At the foot of the cross stood the three Mary's. Mary of Clopas is explicitly mentioned only in John 19:25, where she is among the women present at the crucifixion of Jesus: Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. The crucifixion occurred on April 3, A.D. 33. Jesus was 33.
Every night I listen to the Passion. If I were pope, I would order the Passion to precede Mass. Canto singers would process in first, followed by the altar boys, followed by the three Mary's, John, and Joseph. On the left side of the main altar the three Mary's and John would be seated, and on the right side Joseph would be seated. Lastly, an altar boy with a lamb would enter and walk by Joseph, then in front of the altar, then by the three Mary's and John. The altar boy and the lamb would take a place in between the singers and sit down on the carpeted floor with a basket for the lamb. The singers would finish the Passion, the boy and his lamb would exit, and Mass would begin. Joseph would exit because we know he died before the crucifixion.
Below are the canto singers I listen to every night when I go to bed. If God granted me one wish, it would be to have a voice like that of Pontius Pilate. The singer who sings that role has a slightly higher voice than the narrator. Listen long enough to hear them all: narrator, Pontius Pilate, Jesus [bass voice], and crowd. My favorite Latin phrase is, "Quod scripsi, scripsi." In English, "What I have written, I have written." Pilate says that in response to the Jews' objection to the sign he had ordered to be nailed on the cross above Jesus's head: Iesus Nazarenus, Rex Iudaeorum (Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews). It was written in three languages: Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. We see it abbreviated to INRI. I've also included a Caravaggio painting of Mary of Clopas with hands raised.
For the Passion libretto in Latin and English, copy and paste the following into your search engine...
https://www.scribd.com/document/258090504/Arvo-Pa-rt-Passio-Texts-and-Translations
RSS Feed