On Saturday, March 15, 2025, the first performance of The Mystery of the Lord\u2019s Passion<\/em> 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<\/em> (FEMO). Thus, after a seven-year break, this local tradition dating back to the mid-1990s was resumed.<\/strong><\/p>\n Many parishioners gathered for the performance. Others attending included Friar Piotr \u017bURKIEWICZ, 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 (Gda\u0144sk); and a group of pilgrims from \u0141\u00f3d\u017a-D\u0105browa (Poland) led by Friar Mariusz S\u0141OWIK. Friar Mariusz KAPCZY\u0143SKI, the Guardian and Pastor in Smardzewice, welcomed everyone present.
\nThe 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.
\nAfter the performance, Friars Piotr \u017bURKIEWICZ and Mariusz KAPCZY\u0143SKI thanked all those involved in the event. At the end, Friar Piotr K\u0141YS, the Novice Master, invited everyone to attend the 50th<\/sup> 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.<\/p>\n