#EarlyMusicDay This Planctus Mariae is from the 15thc, found in the Mysterium of Tours (278) MS.
Medieval Easter/ Passion liturgical plays have a unique sub-genre known as the Planctus Mariae, or the Crying Mary. This personal and dramatic monologue occurs when Mary Magdalene, the prophetess, preacher and disciple of Jesus, comes to the tomb on Sunday morning expecting to find the risen Christ. However the tomb is empty, the stone has been rolled back.
Here she bemoans the apparent loss of her teacher, with the underlying anxiety that the Resurrection was unsuccessful. And during this #WomensHistoryMonth, I perform this piece to resurrect the oppressed voice of Maria Maddalena. She was a prophetess, the author of one of the apocryphal books of the Christian Scriptures, and a powerful leader. She was absolutely positively not a prostitute.