c. 1999 Religion News Service

PLANTERSVILLE, Texas _ Using a tiny oil lamp in the half-light of early morning, the Rev. William Kelly intones the familiar words:”Lord Jesus Christ, you are the Son of the living God! Lord, have mercy. Christ Jesus, you died for us that we might live, Christ have mercy.” Dawn creeps through, softly lighting the vine-draped crucifix behind the priest’s head. He raises his arms heavenward. His green-and-white vestments billow. As the Mass continues, hummingbirds flutter around the dense, flowering foliage covering the open-frame chapel and its Celtic cross.

Soon, a lawn mower’s steady hum competes with Kelly’s booming voice. Dark gives way to light, and the faithful come forward for communion.

Crickets chirp. A goat bleats. Nearby, coffee is brewing, bacon frying. The Texas Renaissance Festival is rousing its colorful, bawdy self. But for a brief 45 minutes every Sunday morning during the festival’s seven-week run, its outdoor chapel is an oasis of peace.”It is unique to me to be outdoors and have a Mass ,”said Bo Imhoff, who helps run a festival food concession stand.”It’s the quiet time of the festival. It starts at dark, and before it’s over, it’s daylight.” As the Mass ends, Joe Aronson mounts a golf cart to head for work at a food concession.”It’s real personal,”Aronson said of the Mass .”I’ve been through a lot this year. This just starts my day off right.” The pre-dawn quiet also draws Debra Imhoff Meekins. Like her brother Bo, she is part of an extended Imhoff family that runs food concessions at the festival and lives in the Plantersville area. They have lived in the area since long before festival founder George Coulam arrived more than a quarter-century ago.”Being here for Mass in the early morning is kind of like the festival itself. You watch the day come to life. At 9 o’clock, the festival is going to come alive and it’s like magic,”she said.

Throughout the day, meditative types wander in to pray or reflect from a seat on one of the chapel’s concrete benches. Others take refuge in the shady chapel to rest their feet or escape the hubbub of the festival, which began Oct. 2 and ends Nov. 14.

Romantic couples love to tie the knot under the vines of deep lavender and pink flowers that entwine, almost totally covering the chapel’s wood frame. It will be the setting for at least 32 weddings during this year’s festival. Couples often bring their own pastors to officiate. If they do not, John Jones _ who portrays the Archbishop of York at the festival _ is a licensed justice of the peace.

Renting the chapel and planning a simple garden wedding costs about $800. More expensive fetes could cost as much as $3,000 or $4,000, depending on costs associated with decoration, flowers and the reception.

Weddings have been a regular event since the chapel was built about 10 years ago and can be scheduled every two hours starting at 10:30 a.m. The Sunday morning Mass is usually presided over by the priest serving two nearby parishes, St. Joseph Catholic Church in Stoneham and St. Mary Catholic Church in Plantersville. On the festival’s first Sunday, however, the pastor had to be out of town and Kelly, a professor at the University of St. Thomas, filled in.”This sets the tone,”Kelly said.”People come here and focus on God, which is where we should be focused, and I’m sure (they) reflect that during the festival .” Attendance at the early Sunday Mass grows as the festival gets going. In years past, midday Masses also were held on both Saturdays and Sundays for festivalgoers as well as workers. The public service was arranged by the Imhoffs through the staff priest.

Finding such a spiritual moment can be a rarity in any community that works and plays as hard as the festival. It is home for seven weeks to 550 professional performers, 2,000 support staff (who do everything from cooking food to watering plants), and the artists and merchants from 330 shops.

Approximately 300,000 people visit the festival each fall.

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Other ceremonies, traditions and folklore at this Texas tradition draw from the spiritual side of 16th century England. While some are serious, others are absolutely irreverent.

On the lighter side, there is Friar Tuck _ indefatigable friend and co-defender of the poor with Robin Hood _ in the child-friendly confines of Sherwood Forest. Even more ridiculous are the Suffering Brothers of St. Swivens, a new act during this 25th anniversary year.

The brothers, a motley crew of wild-eyed soul-savers, perform loudly several times a day. Early morning, they accost the innocent just entering the festival grounds.”Beware, m’lady. Nay, stay not!”they cry.”Be gone. Turn from this sin. Let piety reign in thine heart.” The brothers, along with other players who greet festivalgoers, offer a”humorous look at religion in the 16th century,”said Jeff Baldwin, festival entertainment director and resident historian. He portrays Thomas Cranmer, archbishop of Canterbury and first spiritual leader of the Church of England after King Henry VIII broke with Rome.

Baldwin notes that religion played a central role in community life in those days.”The primary entertainment back then would’ve been passion plays (depicting Jesus’ life, death and resurrection) and wagon plays,”he said.”Religion ruled everyday life. We chose a time (for the festival ) when there was a lot of religious upheaval in England, with Henry VIII closing the monasteries and taking wealth from them and making himself head of the church.”We also know there was no weekend at the time. Most of the time off that people got was to go to church. Religious holidays were like our holidays today. There were all these saints’ days.”DEA END HOLMES