Well, I can say for having been there, that it took place “between the drops”, each time just barely, but everything came off without a catastrophe!  A small miracle! 

But first let me tell you something more: I was lucky to be able to go to Fribourg from May 6-8 and to participate in this second “spiritual event” of the jubilee celebrations in the House of Fribourg. I was also at a Mass, written in honor of Anne de Xainctonge and beautifully executed in the chapel of the Ursulines, where the acoustics were better than at the Aula; also a very rich exhibit on the third floor of the convent.

Here are a few extracts from the newspaper “La Liberté” of  May 6, 2006:

Just about everywhere in Switzerland, convents, monasteries and religious communities are having open house this weekend for an exceptional event called “la Nuit des Couvents”.  It is an opportunity for “seculars” to discover what is lived behind the walls, in 20,000 places under the heavens.  All of this within the framework of a year for vocations asked for by the Swiss bishops.  As for the Ursulines of Fribourg, they chose to tell their story by way of theatre.  Six performances to ticketed (limited) groups.

Limited groups indeed!  Since the spectators had to wend their way around the convent, and pile up in some small places, they could not have more than 70-75 people (plus the cast – another 15) But take that number (75) as an average, because often there were many more…and I am not even mentioning those who came for the first dress rehearsal and the final dress rehearsal earlier in the week!  Gloria Mooney, SU was at one of these!

A career actress and scriptwriter used texts written by Sisters Anne Véronique, Marie Brigitte and Anne Gabrielle as well by two teachers, friends of the community. “theatre production of the history of the community and the spirituality of their foundress, Anne de X., in six scenes; this theatrically guided visit taking the audience from the cellar to the attic over the course of centuries, in this vast convent where the religious were so happy to welcome the 14 actors (enthusiastic, youthful, volunteers) as well as the spectators…”

..clips of life, the first one taking place in the chapel of the convent, portraying the anger of a young Anne de X., indignant that education was only for boys, and before being faced with the disapproval of her family.  From there the scenes unfolded, each a flash of history : the flight from Porrentruy, the oppositions of the Vatican,  the silence and mistrust of the clergy and bourgeoisie of Fribourg…each scene taking the public into the oldest places of the convent, the most unexpected places, too.  From the cellar to the terrace overlooking Lorette, the Maigrauge and Montorge (villages), by way of the dining room, then the attic, finally ending on the lawn of the inner garden of the convent, around a table where actors and audience could dialogue.  Out in the open.  As should be.” (La Liberté)

I must add before going into more details, that moving from one place to another in the convent was accompanied by music (Angela with the flute, Béatrice, the violin, Magdalena at the organ), or with commentaries about the buildings given by the actors who became expert and friendly guides: everything organized down to the details and carried out very smoothly.  Including  preparations for the “verre d’amitié” at the end of the final scene, which meant setting up the garden chairs and tables (sometimes even drying them off) so all would be ready on time, then putting them away for the next performance.

A woman electrician had installed spot lights where each scene would be played (some places, like in the attic, had never seen so much light!) this gave a magical aspect to everything.

Not much in the line of costumes : black or white active wear,  big black skirts, different styles of coiffes, some gleaming military uniforms…and some white tunics prettied up with rose and lavender cloth flowers (even one pasted to a face)…

Some strokes of genius on the part of the director : for instance, several actresses playing Anne at the same time,  their replies crisscrossing one another with energy…Anne “in the pluriel”, never two-dimensional, open to different interpretations, past and present.

Another example: the use of the whole cast, through movement and blending to give both individual expressions, or  together as one, to express fear, distress, and joy that marked the experience of Anne and her first companions, as well as that of the first sisters of Fribourg.

The places and the way they were set up, nourished the creative imagination  and each place was capitalized on in a unique way.

Now, follow me: I am going to describe each scene:

At the church of the Ursulines : the public is welcomed, with music, of course ! 
Sr. M Brigitte and a professor speak back and forth to each other, to give a sketch of the vocation of Anne, and explain, using the great fresco in the sanctuary, just why we took the name of St. Ursula and who this saint was. 

In the same dialogue, they present the social and historical context of Dijon, always briefly, while the cast enters murmuring and looking up to heaven : then one by one the “collective Anne” expresses in prayer the desire of Anne to consecrate herself to God and to be at the service of girls.

A few phrases tell of the call to Dole, the departure in 1596, the long wait until 1606, the arrival of the sisters from Porrentruy to seek asylum in Fribourg in 1634…  (A timeline had been given as a sort of program to each spectator)

“Follow Anne along these periods fraught with traps, as were the beginnings of the sisters of Saint Ursula of Fribourg!”

In the cellar, we enter through a steep stairway on the rue des Alpes. There are a few scattered chairs but many will be seated on the steps, with cushions rounded up for the occasion.  A vaulted cellar, emptied to allow the scene to be played out, but there are shelves with pottery jars containing preserves, that serve as a backdrop.  A sort of balcony, a young girl in white recites to herself over and over, the letter of Anne to her father, in candlelight… Monsieur de Xainctonge, an African  professor  wearing “tails and high hat”  - an authority figure, and Anne, played this time by three young and very vivacious women in white…The dialogue speaks of Anne’s illness at Dole, her return to Dijon to her mothers sickroom, the interrogation, the threats of the Jesuits,  Madame Duzin, the discouragement of Anne and the help received…at the end of the scene, consent is finally given : “You want to leave me because God orders you to…This  commandment is addressed to me as much as to you…”

In the dining room of the sisters (you may remember it in the basement but with four picture windows where you can see the thickness of the walls !) we are seated facing the windows whose enclosures have become mini-stages : at first only one was occupied and in fact did not change at all during this time : a young girl in white, in prayer at a prie-dieu, surrounded by garlands of colored lights.
Anne, Claudine and Isabeau turning in circles, literally and figuratively! This is the period of requests to Parliament…the “game” of the actrices makes us feel the waiting, the repetition, the insistence, the fatigue also, but always the persistence…joy about the bull of Clement VIII…opposition of Claude Brun, member of the Parliament…Advice of Mr. Falletez “Do it! …Exist!...” “Change of strategy… policy of the fait accompli…”

Then the three women climb up each into a window (mini-stage), and open the curtains… But the situation is still static: they ask questions from one window to another :  “Why don’t you come to join me?”…We know the obstacles at the start: Claudine caring for her father, Isabeau consoling a widow, etc …Dame Renard not wanted!!!  They talk about the departure of the latter with all her furniture and…Isabeau comes to join Anne in her window! “So that is how we started! They are only two, they have nothing left, but they form the first community : this 16th of June 1606 goes down in history as the foundation date of our Company of Saint Ursula of Anne de Xainctonge.”

Now we come to the terrace, (in the wing where the Spiritual Center is): in the depth of a window a young girl is seated at a table and writes all through the scene which recounts the trials of the community at Fribourg.  The choir of actresses and actors is in constant movement, words burst out from one to another and all together…the group comes together and separates…Sometimes they go off in all directions.  All that helps us to feel with a minimum of words something of past traumas: Thirty Years war, flight from Porrentruy, asylum in Fribourg, status of refugees (what they had to go without, the vexations, insecurity, suffering…) the plague…(you even see a funeral cortège), in  1798 :the French! Occupation, humiliation, schools closed, lack of tolerance for religious in the 19th century: schools again closed, a ban on teaching (with 482 students, according to the Archives!)

A refrain carries a message of hope repeated in the midst of all that : “the beautiful and noble task can finally continue!”

At one moment, so that everyone could hear and feel involved, the actors speak the same message from different corners of the terrace, and with conviction :  “nothing is certain, except God, nothing has value, except Him.  If you want to live, live in Him!  Here is how: the task in not important, but the love that goes into it, and joy and faith.  Faith above all, Madame, and joy, too, Mademoiselle!”
Now we arrive at the “galatas” or attic above the vault of the church!  Fear and trembling (for real and figuratively) for the floor was not made to support so many people!)  In one corner three men in shining uniforms…They proclaim the “act of reception” of the religious of Saint Ursula by the city of Fribourg in 1646, while the audience gets seated…In another corner, a young girl in white is on a swing hung from the rafters: she swings in silence during the whole scene (and she does this with energy!)  Some old trunks found in the attic serve as décor and several sisters are seated on them, each one in her role :one at recreation, another reading, another as a sister who is ill…The superior, Soeur Pernette enters and announces some good news that everyone tries to guess. Joyous agitation: their status as refugees has ended, and they give thanks to God…that stirs up Sr; Barbe, the ill sister, who now feels called to Lucerne…But Sr. Pernette has another announcement: Mr. Stokalper is asking them to open a school at Brig!  Mimics and on stage behavior gives the impression that no one wants to go there, especially now that life in Fribourg will be easier!  The sisters discuss; argue this among themselves until a sense of mission wins.  Tomorrow Sr. Clémence and Sr. Marie Louise will leave for Brig!

And now we are on the way to the last stop, accompanied by Angela and her flute. A magical entrance to the convent garden, lighted by spots at the foot of the trees.  Tables and garden chairs are there for small groups; Béatrice with her violin takes over and plays all the time that the actors, two by two, tell the groups of the Gospel story of the Canaanite woman (Mk. 7, 24-30.  They tell in a very personal way, as a story…(“specialists” in bible story had written a beautiful text that you will see in the Lavoir) and at the end, they say in their own way, that this woman makes them think of Anne, and how they would like to have that same confidence in their heart, that same, persistence.  (You can soon read the homilies of March 18 and May 7 on this same passage.)

The violin picks up, this time along with the flute, a song composed by Pascale of Fribourg (words) and a music professor : “Anne, you call us today”…During this time, you hear some shutters banging, and looking up, you see ten windows of the grand façade light up and reveal sisters of every age who wave and join in the singing…

The rain has held off, mostly: the more fearful had opened umbrellas during the story part, and this gesture alone chased away the rain!

And, pardon the play on words, but all that remained to do was to “water” all that with a friendly drink under the peristyle (veranda)…No one was in a hurry to leave… by their presence, the people of Fribourg showed their friendship for the sisters!  This was also evident from those who visited the exhibit: for instance, men of a certain age who remembered having the sisters in kindergarten!

A lot of thanksgiving after everything was over:  first of all because the Society in Fribourg had “passed between the drops” in their long history and trials and are there today with all their vitality!  I was proud to be part of the family! and happy to have participated and seen again so many sisters (including Petra from Brig and Josiane from Sion).  I realize that I haven’t told everything: I concentrated on the theatre performance. The Lavoir will bring you other pieces!