I thought "Ordo Virtutum" was a beautiful play. I must admit, I was confused in the beginning, but as I read on, the course of the play became clearer. What I loved the most about it was when, one by one, each of the individual virtues came and told what they were. Each was unique and all were equally important and needed to lead a godly life. I thought it was interesting that the devil was able to get fewer and fewer words in as the virtues continued to present themselves. My favorite part was when the virtues all rallied together to defeat the devil. “HUMILITY to Victory O Victory, you who once overcame this evil one in the heavens, hasten with your soldiers, and all of you bind this Devil! VICTORY to the Virtues O bravest and most glorious soldiers, come, and help me to vanquish that deceitful one! VIRTUES O sweetest warrior, who swallowed the voracious wolf in the boiling spring, o glorious crowned one, we gladly fight with you against this deceiver. HUMILITY Bind him then, o gleaming Virtues!” The thing that came to mind during this part of the play was a bunch of little kids all yelling to tackle and take down an adult. I've been swarmed and "tackled" by little kids before and so that was what came to mind for some reason.
This play reminded me of a scene in the Chronicles of Narnia. One character, the penitent soul, is very much like Eustace. He (or she?) threw in his lot with the devil, and then repented. He said he was afraid of the pain that came from having his sins washed away. This reminded me of when Eustace became a dragon, and then Aslan saved him. Eustace was told to bathe, to scrape the dragon's skin off of his own, but he did not dig deep enough. Aslan himself had to release Eustace from the dragon's skin, with his sharp lion's claws. Later, when speaking of the event to someone else he says something to the effect of: it hurt, but in a good way, like scratching off a scab. I think this is a good picture of sanctification. God will go into our lives and cleanse us if we let Him, but it will not be easy. It hurts, but in a good way.
I thought that this was a great play! One of the things that I found interesting was that Humility was the queen of the virtues, or the leader. As I read I wondered why Humility was the queen and not one of the other virtues, and I think I figured it out. Satan is the opposite of God. In the play Satan is accused of being prideful often, which is the opposite of humility. Therefore in order to combat pride, you must combat it with humility. Humility has to be the queen of the virtues because she is the best one to fight against Satan. Christ was able to defeat Satan because he was humble. If Jesus were prideful, he would not have died on the cross for us and would have minded his own business. But in his great love for us, he humbled himself and payed the penalty for our sins. Overall all I thought that this was a very interesting and entertaining play.
Yeah. Humility's role struck me too. In Mere Christianity, Lewis talks about how humility is the only strictly religious virtue just as pride is only a religious sin. If God is not first, than you are and thus pride is evil. Great thoughts!
I thought that one of the best lines in Ordo Virtutum was: “O Soul, created by God's will, O happy instrument, why are you so tearful over the problem God solved with the virgin birth? Your duty is to overcome the Devil through us.” This line, although spoken by personified “virtues”, rings true to what every Christian struggles with from time to time; trying to be perfect and defeat sin on our own. This play, and specifically this line, hits the nail on the head in that we don’t have to defeat the devil on our own, but that sin has already been defeated, and God has already solved the problem.
I have to say that I truly enjoyed the play. As RW mentioned, I too tried to figure out why Humility was made the Queen of the virtues. I liked your thinking about how Humility is the opposite of satan, as such it would seem fitting to place her at the top. However, I have another theory that could work hand in hand with yours. I think Humility is the one virtue one need's to establish first before one can accept and pursue the others. I view Humility as submission, to God, to oneself, to others, and to God's Word and Grace. Because of this, without first having humility, it is impossible to submit to other virtues, because of our own self righteousness. Anyway, those are my thoughts.
I thought the play was all right. Perhaps too quick, and consequently not very profound as it could be; it was still pretty enjoyable, though. Anyways, you can definitely see a close similarity between this and "Pilgrims Progress." You have the a Soul starting out lost and deceived by the Devil. Then, as the play progresses, they soul comes into contact with various virtues that turns the Soul from its past evil ways and reverts it towards more celestial and holy ways. All the while, you also have the Devil trying to intercede and throw the Soul off the path of virtue.
This play was very interesting. It was a bit hard to follow in the beginning but as it went on it became easier to understand. I thought the play had a good plot. It was the story of a lost soul that was being tempted by the devil to wander. Then these virtues point him towards the right path. One of my favorite lines of the play was "but we have fallen into the shadow of sins. O living sun, carry us on your shoulders" This is saying that we have fallen into sin, then it kind of reminds me of when i fall and then repent and ask Jesus for forgiveness and for him to point me in the right direction.
I enjoyed this play. It reminded me of the allegorical Everyman play the Greenhouse did seven years ago. On page 2, the virtues tell the soul, "Your duty is to overcome the Devil through us." I was reminded of Ephesians 2:10 in which we are told to perform the good works set before us by God in order to show our love for him. Also, the Devil's remark on page three ("...to whomever wants to follow me and my will I will give everything,") is the opposite of Christ's call in Luke 9:23, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me." In essence, the Devil says, "I will pay you to follow me," and Christ says, "I have paid and now you must give up everything to follow me." In the Dorothy Sayers play The Devil To Pay (a modern retelling of the Faust legends), Faustus conjures Mephistopheles out of hell that the demon might grant him knowledge of the world and the nature of God. Mephistopheles, just as does the Devil in Ordo Virtutum, lays everything before his victim. Overall, I really enjoyed this play and am anxious to see the video that was just posted.
I liked how this play emphasized humility. It was one of the greatest virtues and was key in the penitent souls conversion "And o true medicine, Humility, give me your aid, for Pride has broken me in many vices, inflicting me with many scars. Now I am escaping to you, so receive me!" The soul points out that he needs humility to even approach God, he recognizes that pride was keeping him from all the virtues. But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” James 4:6 God says he shall shun the proud, and we cannot attain these virtues without God, thus without humility it is impossible to attain virtues.
I thought there were some interesting parallels between Victory and Jesus. Victory has very few lines in the play, but while Humility seems to be the greatest virtue in conversion, Humility then appeals to Victory to vanquish the devil. When Victory first announces himself, he says, "I fight with a stone." This seems to be a biblical allusion to David, who conquered Goliath with a sling and stone. Throughout the Old and New Testaments Jesus and David are paralleled, and he is famously known as the "man after God's own heart." Victory connects himself with Jesus' powerful predecessor. Then Victory says, "I crush the ancient serpent beneath my foot." This could be an allusion to Genesis 3:15 where God says Satan wise strike Jesus' heel but Jesus will crush Satan's head. Another parallel with Victory and Jesus. Then finally, when the Soul has been converted and Queen Humility comes to protect him, he calls to Victory to conquer the Devil whom he had defeated before in heaven. This mirrors the image in James 4, which states that God will not only support the humble but help them defeat the Devil. "God opposes the proud, but dgives grace to the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." (James 4:6-8) There is even the possibility that Victory IS Christ, since after the Devil is defeated, Victory yells, "Rejoice...for the ancient serpent is bound." To this the other virtues respond: "Praise to you, Christ, king of the angels!" I thought the play was a constant metaphorical reminder that Christ is our strength and our victory.
I liked reading this it was interesting. My favorite line I think was, "Do not be afraid or run away, for the good shepherd seeks his lost sheep in you." I agree that I also liked how Humility played a bigger role in the play.
Well...having looked through the other responses thus far, almost everything I had planned to say has been covered. As Mark pointed out, the play was short and therefore not extraordinarily profound, thus there is only so much that can be covered. Like Nathan, I too enjoyed how the different characters rallied together in the end. I found it interesting to witness who beckoned to whom. Building on that, I also thought Humility was a fascinating character. The play put a lot of weight on the role of Humility that I wasn't necisarily expecting from the get-go. I've got to echo what Max said about Greenhouse's "Everyman" play too. I had the same thought while reading. As for a specific item that stood out to me, I really liked something that Chastity said (refuting the Devil): "One man I have brought forth, who gathers the human race unto him, against you, through his own birth." (Ordo Virtutum, pg. 8) I thought this was a powerful line for two reasons: (1) the play was written by a prioress, who would've been a celibate herself, i.e. it strongly reflects the lifestyle of the author, and (2) with the idea of chastity in mind, Christ, the single most important being ever to walk the earth, was born of a virgin. The line is such a perfect refute to the Devil's accusations/attacks. There are my two cents!
I really enjoyed this play alot. I especially liked the role that humility played. Something that came to my mind while reading was the verse, "Pride cometh before the fall." again illistating the importance of humility.
Humility was a very major part in this play. I thought this was very interesting and it struck a cord inside. As a teenager it is very typical for us to be all "Oh I'm so cool, look at me, aren't I amazing." (Especially when you are becoming a legal adult on 02/27/14....... Humility is something that we all have to practice.
I thought "Ordo Virtutum" was a beautiful play. I must admit, I was confused in the beginning, but as I read on, the course of the play became clearer. What I loved the most about it was when, one by one, each of the individual virtues came and told what they were. Each was unique and all were equally important and needed to lead a godly life. I thought it was interesting that the devil was able to get fewer and fewer words in as the virtues continued to present themselves. My favorite part was when the virtues all rallied together to defeat the devil.
ReplyDelete“HUMILITY to Victory
O Victory, you who once overcame this evil one in the heavens,
hasten with your soldiers,
and all of you bind this Devil!
VICTORY to the Virtues
O bravest and most glorious soldiers, come, and help me to vanquish that deceitful one!
VIRTUES
O sweetest warrior,
who swallowed the voracious wolf in the boiling spring, o glorious crowned one,
we gladly fight with you against this deceiver.
HUMILITY
Bind him then, o gleaming Virtues!”
The thing that came to mind during this part of the play was a bunch of little kids all yelling to tackle and take down an adult. I've been swarmed and "tackled" by little kids before and so that was what came to mind for some reason.
This play reminded me of a scene in the Chronicles of Narnia. One character, the penitent soul, is very much like Eustace. He (or she?) threw in his lot with the devil, and then repented. He said he was afraid of the pain that came from having his sins washed away. This reminded me of when Eustace became a dragon, and then Aslan saved him. Eustace was told to bathe, to scrape the dragon's skin off of his own, but he did not dig deep enough. Aslan himself had to release Eustace from the dragon's skin, with his sharp lion's claws. Later, when speaking of the event to someone else he says something to the effect of: it hurt, but in a good way, like scratching off a scab. I think this is a good picture of sanctification. God will go into our lives and cleanse us if we let Him, but it will not be easy. It hurts, but in a good way.
ReplyDeleteI thought that this was a great play! One of the things that I found interesting was that Humility was the queen of the virtues, or the leader. As I read I wondered why Humility was the queen and not one of the other virtues, and I think I figured it out. Satan is the opposite of God. In the play Satan is accused of being prideful often, which is the opposite of humility. Therefore in order to combat pride, you must combat it with humility. Humility has to be the queen of the virtues because she is the best one to fight against Satan. Christ was able to defeat Satan because he was humble. If Jesus were prideful, he would not have died on the cross for us and would have minded his own business. But in his great love for us, he humbled himself and payed the penalty for our sins. Overall all I thought that this was a very interesting and entertaining play.
ReplyDeleteYeah. Humility's role struck me too. In Mere Christianity, Lewis talks about how humility is the only strictly religious virtue just as pride is only a religious sin. If God is not first, than you are and thus pride is evil. Great thoughts!
DeleteI thought that one of the best lines in Ordo Virtutum was: “O Soul, created by God's will, O happy instrument, why are you so tearful over the problem God solved with the virgin birth? Your duty is to overcome the Devil through us.” This line, although spoken by personified “virtues”, rings true to what every Christian struggles with from time to time; trying to be perfect and defeat sin on our own. This play, and specifically this line, hits the nail on the head in that we don’t have to defeat the devil on our own, but that sin has already been defeated, and God has already solved the problem.
ReplyDeleteI have to say that I truly enjoyed the play. As RW mentioned, I too tried to figure out why Humility was made the Queen of the virtues. I liked your thinking about how Humility is the opposite of satan, as such it would seem fitting to place her at the top. However, I have another theory that could work hand in hand with yours. I think Humility is the one virtue one need's to establish first before one can accept and pursue the others. I view Humility as submission, to God, to oneself, to others, and to God's Word and Grace. Because of this, without first having humility, it is impossible to submit to other virtues, because of our own self righteousness. Anyway, those are my thoughts.
ReplyDeleteI thought the play was all right. Perhaps too quick, and consequently not very profound as it could be; it was still pretty enjoyable, though. Anyways, you can definitely see a close similarity between this and "Pilgrims Progress." You have the a Soul starting out lost and deceived by the Devil. Then, as the play progresses, they soul comes into contact with various virtues that turns the Soul from its past evil ways and reverts it towards more celestial and holy ways. All the while, you also have the Devil trying to intercede and throw the Soul off the path of virtue.
ReplyDeleteThis play was very interesting. It was a bit hard to follow in the beginning but as it went on it became easier to understand. I thought the play had a good plot. It was the story of a lost soul that was being tempted by the devil to wander. Then these virtues point him towards the right path. One of my favorite lines of the play was "but we have fallen into the shadow of sins.
ReplyDeleteO living sun, carry us on your shoulders"
This is saying that we have fallen into sin, then it kind of reminds me of when i fall and then repent and ask Jesus for forgiveness and for him to point me in the right direction.
I enjoyed this play. It reminded me of the allegorical Everyman play the Greenhouse did seven years ago. On page 2, the virtues tell the soul, "Your duty is to overcome the Devil through us." I was reminded of Ephesians 2:10 in which we are told to perform the good works set before us by God in order to show our love for him. Also, the Devil's remark on page three ("...to whomever wants to follow me and my will I will give everything,") is the opposite of Christ's call in Luke 9:23, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me." In essence, the Devil says, "I will pay you to follow me," and Christ says, "I have paid and now you must give up everything to follow me." In the Dorothy Sayers play The Devil To Pay (a modern retelling of the Faust legends), Faustus conjures Mephistopheles out of hell that the demon might grant him knowledge of the world and the nature of God. Mephistopheles, just as does the Devil in Ordo Virtutum, lays everything before his victim. Overall, I really enjoyed this play and am anxious to see the video that was just posted.
ReplyDeleteI liked how this play emphasized humility. It was one of the greatest virtues and was key in the penitent souls conversion "And o true medicine, Humility,
ReplyDeletegive me your aid,
for Pride has broken me in many vices,
inflicting me with many scars.
Now I am escaping to you, so receive me!"
The soul points out that he needs humility to even approach God, he recognizes that pride was keeping him from all the virtues.
But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” James 4:6
God says he shall shun the proud, and we cannot attain these virtues without God, thus without humility it is impossible to attain virtues.
I thought there were some interesting parallels between Victory and Jesus. Victory has very few lines in the play, but while Humility seems to be the greatest virtue in conversion, Humility then appeals to Victory to vanquish the devil. When Victory first announces himself, he says, "I fight with a stone." This seems to be a biblical allusion to David, who conquered Goliath with a sling and stone. Throughout the Old and New Testaments Jesus and David are paralleled, and he is famously known as the "man after God's own heart." Victory connects himself with Jesus' powerful predecessor. Then Victory says, "I crush the ancient serpent beneath my foot." This could be an allusion to Genesis 3:15 where God says Satan wise strike Jesus' heel but Jesus will crush Satan's head. Another parallel with Victory and Jesus. Then finally, when the Soul has been converted and Queen Humility comes to protect him, he calls to Victory to conquer the Devil whom he had defeated before in heaven. This mirrors the image in James 4, which states that God will not only support the humble but help them defeat the Devil. "God opposes the proud, but dgives grace to the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." (James 4:6-8) There is even the possibility that Victory IS Christ, since after the Devil is defeated, Victory yells, "Rejoice...for the ancient serpent is bound." To this the other virtues respond: "Praise to you, Christ, king of the angels!" I thought the play was a constant metaphorical reminder that Christ is our strength and our victory.
ReplyDeleteI liked reading this it was interesting. My favorite line I think was, "Do not be afraid or run away, for the good shepherd seeks his lost sheep in you." I agree that I also liked how Humility played a bigger role in the play.
ReplyDeleteWell...having looked through the other responses thus far, almost everything I had planned to say has been covered. As Mark pointed out, the play was short and therefore not extraordinarily profound, thus there is only so much that can be covered. Like Nathan, I too enjoyed how the different characters rallied together in the end. I found it interesting to witness who beckoned to whom. Building on that, I also thought Humility was a fascinating character. The play put a lot of weight on the role of Humility that I wasn't necisarily expecting from the get-go. I've got to echo what Max said about Greenhouse's "Everyman" play too. I had the same thought while reading. As for a specific item that stood out to me, I really liked something that Chastity said (refuting the Devil): "One man I have brought forth, who gathers the human race unto him, against you, through his own birth." (Ordo Virtutum, pg. 8) I thought this was a powerful line for two reasons: (1) the play was written by a prioress, who would've been a celibate herself, i.e. it strongly reflects the lifestyle of the author, and (2) with the idea of chastity in mind, Christ, the single most important being ever to walk the earth, was born of a virgin. The line is such a perfect refute to the Devil's accusations/attacks. There are my two cents!
ReplyDeleteI liked all the allusion to the bible, as opposed to the usual allusion to another God, or the greek myths or something along that lines.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this play alot. I especially liked the role that humility played. Something that came to my mind while reading was the verse, "Pride cometh before the fall." again illistating the importance of humility.
ReplyDeleteHumility was a very major part in this play. I thought this was very interesting and it struck a cord inside. As a teenager it is very typical for us to be all "Oh I'm so cool, look at me, aren't I amazing." (Especially when you are becoming a legal adult on 02/27/14....... Humility is something that we all have to practice.
ReplyDelete