Ordinalia

The ' are three medieval mystery plays dating to the late fourteenth century, written primarily in Middle Cornish, with stage directions in Latin. The three plays are ' (The Origin of the World, also known as , 2,846 lines), ' (The Passion of Christ, also known as , 3,242 lines) and ' (The Resurrection of Our Lord also known as , 2,646 lines). The metres of these plays are various arrangements of seven- and four-syllabled lines. means "prompt" or "service book".
First play.
The first play, called , begins with the Creation of the World, the Fall of Man, and Cain and Abel, followed by the building of the Ark and the Flood; the story of the temptation of Abraham closes the first act. The second act gives us the history of Moses, and the third represents the story of David and of the building of Solomon's Temple, curiously ending with a description of the martyrdom of St Maximilla as a Christian by the bishop placed in charge of the temple by Solomon.
An offshoot of the is the "Creation of the World with Noah's Flood" (": the Creacon of the World"), written in Cornish with English stage directions, copied by William Jordan in 1611.
Second and third plays.
The second play, , represents the Temptation of Christ in the desert, and the events from the entry into Jerusalem to the Crucifixion, including the Passion. This goes on without interruption into the third play, , which gives an account of the Harrowing of Hell, the Resurrection, and the Ascension, with the Legend of St Veronica and Tiberius, the death of Pilate, the release of Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus from prison, The Three Marys. As in the "Poem of the Passion", the pseudo-Gospel of Nicodemus and other legendary sources are drawn upon.
Relationship to the "Legend of the Cross".
However, running through the whole and interwoven with the scriptural narrative comes the beautiful and curious Legend of the Rood (Legend of the Holy Cross). The legend, most of which is in the Ordinalia, is this:
Extant manuscripts.
There are three manuscripts of this trilogy in existence: