewice. The event will begin with a solemn Mass on June 14, 2025, at 11:00 a.m. Since 1974, 1,064 friars have carried out their religious formation there, including the Blessed Martyrs of Pariacoto. Currently, the novitiate community has thirteen novices from the three Conventual Franciscan Provinces in Poland.
The entire performance of The Mystery of the Lord’s Passion was broadcast live on Niepokalanów Television and can be viewed on the YouTube Internet platform (https://www.youtube.com/live/rNAW7NSeR8o).
It will be performed again on March 22 and 29 at 7:00 p.m. at the Shrine Church in Smardzewice.
Friar Michał ROMANIUK
