The Omaha
The Mission
Church in Rox
bury, Mass., Built
from the Proceeds
of Father Kenzel's
"Pilate's Daughter"
Which After 12 Years
of Doubt, the Reverend
Author Finally Allowed
to Become a Professional
Production in the Belief
That Its Influence for
(Jood Would Be Great.
T
1 HAT section of Broadwav
known as the ay White
Way because of its bright
lights Is to have some of its In
sidious poisons attcked by a power
ful antlsepelc.
Right In the midst 'of the frivolous
music halls nnd the daring Summer
"girl shows," the lobster palnces and
Ihe reckless cabarets is shortly to ap
pear the five-act Christian devotional
drama railed "Pilate's Daughter."
This "passion play," with a new
and Intensely dramatic construction,
written by a Catholic priest, and the
profile of whoue presentation by
amateurs have, built a handsome
church, will be produced at a Broad
way theatre with a cast of profes
sional actors.'
The pleasure-seeking thousands who
throng Broadway at night are ever
eager for new sensations. What
could be more sensational than the
spectacle of our Saviour's passion
and Its dramatlo sequel presented
across the street from the giddiest
of New York'a Bummer "girl ahowr
Nobody will think of missing
Tllate's Daughter." Its lessen will
rercolate nightly Into all the Broad
may haunts dedicated to the wblte
lights. Nobody will be able to escape
It. No new and untried antiseptic
rould have a better opportunity to
demonstrate its virtues.
There ia a least one compelling
dramatic device in "Pilate's Daugh
ter" calculated to disarm the most
cynical Broadway "flrat-nighter." Ho
will have noticed that the roses pur
chased of Broadway, florists quickly
Ik i
J
i f JUV vJ"
fcubia, a Vestal Virgin, Meets in Prison Her
Christian Playmate Claudia.
wither and fade. Put In this re
ligious play lie will see a rose which
never loses its freshness, which not
even trampling feet can soli or harm
In any way because when Pilate's
compassionate little daughter threw
this rose at the Divine Figure con
demned iu her father's court It
touched the body of the Saviour.
. This legeud, whose origin it la dif
ficult to determine, was the inspira
tion which, nearly fourteen years ago.
converted the Rev. Francis L. Kernel
into a dramatist. He was a member
of the Order of Redemptorlats con
nected with the MUslon Church In
Roxbury, Muss., a suburb of lioaton.
Father Kenzel was deeply im
pressed with the narrative of the
' rot, and from that he worked out
a plot fur scriptural drama. He
asked permission of his superiors to
write amen a drama, and after due
consideration it was somewhat re
luctantly given. The result, "Pilate's
Daughter." Year after year the play
J
was produced on the
little stage in the
hall connected with
the Mission Church, al
ways during the Lenten
sea son.
Today the MUslon
Church in Roxbury, sur
mounting a hjll, presents a
landmark visible from all
parts of Boston. It has a
wonderful facade of granite, with
the four crosses in each tower,
which are Illuminated, send a'
beacon over the city to' all points of
the compass. This impressive facade
nnd the great twin towers chango
the modest little Mission Church into
a veritable cathedral, and all of this
was made possible solely through the
proceeds from Father Kennel's drnma,
"Pilate's Daughter," produced by
nmateurs.
During this season "Pilate's
Daughter" will be seen at a Broad
way theatre, and a Catholic priest
will have become a professional
dramatist.
For twelve years theatrlcaP people
have sought to secure rights to this
scriptural drama in order to produce
it professionally, but each year
Father Keniel and bis fellows
seemed more and more determined to
deny tbat use of it Not long ago it
dawned upon blm that Inasmuch as
thousands of people made pilgrimages
to the little Mission Church in Rox
bury each year to witness his play,
and tbat hundreds, after witnessing
'it - "' f Tfl
Afra, the Sorceress in the Temple of Vesta, Telia the Vestal Virgin
of the Capture and imprisonment of the Saviour,
it became good
church members, it
would be better to
allow the play a
wider production. It
seemed to Father
Kenzel that If the
play could have such
a wonderful influ
ence for good in one
small community it
would certainly exert
a greater influence
for good in a large
sphere, and so he fi
nally consented to
professional produc
tion. It Is a play remarkable in many
ways. In the first place the cast will
consist of about one hundred women
there is not one man in this cast
The leading characters In "Pilate's
Daughter" are:
' Claudia Proclea, wife of Pontius
Tllate; Claudia, Pilate's daughter,
about eight years old (Act I.):
Claudia. Pilate's daughter, teu years
later i Acts II.. III., IV. nnd V.);
Uvla and Maxima, Roman ladles:
leah and Rebecca, servants in
Pilate's bouse: Iris, Appia and Lygla,
other wsrvants; three ghosts; Afra, a
Roman sorceress; Rubla, Servla and
Stella, vestal virgins; Fawtina.
Tullia. Antonla, Hyra and Nem'.a,
Christian women; Agrlpplna, wife of
Tiberlu IMau.llus Drusus Caesar,
Empress of Rome; Rufilla. save of
the Empress; servants, Christiana,
vestals and dancers.
Father Kenzel's utory is that little
Claudia, the daughter of Pontius
Pilate, seeing the Nazarene led to
Sunday Bee 1
Remarkable Scriptural Drama
a Church and in Which Only Women Appear
to Be Tried as "Great White Way" Antiseptic
crucifixion, was deeply grieved and
threw Him a rose as she sat In the
balcony of her father's house. This
rose struck the hem of Christ's robe,
and the little girl felt Impelled to go
down and rescue It Although thou
sands of the mob had trampled this
rose Into the street, little Claudia
was amazed to find It fresh, un-'
soiled, unruffled and fragrant Upon
Teturnliig to her mother with tbe
rose she said:
"I have seen the Nazarene, and
when He passed from out the palace
court, I, from the balcony, did cast
this rose beneath Ills feet. It touched
His robe, and see, altbough a thou
sand men have trampled on it it Is
fresher far and lovelier than before."
Claudia's mother, the wife of Pon
tius Pilate, was amnzed nnd puzzled
as to why ber daughter, a Roman,
should take such Interest In Christ, a
Jew. Her explanation was simple
enough. She, it seems, was one of
the children regarding whom Christ
said, "Suffer little children to come
unto Me." When Questioned by her
mother, Claudia says:
"At play with other children by the
walls one day we saw the Nazarene
and ran to Him. The men on either
side thrust us back, but Christ said:
"Nay, let them come," and so we did.
He laid Ilia hand on each of our
bends and eaid His heavenly king
dom was for such. I love Him, and
this rose shall always tell me of His
love for little ones."
In this act, Rebecca, a servant In
J
a r
3
the house of Pilate, is most impres
sive wlien she describes how she was
one of the multitude who listened to
Chriat's Sermon on the Mount and
she was one who ate of the mi
raculous bread and fishes which He
multiplied for the feeding of that
multitude. The wife of Pontius PlUte
has a feeling that her husband should
not condemn Christ to death. As the
mobs shout 'Crucify Him!" outside,
she says:
"Strange feelings surge within my
soul. Deep-meaning doubts, and
anxious fears, if it be true that Cod
hath taken flesh and dwells within
the Nazarene, then Pllute judges (jod
and Ciod will be avenged. Fatal day
that Rome did ornament our house
with power of life and death; more
fatal still that connplratera do wring
the final Judgment from the Hps that
call me wife."
Among the servants in Pilate'
house is Leah, daughter of the money
changer, who was scourged by Christ
aud driven from the Temple. Nat
urally, ahe rejoices at the crucifixion
and she uiocka at Him. When chlded
by the wife of Pilate and asked
whether the has no fear lest mercy
be transformed to Justice, she curse
Him and do ties Him, whereupon she
Is rendered insane by a thunderbolt
The skies grow dark, tbe lightnings
flash. Leah ikeeks to kill Claudia, but
the little girl holds out the miraculous
ro.e and Leah's hand is withered.
Finally, at the moment of the cruci
fixion there is terror in every heart
and utter da r knees prevails. Those
In the house of Pilate, crouching In
fear, behold a vision of Christ on the
cross
Copyright. IH4.
After tbe crucifixion the daughter
of Pilate has been taken back to
Rome, and ten years later, at the age
of eighteen, she is one of a party of
Christians who go secretly at night
In the woods of the Alban Hills, out
side of Rome, to bury a child.
Claudia has kept the rose all these
years, and this rose has remained
as fresh as It was the moment she
tossed It to the feet of Christ u
decade before.
"With this miraculous rose Claudia
brings the dead child to life. Afra, a
Roman sorceress, and Leah, the
vengeful daughter of the money
changer, seek to kill the Christians.
In the third act Is shown the Tern
pie of Vesta and the vestal virgins.
One of these virgins discovers that
Claudia has been captured and is
about to suffer martyrdom, and she
also discovers that Claudia Is an old
time playmate. This act Is followed
by a scene in the Mamertlne Prison
as Claudia, with' her rose, performs
wonderful miracles, auch as bringing
water forth from the prison walla.
The last act is in the Emperor's
palace before .Empress Agrlpplna,
and is one or the most thrilling and
melodramatic of scenes wherein the
Roman god Jupiter is crumbled to
dust by the rose, the vestal virgins
converted to Christianity, the
demented Leah restored to sanity
and the Empress poisoned by the
sorceress, who also mortally wounds
Claudia. The climax Is the ascension
of Claudia, daughter of Pilate, to
neaven.
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Magazine Page
That Built
The coming of such a drama
Broadway has been the subject
to
of
much lively discussion among church
men throughout the country, for it is
one of the most daring scriptural
dramas ever presented in a secular
theatre The cast will be made up of
women who have made a success In
leading parts In such religious and
morality plays as , "Everywoman,"'
"The Sign of the Cross," "Ben Hur"
and others. Already such actresses
as Dorothy Philips, who was Modesty
In "Everywoman," and Florence St
Leonard, who was Iris In "Ben Hur,"
have been secured.
Rights Resti-red.
.3
it. . ?4"' I
1
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V" 1 ft A H
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Leah, a Servant in the House of Pilate, Defies God and Ts
.Rendered Insane by a Thunderbolt.
Why Sympathy Is
the Best of Tonics
SOJIE years ago there appeared
In the newspapers an open
letter in whloh a suffering
woman asked aid in securing a law
to permit Invalid? pronounced In
curable after a medical consultation
to be plalnlessly put to death. Nat
urally, the letter attracted attention
and reawakened tbe old question
whether or not physicians are ever
Justified in shortening life.
It is of Interest to note that the
1
!t"5(tN x
writer of the letter now rejoices at
the non-fulfilment of her wish. She
has lived to experience now much
life may hold even in the face, of
bodily helplessness.
She tellg of having received thoh
sands of letters from all over the
world containing messages of ayni
parthy and approbation for Iher dar
ing attempt to secure a modification
of present-day laws , protective of
life. Some of these invalids, rho
says, have since written her of their
cure, and of their gladness that con
servatism and old-fashioned legisla
tion had intervened between them
selvs and their impatience. One of
these correspondents, who was sure
that hope was dead for her and who
eagerly desired the "flnia" at the
end of the chapter, has written of
her complete secovery and how.
much more life now means, to her.
This correspondence has proved,
as might well be expected, a stimu
lant and a tonic to the Invalid. She
feels not only that her contact with
others has given them a renewed
interest in life, but also that even
her mistaken suggestion of a revo
lutionary change in law has not
been without its good effect, since
it has drawn together in bonds of
deep human sympathy many In
valids. Physicians who have commented
on this woman's case agree that
nothing is more stimulating and
genuinely tonic to sufferers, es
pecially those with chronic aliments,
than the feeling that In spite of
their own helplessness they them
selves can still be helpful to others.
Nothing disturbs a certain class of
patients so much as to be constant-,
ly in contact with those who are in
good health and strength and whom
they can scarcely help but envy.
To be brought into touch with those)
(or whom they themselves can foelj
is a precious source of consolation
and uplift '
Pity ts a luxury to be enjoyed, but
not human being likcr to be pitied
or to feel tbat he is an object of
pity. To be conscious of some ad
vantage In one's situation over that
of others is of ltsoir an alleviation
for 'many sicknesses.
