November’s Song
A one-woman play based on the life of Central New York’s Saint Marianne Cope
November 8, 2017 at 7:30pm
- Carroll Coyne Center at Le Moyne College
(Syracuse, New York) — Saint Marianne Cope comes alive Wednesday, November 8 when the Saint Marianne Cope Shrine & Museum presents the one-woman play “November’s Song” at the W. Carroll Coyne Center for Performing Arts at Le Moyne College at 7:30pm.
“November’s Song” takes place on the Hawaiian peninsula of Kalaupapa, where then Mother Marianne Cope and several other sisters of St. Francis from Syracuse came to care for patients with Hansen’s disease (leprosy). Marianne is reflecting on her life and tells the audience her story, starting with the November day in 1862 when she entered the Franciscan community in Syracuse through her years as administrator at St. Joseph’s Hospital and her move to Molokai, Hawaii in 1883 to care for individuals isolated from society because of their illness.
An inspiring and historic story follows the why and how the sisters started St. Elizabeth’s and St. Joseph’s Hospitals in Central New York, the healthcare innovations that began here and the harrowing mission they undertook to travel to a foreign land and care for Hawaii’s exiled people.
Kristin Barrett-Anderson, director of the Saint Marianne Cope Shrine & Museum, said the play’s title reflects the importance that the month of November had during the saint’s life. “A great deal happened for Mother Marianne in November — it was the month she entered the community, the month she took her final vows and the month she arrived in Hawai’i,” Barrett-Anderson said. “She talks about all those significant milestones in her life in the play, mostly in a monologue to the audience, though there are times in the performance when she speaks with Father Damien.”
While there is a fundraising aspect to the performance, Barrett-Anderson is more interested in sharing the story of Mother Marianne. “She was an extraordinary woman in so many ways,” she said. “The daughter of German immigrants, Mother Marianne had an impact on the field of health care as well as on the physical and spiritual lives of thousands of individuals. And then she worked miracles! It’s our mission at the shrine and museum to see that her story reaches as many people as possible.” Saint Marianne is the first Franciscan woman in North America to be declared a saint. She was canonized in 2012.
INFORMATION ABOUT tickets – available at SaintMarianneCope.org online or call the Le Moyne box office 315.445.4200. $20 each
About Saint Marianne Cope Shrine & Museum
As devoted stewards of Saint Marianne Cope’s life and legacy our mission is to collect, preserve, exhibit, interpret and share Saint Marianne’s inspiring story as a Sister of St. Francis. Through displays showcasing her stories and artifacts, audio-visual exhibits, and educational outreach, we are able to share her message of respect and compassion. A first class relic of Saint Marianne lies within a reliquary made specially in her honor and rests in our second gallery, offering visitors an opportunity for peaceful contemplation.The Saint Marianne Cope Shrine & Museum is a sponsored ministry of the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities. For more information, visit www.SaintMarianneCope.Org.
