A nigh ten (plus 2 COVID years) years in the making! Tonight was the night we went to see the Oberammergau Passion Play. The day began this morning and leaving our lovely Austrian hotels. We drove to a small town by the name of Ettal and there discovered a large monastery for Benedictine monks. In the center of their campus building was a large dome – when we went inside, we discovered a beautiful church. We took advantage of their lovely grounds and celebrated Holy Communion together.
Then we drove on to Oberammergau which is a lovely little German town that was bustling with guests from all around the world. Finally, the event we had come for – the Passion Play. It far exceeded my expectations. There was a choir of around 70 voices and they had been practicing together for over three years. There was a multitude of animals in the show but the highlight was the actors. The talent and the sheer number were impressive. At one point in the show there were over 800 actors on stage! At the intermission (a 3 hour dinner break) we sat down to a meal only to discover that a few of our servers were also performers in the show. Consider this, they performed for three hours, then served people at a restaurant for three hours, then closed the show with another 3 hour performance. But instead of being tired as you might imagine, they were excited and grateful that we were there. They were excellent ambassadors of the show and the love of God. At the end of the production, I was looking forward to seeing the cast come out on stage, instead the stage remained empty except for the cross draped in white. From start to finish, the humble graciousness of the people of Oberammergau put the emphasis on the love of Christ for humanity.
Wendy Lambert
