Singer and performance artist Nancy Scimone portrays St. Faustina in one-woman plays. Scimone will give five performances across the Diocese of Superior the first week of April (Publicity photo)
Anita Draper
Catholic Herald staff
The story of St. Faustina’s life — from girlhood to God’s messenger of Divine Mercy — unfolds across the Diocese of Superior April 3-10 in a series of one-woman dramas.
Nancy Scimone, a Washington, D.C.-based singer and performance artist, will dramatize scenes from the Polish saint’s life in Glenwood City, New Richmond, Superior, Rice Lake and Medford as part of a tour in Wisconsin and Minnesota.
A freewill offering will be collected after each performance.
St. Faustina Kowalska was a nun and mystic who recorded her conversations with Jesus in her diaries. She died in 1938, and was canonized in 2000. Due to St. Pope John Paul II’s devotion to St. Faustina, her message of Divine Mercy has been disseminated around the world.
Scimone, a soprano who sings jazz and opera, has been performing the St. Faustina dramas for 10 years. “Enraptured” by the saint’s diary, she decided everyone needed to hear about Divine Mercy.
She also feels a calling to share the saint’s life and voice.
“I do believe that St. Faustina chose me to herald God’s message of mercy before I even had the idea for the drama,” she said.
“Drawn into the whole prayer and the power of prayer,” Scimone started cantoring St. Faustina’s prayer in her home diocese, the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia.
“I’m going to bring the diary to the people,” she decided.
“So that’s how that happened,” she said. “It really was an inspiration that way.”
Scimone has performed her one-woman dramas across the United States and in Canada. She tells the saint’s story in seven scenes, illustrating St. Faustina’s journey from childhood to mystic.
“Everything that I speak is right from the diary, although it’s not in exact order,” she explained of the hour-long play. “I’m not reciting the diary.”
“In any story, a character has to progress in the journey before they accomplish the big thing,” Scimone added. “So, there is a sense of drama in the story. She had conflict, she had resistance, but she just persevered … clearly, Christ is her strength, every step of the way.”
Although Scimone has traveled to Green Bay as a tourist, she has never before performed her drama in Minnesota or Wisconsin.
She encourages families to attend.
“It’s for all ages,” she said. “It’s perfectly fine for children.”
At the conclusion of each drama, Scimone connects with her audience through a question-and-answer period.
Divine Mercy Sunday, April 3
12:30-2 p.m., St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, Glenwood City
4-5:30 p.m., Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, New Richmond
Monday, April 4
6-7:30 p.m., Cathedral of Christ the King, Superior
Tuesday, April 5
Mass 5:30 p.m., drama 6:15 p.m., St. Joseph Catholic Church, Rice Lake
Wednesday, April 6
7-8:30 p.m., Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Catholic Church, Medford
