three sing in reply, 'Jesus of Nazareth'. To this the first voice chants
back, 'He is not here; he has risen as he foretold: go, declare to
others that he has risen from the dead.' The three now burst forth in
joyful acclamation with, 'Alleluia! the Lord has risen.' Then from the
sepulchre issues a voice, 'Come and see the place,' the 'angel' standing
up as he sings that all may see him, and opening the doors of the
sepulchre to show clearly that the Lord is indeed risen. The empty
shroud is held up before the people, while all four sing together, 'The
Lord has risen from the tomb.' In procession they move to the altar and
lay the shroud there; the choir breaks into the _Te Deum_, and the bells
in the tower clash in triumph. It is the finale of the drama of Christ.

To illustrate at once the dramatic nature and the limitations of the
dialogue as it was afterwards developed we give below a translation of
part of one of these ceremonies, from a manuscript of the thirteenth
century. The whole is an elaborated _Quem quaeritis_, and the part
selected is that where Mary Magdalene approaches the Sepulchre for the
second time, lamenting the theft of her Lord's body. Two Angels sitting
within the tomb address her in song:

_Angels._ Woman, why weepest thou?

_Mary._ Because they have taken away my Lord,
And I know not where they have laid him.

_Angels._ Weep not, Mary; the Lord has risen.
Alleluia!

_Mary._ My heart is burning with desire
To see my Lord;