Sagrada Família hosts performance of ‘Misteri de la Selva’ - Sagrada Família hosts performance of ‘Misteri de la Selva’

The Sagrada Família hosted yesterday a performance of Misteri de la Selva, the oldest European assumptionist drama written in a Romance language, which has been performed without interruption since 1980 at the church of Sant Andreu Apòstol de la Selva del Camp (Baix Camp). Over the past years, Misteri de la Selva has spread beyond the borders of the Baix Camp region to be performed in full in Montserrat, Tarragona, Elx, Mallorca, Rome and Jerusalem. This year, for its fortieth anniversary, it was put on at the Basilica. This was the first time the Misteri de la Selva has been performed in the Catalan capital. Cardinal Joan Josep Omella i Omella, Archbishop of Barcelona, attended the event. 

This representation of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary deals with traditions associated with the August festivities of the Assumption of Mary and the central theme of the piece, the Assumption of Mary into heaven, body and soul, comes from the first centuries of Christianity. Written in Catalan in the late 14^th century, Misteri de la Selva is a first-rate cultural event in Catalonia and received the national award for popular culture for the best artistic initiative of 1994. It is the first complete text of a drama or assumptionist mystery in Catalan, older than that of Valencia, which dates back to the first third of the 15^th century, and that of Elx. The piece features language of the troubadours and chapel chants from the Gregorian repertory of the 12^th to 14^th centuries.