Putting the message of mercy to music
By Susan Brinkmann
CS&T Correspondent
Nancy Scimone was just a little girl when she caught sight of the gleaming golden bells on the altar of St. Theresa of the Little Flower church in Westchester County, N. Y.
When no one was looking, she climbed the sanctuary steps, picked up the bells and started ringing them with delight.
No one was in church that day except a few people setting up for a confirmation Mass. So when her mother tried to stop her, the pastor said, “Oh, Mrs. Scimone, God welcomes the little children. Let her play the music.”
That was the beginning of her career.
Scimone has come a long way since that first performance on those sanctuary steps. She is grown up and married, and a faith-filled Catholic who is using her classically trained singing voice to bring the message of Divine Mercy to people across America.
On Saturday, March 5, she made the first of four scheduled appearances in the Philadelphia area, at St. Anthony of Padua parish in Ambler, where she presented a one-woman drama based on the life of St. Faustina Kowalska.
“There are seven scenes in the drama,” Scimone said: “Her calling; her learning obedience and trust; the Divine Mercy image and its importance; how she dealt with physical and emotional trials; her love for Mary; her love for Jesus in the Eucharist; her mission, and how she believed it would not end upon her death.”
Each of the seven scenes is punctuated with music, much of it written by Scimone.
“After each of the first six scenes I sing mostly psalms,” she said. “There is one old hymn — “Soul of My Savior” — that I’ve always loved because it’s so romantic. The words of that song echo the image of Divine Mercy so beautifully.”
One song Scimone wrote is a Marian hymn inspired by the Diary of St. Faustina. “It’s called ‘Thy Heart Immaculate’ and it talks about Mary being the Mother of Mercy.”
Scimone has performed on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, at the Kennedy Center, throughout New York City and in basilicas and cath-edrals across the United States. She described her discovery of St. Faustina as like “finding an acre of diamonds in my own backyard.”
Scimone found a pamphlet about Divine Mercy in the rack in the back of her church in Anondale, Va., and took it to read on the train one day. “I learned about Divine Mercy Sunday, and I volunteered to cantor for our first Divine Mercy celebration here in the Arlington Diocese,” she said. That was about 12 years ago.
As the message of Divine Mercy began to spread, she continued to cantor the chaplet and started reading the saint’s diary. “It kept my attention because of the person of St. Faustina, because of her everyday struggles,” Scimone said. “Yes, she was in a convent, but her humanity is so vibrant. It speaks so loud and clear to each one of us.”
One morning at prayer, Scimone was reciting one of the penitential psalms aloud. “It was a psalm about suffering, and I thought, ‘St. Faustina would real-ly relate to this’ so I picked up the diary and I started reading aloud a random entry. I thought ‘Wow. This has got a lot of drama to it. This has the potential for being read aloud.”
“That’s how the idea was born,” she said. “But I wasn’t sure so, I prayed to God and asked Him if He wanted me to make this into a dramatic presentation, to please send me some help. Let me know.”
Within three days she got a call from her mother in Maryland, who said Brother Leonard Konopka, M.I.C., was coming to speak at her church about “that saint you like.”
Scimone attended the talk and heard a lot of things about St. Faustina that aren’t in the diary.
“For instance, St. Faustina had red hair, and I have red hair. She really didn’t have more than a fifth- or sixth-grade education. I didn’t know that,” she said. “I was glad he brought that up because it impresses upon us how much grace really was at work. This diary is of grace, not of Faustina. The theology of it is so solid. She would not have studied this. She could not have read this in any books. This was just solid grace.”
Scimone discussed her idea with Brother Konopka, who was enthusiastic about it:”He said I would be able to reach more people with a drama. And he helped me extract what were the most important elements of her life.”
She put together a costume based on photographs of the saint, and began to perform. She is now performing across the country, and she performed for the Divine Mercy Sunday 2004 live EWTN broadcast from the Shrine of the Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, Mass. Her first recording, “Ora Pro Nobis”, won the 2002 Unity Award for Sacramental Album of the Year and she was nominated by the Washington Area Music Association for Classical Singer of the Year in 2003.
Scimone will have copies of her recordings available at all performances, including her favorite, “The Quiet Place.”
“This is a collection of psalms on the theme of mercy. I wrote the melodies, and they are arranged with orchestra. The orchestra is the President’s own. I’m in the Washington area and have a great resource in these musicians.” she said. “Many of the members came and played on this recording, and they’re all Marines.”
During her shows, a stillness seems to fall over the audience.
Scimone delivers a powerful message that is meant to leave souls touched. She also makes sure everyone goes home with a copy of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy.
The rest is up to the Lord.
Contact Susan Brinkmann at fiat723@aol.com or (215) 965-4615
Area Performances
Friday, April 1, 7:30 p.m. at St. Nicholas of Tolentine.
Saturday, April 2, 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. at The National Center for Padre Pio in Barto.
Sunday, April 3, 2:30 p.m. at St. Isidore Church in Quaker-town.
Sunday, April 24, 3 p.m. at St. Stanislaus Kostka in Coatesville.
