Bethel Ambulatory Play

The Ambulatory Play of Osse, Bearn (2005)

In conjunction with the 200th anniversary of the reconstruction of the Temple Bethel in Osse, Bearn (now Osse-en-Aspe), Alain Munoz wrote a pastoral play, which was performed for four nights prior to the temple rededication ceremony on Sunday, August 7, 2005. Confirming the historical cohesion of the people of Osse, both Catholics and Protestants participated in the play and the associated social functions. The council which organized the celebration, Les Amis de Bethel, consisted of five Protestants and six Catholics. About two-thirds of the participants in the play, especially the singers and dancers, were Catholic.

This is a traditional Bearnais pastoral play which requires the audience to move from scene to scene so that the entire village of Osse is used as a stage. The title has been translated from the French as "Ambulatory Play," basically a "play of strolling around." The play was performed after dark with the village's street lights extinguished in order to highlight each of the scenes along the stroll.

Osse is part of the old province of Bearn. The Bearnais dialect is still spoken in the mountains and the Bearnais chants and dances tracing back many centuries are still performed by people wearing traditional costumes.

In the text of the play the Bearnais word "passa cerrera" is used to describe how the audience is led from one scene to another. Passa cerrera, therefore, is like a parade. In the text of the play, each scene is referred to as a parade. In this case, the audience is led from one parade (scene) to another by gendarmes, stone cutters bearing the arch stone of Temple Bethel, and musicians. Following them is Jean Latourrette who speaks in French and the Shepherdess who speaks in Bearnese. At local Bearnais festivals, musicians come into the village streets playing songs to announce the festivities and people follow them, often singing, dancing, and having fun.

The commentator for the play, Jean Latourrette, is described as a descendant from one who migrated to America. He and the Shepherdess tell the story of Protestantism in Osse, leading up to the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The arch stone from the original temple, built in 1620, was saved when the structure was destroyed in 1686. It now is over the door to the new temple, completed in 1805. During the play, a replica is carried from scene to scene symbolizing the permanency of the faith.

The play will make more sense to the reader if it is read in conjunction with the short history written by Madame Gaubil (click on the Huguenot Cross).
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ALAIN MUNOZ

Alain Munoz holds a Diplôme d'Etudes Approfondies (Detailed Studies Degree), which took him to Venezuela as a sociologist, and a Doctorate in history. In France, he has taught high school history and geography; communication at a technical institute; and drama to baccalaureate students. Since 1994, he has been leading the "Gascogne Pastoral Revival" in the tradition of the prestigious TEP (Theater of Popular Education). He was born in 1955.

Munoz is the author and director of many pastoral plays in southwestern France. In the Aspe Valley he composed the pastoral play "Cyprien Despourrins" at Accous in 1998, and the ambulatory play, "Bethel", at Osse-en-Aspe in 2005.

Arrival of the spectators : they are greeted by people among the crowd dressed in period costumes.

The costumed characters approach each spectator speaking to them in Bearnese, the local dialect.

The stage is decorated with a few straw bales and drapes strewn with branches and roses. Above the stage, stretched between two small trees, a painted banner says in Bearnese: "Osse narrates Bethel."

Lights out: the musicians take their places below the stage. On the stage, there are three gendarmes. Entering the stage there are a shepherdess and Latourrette, a descendant of an emigrant to America, back to the home land, and the silhouette of a sheep.

Lights on with traditional music of Yan Petit in background.

THE SHEPHERDESS in Bearnese: "It is an honor to welcome you, dear spectators! We thank you for coming from so far away to listen to the story of Bethel, the Temple of Osse! It is an honor to our village! An honor to the Protestants from here, from yesterday, today and tomorrow!"

LATOURRETTE in French: Approach! Approach all of you! But don't settle too comfortably because tonight, in your company, we are going to wander through the streets of our village to uncover the history of the Temple. I am Latourrette, citizen of the New World, heir of the Latourrette of Osse, I was forced into exile because of religious intolerance, and I have the distinguished privilege to narrate this tour for you.

THE SHEPHERDESS in Bearnese: And also to me, a modest shepherdess.

LATOURRETTE in French: This story started 400 years ago. In those days, confusion was deep in the spirits of our beautiful Bearn, an independent realm at the time. No one knew if he should commend his soul to the God of the Catholics or to the God of the Protestants. To be sure, it was the same God, but both sides claimed to fight for the best one! During the horrible year 1569, wars of religion were devastating Queen Jeanne d'Albret's Bearn.

THE SHEPHERDESS in Bearnese: It all started a long time ago, when our beloved Queen wanted her states to become Protestant. 1569 was a year of great unhappiness.

LATOURRETTE in French: Then, under Henri IV, spirits cooled down. The edict of Nantes brought about peace and happiness. Catholics and Protestants lived together in harmony.

THE SHEPHERDESS in Bearnese: In Osse and in the Aspe Valley, Catholics and Protestants never fought, they barely quarreled. How could it have been any different, since we were all from the same family? God intends to offer the best the mountain has to give: pastures, transhumance, tough life...

LATOURRETTE in French: In 1620, while Louis XIII imposed his authority on Bearn, Osse built its first Temple. They named it Bethel: the House of God, it sat where the actual temple sits now. It was surrounded with a cemetery for the Protestants. In Osse, the Priest and the Pastor were preaching in harmony, sharing the faithful of the village. The old church's bell called to the Catholic mass, the little bell of Bethel called to the Protestant service.

(From 1569 to 1620, Osse was strictly Protestant and they used the old Catholic Church for worship. In 1620 they were forced to abandon the church to the Catholic authorities.)

THE SHEPHERDESS in Bearnese: All these bells ringing mixed with the bells of the flocks made quite a cacophony which resounded in the valley, all the way to Accous, over the tumult of the torrent.

(Accous is located about 3 miles across the valley from Osse and near the Aspe River which, before an electrical power installation was built, use to crash down from the mountains.)

LATOURRETTE in French: A beautifully sculpted brown stone reminds us of those times of tolerance and brotherhood. Today, it sits above the door of Bethel... But, here comes the stone... Tonight Osse becomes Bethel and celebrates the 200th anniversary of its reconstruction. Tonight let us all carry the stone together to Bethel! Let us tour the village of Osse, roam its little streets lined with secular Huguenot houses where the echoes of family psalms have been answering one another from generation to generation.

From the back of the stage, enter the bearers of the stone. It is a full-size reproduction of the Temple's stone. A Pastor's family leads them, ringing a large bell.

THE SHEPHERDESS in Bearnese: Here is the stone! Here is Bethel! Tonight Osse becomes Bethel to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the reconstruction of the Temple. Tonight we all carry Bethel in our hearts because we all built it.

LATOURRETTE in French: The stone cutters show us the way. Let us follow them. May the "passa-carrera" begin!

The passa-carrera starts , the parade, with the gendarmes at the head of the line.

The Pastor's family follows.

The stone cutters follow with the stone.

MUSIC OF PASSA-CARRERA "DIA DE HESTA" (J. L. Mongaugé)

Latourrette and the shepherdess come behind.

The costumed villagers guide the crowd of spectators behind the parade.

The costumed villagers close the line.

PARADE 1

The passa carrera passes in front of the protestant houses of Osse. They are lit with candles on the relief of the facades marked with a large Protestant medal with a dove (The Huguenot Cross). Some windows are open onto the street. One can see inside the weak light of a lantern in the darkness, and a voice can be heard in the background reciting psalms, a little like a litany. The passa carrera slows down in front of these houses. The music stops but starts again after they pass the houses.

SECOND TABLEAU

Arriving at the little square where the water fountain is, the passa carrera stops.

A banner hangs on the far wall, on it, written in Bearnese, is the phrase "Respect and Tolerance".

Lights: The place lights up. People in period costumes sit like wax statues. There is a group of women near the fountain, children playing, a peasant with a fork, a man with a cart, another man sits near a door, sharpening his scythe. A cow can be seen through the open door of a barn. In the middle of the square, a group of Protestants stands in a circle. A bible sits on a lectern near them. They are praying, a man shows a loaf of bread, a woman shows a chalice.

The Minister's family with the stone and the stone cutters join the group of Protestants.

The group remains still while the other characters become animated.

A merry love song in Bearnese follows: Allegrie... Jamei Jo No Veirei

Joy, Joy,

Joy, Joy

Never will I see

A prettier brunette

Than the one I met

Alone the other day.

Chorus

She is so pretty

That I want her for me.

For this shepherdess

I would die if I had to!

Her eyes are as bright

As two stars

Or even as diamonds

In the midst of a hundred candles.

Chorus

Around the waist, there is none

In the world so nice and thin:

Delicate feet, soft hands,

No one is more perfect.

Chorus

When I had to leave her,

Alas, what sadness!

When I saw her go away,

I was so weak I fell down.

If this little shepherdess

Had not consoled me

When I found her alone,

My luck would have ended.

A herd of sheep passes through the square.

Traditional happy dance : PETIT ANHETH

One after the other the costumed characters stop, holding their position.

A woman in the praying group of Protestants starts speaking. She stands next to the Bible: Osse, August 9th, 1665. The woman named Jeanne Dagoure, from Escou (a village about 19 miles north of Osse) (a small hamlet), came to the parish... She testified that she believed our religion was the right one and that our Church was of the Lord Jesus Christ... She was determined to embrace our religion...

The Minister: ... the parish was happy to see her in these good and sincere sentiments for our religion and in a firm resolution to embrace it and to profess it for the rest of her life. They asked her if she would have the courage to testify publicly in front of the entire Church...

All the Protestants, including the woman: ... the parish members gladly received... the said Jeanne Dagoure... in communion of the Church to enjoy the grace and happiness that God grants to all who belong to it...

Lights off : Movement to the entrance of the street, leading to the next tableau.

PARADE II

PASSA CARRERA MUSIC "DIA DE HESTA" (J.L.Mongaugé)

The passa carrera continues as before.

A staircase is lit up. Across the way, three persons stand still on three barrels, lights focused on them. The gendarmes come and stand at the bottom of the stairs. Latourrette and the shepherdess break away from the group, climb the stairs, and turn to the audience. The music stops.

The crowd gathers.

LATOURRETTE in French: Everything was going so well that no one could foresee the miserable times to come when the great King of France decided to break the peace his grandfather had made with his humble and devoted subjects. Inquiries and harassment against the Protestants aimed at weakening their influence. However, out of 130,000 Bearnese people, one sixth only openly practiced their "So-called-Reformed-Religion" as it was now being called.

THE SHEPHERDESS in Bearnese: : We, here in Aspe and in Osse, were living apart from the rest of the world, following a rhythm of transhumance, Saint-Jean of the summer, and Saint-Jean of the winter. Our shepherds, who, when the snow came, walked the wide open heath (moor) to Bordeaux, told us that the temples were being closed and even demolished. They said that there were only five left in Bearn. But we barely listened to their warnings. The mountains, we thought, would always protect us...

LATOURRETTE in French: In 1665 in Osse, there were a little less than 1,000 inhabitants, among which there were 346 Protestants, in 69 families.

(This is from the King's census. About one-third of the 1,000 were Catholics in the hamlet of Lourdios, about 9 miles by road from Osse, so the Protestants were at least half of the population of Osse. In response to the census, the Bearn Synod reported 75 families and "nearly 400" Protestants.)

A minister officiated at Bethel... Already, some people were abjuring. Our rights were diminishing rapidly. Our social and religious activities were the subject of continual vexations.

Sad Bearnese Song: Damned is Love

Damned is love

Night as well as day

Night as well as day, My Lord

How many tears those farewells have cost me.

Do not come to console me

Leave me to my sadness

Leave me to my sadness

Shedding tears.

My fickle mistress

Has just left me.

A new lover

Was so greatly in

Love

Was so greatly in

Love

That my head was turned

Oh poor me!

I had to go

And watch the sheep

Up there

How many tears those farewells

Have cost me.

Nothing more happy

That Shepard in the mountains

My Lord

How many tears those farewells

Have cost me.

The gendarmes move to stand in front of the barrels. The costumed characters, still until now, start being animated. What follows is an excerpt from a pastoral show against the Huguenots by Lenfant de Mazerolles (mid XVIIIth century).

A MONK Yes, the great Henri IV, of glorious memory

With the hardest blow captured victory:

In those day perhaps his inclinations

Against the Protestants started to show...

Educated, he abjured your religion

The catholic dogma became his faith.

Follow his example, leave heresy behind.

Abandon prejudice and accept life,

Sacrifice your schism for our holy law,

Stop rebelling against the King's will;

Our majestic monarch is your gentle father...

At once submit to his just kindness

Leave your heresy and you will be saved...

A PROTESTANT : Our majestic monarch has never doubted

Our obedience and sincerity,

We still hope for his rare clemency.

It appears that he will protect us.

A PEASANT: (poetry in Bearnese)

"As you all know the King has signed an edict

Against the Huguenots who had great influence:

Our parliament and the others in France,

Which I believe are good judges of the weight in the balance

And the one in Bearn especially, which seats in Pau,

I was told, started persecutions as decided;

A PROTESTANT: (poetry in old French)

"When we learned our days here would come to an end,

We did not change our faith or our speech,

We will always hold on to our ancestors' faith,

We will follow our masters' advice:

Sirs... behave yourselves and follow your cross."

A MONK, unrolls a parchment scroll, and reads:

"Osse, September 2, 1685. List of those who still belong to the So-Called-Reformed-Religion, in the Aspe Valley parish, and who refuse to convert:

Magdelaine de Latourrette, David Dapouey and Jean Dapouey, his son, Marguerite de Latour, wife of Pierre de Peyret, Minister and two of their children, Joseph de Laplacette, Bertran de Candau, Jean de Pretout, Izac Darriet, Noé de Capdevielle and Abraham de Capdevielle, Marguerite Darabanet, Marguerite de Loustau, Jean de Marguelotte, Jeanne de Mouguer, wife of Pierre de Curet, Marguerite de Martigues, wife of Pierre de Lapassade and David de Lapassade, Pierre de Casset, Magdelaine de Masou wife of Jean de Carrere, Marie de Domecq, David de Lagunpocq... … There are a large number of villagers, who have abjured the So-Called Reformed religion, but they do not do what good Catholics must do, they do not go to church to listen to the Holy Mass...

(In the original document, Magdelaine Latourrette is described as the spouse of David Latourrette, who bears the title of abbe laique d'Osse. An unanswered question is why the local priest, who wrote the list, did not accuse David. Was it because of his prominence, title and the protection of the Leclede family in nearby Bedous, the most prominent Catholic family in the valley? Moreover, Marie, the daughter of David and Magdelaine had recently married a Leclede. Or, at the time, did his prominence allow him to pretend to accept Catholicism without publicly abjuring? From information about his life after 1685, it appears he acted as if he never abjured and publicly berated a priest.

As it is clear from Madame Gaubil's short history of Protestantism in Osse, many were forced to publicly abjure their faith, but did not practice Catholicism. Over a hundred years later, after the Edict of Tolerance and the French Revolution, there are as many Protestants in Osse as cited above in 1665.)

Costumed characters stop moving and stand still.

The passa carrera forms again as before.

PASSA CARRERA MUSIC "DIA DE HESTA" (J.L.Mongaugé)

The passa carrera walks down the Candlelit Street leading to the Catholic Church.

On the little square , men in long black cloaks and black felt hats, their faces hidden under black masks, hold lit torches, their hands are gloved in black. They are as still as statues. They join the passa carrera, closing the line.

From the street , one can see a stage, framed by the actual porch of the Catholic Church. It is draped in black cloth strewn with little branches and roses. It is like the mirror image of the first stage. Above the porch, a banner reads in Bearnese "Revocation of the Edict of Nantes -1685". A judge in wig, carnival style, stands still on the stage. He holds a black gavel.

Third Tableau

The passa carrera arrives on the square in front of the church. A few straw bales are offered to the spectators. The costumed characters invite them to sit and make themselves comfortable. The gendarmes from the passa carrera open a circle in the crowd. The musicians surround the stage. The characters in black, passing through the crowd block access to the streets. The shepherdess and Latourrette climb onto the stage, and stand next to the judge.

THE SHEPHERDESS in Bearnese: October 18, 1685, the revocation of the edict of Nantes bans the Protestant religion. Bethel must be demolished.

THE JUDGE : Come now, walk in order, my foot soldiers

Keep your rows tight, my battalions

Show your heart, my dragoons, courage infantry

Resist strongly, brave cavalry

March straight ahead, stay tight,

Never allow the squadron to be broken.

Always carry your weapons valiantly,

Musketeers show your valor everywhere,

Support your Lord David strongly.

Build strongholds, trenches and fortifications,

Prepare all your cannons and, at moonlight,

Cast your bombs up towards those beautiful buildings,

Disperse, move everywhere, down to the foundations,

Never withdraw, feed bodies to your swords

And with blood, get them drunk.

Ransack and pillage Hamon's children...

In other words, destroy in barbaric ways,

These evil enemies, Hamon's children.

Bombs, fireworks , red smoke at the public wash house. Sword fights can be observed in the background.

Meanwhile , the bearers of the stone have climbed on the stage. The Bethel stone is in front of the audience. Latourrette and the shepherdess are also present. The judge raises his gavel. This scene freezes during the sword fight.

LATOURRETTE in French: October 18, 1685, the revocation of the edict of Nantes bans the Protestant religion. Bethel will be destroyed. In April 1686, at the sound of the triumphant royal trumpets (trumpets play in the background), the Osse Protestants, forced by the well dressed men from the parliament of Pau, tear down their house of worship.

THE JUDGE violently strikes the Bethel stone with his gavel. The stone is knocked down.

THE SHEPHERDESS in Bearnese and LATOURRETTE in French, together: The land of the Temple and its cemetery are turned over and salt is sown to destroy heresy, down to its roots. From now on, the site is known as Jericho, and it is abandoned. The bell is confiscated and taken to the Catholic Church. Damn the persecutors who force brothers to torture each other and fathers to denounce their children!

THE SHEPHERDESS in Bearnese: Do not fool yourselves, Mister Executioners, no one from Osse or Aspe would ever betray his kinfolk. It is the strength of the mountain...

Song: Yan Petit.

CHILDREN DANCE: Yan Petit.

LATOURRETTE in French: We saw then some of the well-to-do Protestants take the road to exile toward Switzerland or the Netherlands. A larger number of them went to London and some even to America. In spite of the persecution, people of Osse and Aspe persisted in their religious conviction. Father Guirail, the Priest, declared he would rather confess dogs than people from here. Later, Pastor Deferre Montigni clandestinely reorganized the temple. For Osse, the Desert period started in the barns of the Bugala or on the Ipere Mesa. (The Desert Period is the time of organized, secret meetings, while the Protestant faith was still banned. There are records beginning in 1758 of these meetings in the forests and mountains north of Osse. Prior to this, the faith was maintained clandestinely by individual families.)

BEARNESE SONG: "Goodbye Pretty Margoton!" (written by Cyprien Despourrins, local poet -1699-1759

"Goodbye pretty Margoton!

You are about to loose your servant

I am leaving

To serve the King.

Damned be the war!

In love, there is none so unhappy

On earth!

In my condition, I lived happy,

I never wanted gold or silver;

Or beautiful horses,

Or rich herds;

Sure of your sweetness

I lost everything!

I won the lottery

My God, what sadness!

O I love you, I will love you,

Margoton, as long as I live;

If I can,

Soon I will return.

And during the campaign,

If there is paper,

I will write to you,

From deep inside Germany.

If I die, pretty Margoton,

It will be from lovesickness;

I will be unhappy;

And by my will,

I will be buried in the ground,

And on my tombstone

Margot, one will read:

Here lays my friend Pierre"

PASSA CARRERA MUSIC "DIA DE HESTA"

The passa carrera resumes as before:

Gendarmes

Bearers of the knocked down stone of Bethel

Musicians

Latourrette and the shepherdess

The judge

The torch bearers

The spectators

The costumed villagers close the parade with the children of Yan Petit.

Fourth Tableau

Walking around the church, the passa carrera arrives at a medieval house in front of a little square. A banner across the entrance says: "The Desert Period".

Out of the medieval house , a group of Protestants enter the square, lanterns in hand. They form a circle around the Minister.

Meanwhile, a group of men and women bearing arms led by a notable form a half-circle around the Protestants.

Music and Dance: Bruchetto danced by men and by women in two simultaneous circles.

THE MINISTER, at the end: May the Lord in all places help us find grace,

May the Lord to each one of us save a seat?

In the Heavens Kingdom where, by his grace

We may all enjoy happiness in all eternity

Of the sweet fruit of Jesus in a holy manner

Where we will never have a reason to fear,

As long as we are with our Savior

Jesus Christ, our leader, our Redeemer

Who has been victorious over death for us

To elevate us toward the Heavens and to give us glory

That we had lost by our first parents

Who had transgressed the laws of God

But we who have followed all their evils and the trace

Only our Jehovah wants to save us by grace.

In the Heavens Kingdom

Without deserving it,

But he wants to show upon us his charity

Finally my dear friends this great God calls us

Let us run hastily into the eternal life.

The two groups face off. The Protestants have rods. Men as well as women.

THE NOTABLE : to the audience, in front of the still scene: My friends, what were we about to do? These people seem determined to defend themselves, and among them are some robust men able to measure up with the sturdiest among us. We take the chance of not returning as many as we came. If you will listen to me, we will leave these people alone and we will go home.

Gunshots from the Protestant side.

The Catholics flee shrieking.

The women sing : The Barberina song in Bearnese (Inspired by Poet Alfred de Musset) M. Maffrand

"Handsome knight, on your way to war,

Where are you going again,

So far from here?

Don't you see the night is dark,

And the world

Is full of anxiety?

You who believe forgotten love

Go away without pain,

Alas! Alas! Glory seekers,

Your story

Is vanishing away.

Handsome knight, on your way to war,

Where are you going again?

So far from us?

I am going to cry, for you did not stop to tell me,

That my smile

Is the sweetest."

Enter two carts , pushed by two small angels. The carts are covered with candles in small red glasses. They place themselves one on the yard side, the other on the garden side, in front of Maria Blanga's stage (next scene). (This is the story of a love between a Protestant woman and a Catholic man.)

On a dark stage ; Maria Blanga sings: AUROST TA LA LACLEDE (Marie Blanque wrote this song for the funeral of her lover Armand de Laclede, in 1808).

"It was the war of Sarragossa.

God, how many tears it has cost me

I must have had a lot of water in my head

I threw a torrent of cries!

When they told me the sad news

I thought it was a lie

I immediately left for Bedous

And I went to your house

To inquire about you.

All I found there was sadness

Mr. Fayton's daughter

First approached me

Thinking she would console me

I told her: let me cry!

Jesus! There is no one like Cledon (Armand)

He was more precious than Peru.

Who had not seen him or known him

Cannot know what I have lost.

The valet is in the stable

But the knight will never come home

The horse is in Sauveterre.

Wherever is the proud warrior?

I will never see him again.

Neither in Pau nor in Bedous

I will ever see you again

Early morning July 15

I got up to see you go.

In Michelon's cabin

Were all your friends, my dear Cledon

Mr. Noussitou, Mr. Vignancour

How short were these farewells

To Blanga, Mr. Dambourges

You said goodbye forever.

My God, you were in a hurry to leave

To go celebrate over there.

It was August 5th

Oh! it was quite a day for you!

Oh I had such a nice friend

He would have never betrayed me

Aspe Valley you have lost so much

When Laclede disappeared.

The emperor you have served

When he came after Maestricht

To send you to Sarragossa

The journey that cost you your life.

Laclede If I had the power

Your death would be avenged

Your death will be avenged

Better that Louis XVI's death was

Farewell, Cledon, forever

God wants us to meet again on his right hand side."

Maria Blanga (Marie Blanque) covered in white, is propped up like a pieta. Lying at her feet, Laclede is dressed in the uniform of Napoleon's soldiers. The Protestants mourn as Marie sings.

LIGHTS OUT.

The street above is lit up. From a low wall, Latourrette and the shepherdess invite the passa carrera to form again.

THE SHEPHERDESS in Bearnese: How sad and cruel are broken loves. And who better than Maria Blanga to remind us? Love is impossible in times of war and persecution. What a story!

LATOURRETTE in French: Dear spectators, Marie Blanque la Parpaillote's unhappy love moves us... The Desert times lasted until the Edict of Tolerance in 1787, not long before the Revolution. Immediately, in Osse, 57 protestant marriages were legalized, 151 children became legitimate. Already they talked about rebuilding Bethel from its ruins, at "Jericho". But come closer dear spectators, and listen to the story of Pierre Datournau, the revolutionary mayor of Osse. (On December 1, 1788, under the Edict of Tolerance, Antoine Latourrette, as first jurat of Osse, legitimatised the unions and baptisms performed during the Desert Period. Antoine Casamayou Latourrette was a direct descendant of David Latourrette through his son Jacob, the presumed brother of Jean Latourrette who left Osse in 1685 and came to America. Antoine, who was greatly respected by both Protestants and Catholics, established the Catholic branch of the family by abjuring in 1774.)

The passa carrera gathers and starts moving again, leading the audience to the Minvielle house.

Fifth Tableau

The passa carrera leads the audience to the Minvielle house, where French revolutionary flags hang. The sans-culottes, the revolutionary soldiers, are waiting. The facade is illuminated with the French colors --blue, white and red. On a stage, Pierre Datournau, also draped in blue, white and red stands with traditional musicians. The spectators arrive. (The sans-culottes - without breeches---were the ill-clad and ill-equipped volunteers of the French revolutionary army. The working-class sans-culottes wore long trousers to distinguish themselves from the upper classes, who wore knee-breeches or culottes.)

Pierre Datournau's song : Tribulations of an Aspe Notary Lyrics and Music: Jean-Luc Mongaugé

I am Datournau, Notaire of Aspe, and of this village,

I am married, honest, courteous, and I have children,

But, to continue to work, the law forced me

To abjure my religion and serve the King's God.

My brothers thought it an insult, to change my practice,

With time they understood it was a tactic,

But I have never changed; I can swear it in front of God

To prove this, all my children were baptized in the Desert.

I became a preacher in hidden barns,

And for that I was cruelly denounced,

The priest, a "good Christian", went to find

The judge and the Jurats, who came to arrest me.

I left my land, my country in a hurry,

I went to hide in Paris, the capital city,

Three years I stayed there, until our King

Lifted the accusation weighing on me.

DATOURNEAU in French: When came the great revolution, I became the mayor of Osse.

I did not then seek vengeance when the Sans-Culottes wanted to arrest the refractory priest.

In the contrary, I protected him.

It is thanks to me also that the Bethel bell was saved.

You can hear it ring today.

But let us fast forward, for it is already 1805.

Thanks to the Concordat regime of Napoleon, Bethel rises from the ashes.

Inaugurated August 4, 1805, Bethel is waiting for you tonight.

May this celebration be sweet and enjoyable!

As it is for us, Protestants of Osse.

The passa carrera resumes. At the head are the gendarmes, then the stone bearers. Datourneau and the revolutionaries enter the parade, then all the other characters and the spectators follow. Latourrette and the shepherdess have discreetly left ahead of everyone to wait for the audience at Bethel and welcome them.

Sixth Tableau

The passa carrera walks up the street and enters Jericho. The Temple, illuminated with a white light, is wide open.

All the costumed characters stand along the walls of the house and of the temple, while the stone is installed in front of the entrance, without blocking it. At the balcony of the Izarda house stand Latourrette and the shepherdess. In the middle of the garden is the choir.

LATOURRETTE in French: Come close! Come close dear spectators! Our story ends here. Bethel today welcomes you. It is 200 years old. But the stone adorning its entrance dates back to 1620. It teaches us that tolerance and respect are values never to be taken for granted. Hurray for the spirit of tolerance and for the hope of a better world.

THE SHEPHERDESS in Bearnese: Dear spectators, we have relived the story of Bethel, the Temple of Osse. Let us stand up together against the enemies of freedom. That is what the mountain teaches us.

Bearnese dances.

Mochico: danced by a circle of men and a circle of women.

Branle: danced by a couple.

Final

Classical music choir:

"Psalm 42" F. Mendelsohn

"Beatus vir" A. Vivaldi

"Carnival" G. Rossini

Light show : against the wall of the Temple.

LIGHTS OUT:

ALL THE PARTICIPANTS BOW OUT.