St. Marianne Cope
Hawaii’s Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities better start stocking up on cake candles. They are going to need a lot of them with all the anniversaries they’ll be celebrating shortly.
November is a quadruple-header month, marking St. Marianne’s 175th birthday, the 130th anniversary of the sisters arrival in Hawaii, the 125th anniversary of their arrival in Kalaupapa, and the 90th anniversary of the opening of St. Francis School in Honolulu.
The community will remember these milestones appropriately with the re-staging of “November’s Song,” a play by George Herman based on the life of St. Marianne Cope, who brought the Sisters of St. Francis of Syracuse to Hawaii in 1883 and who served the Hansen’s disease patients of Kalaupapa for 30 years until her death in 1918.
The play, to be performed Nov. 8, 9 and 10 at St. Francis School, will be the centerpiece of a three-day celebration that will include a fundraising reception, bake sales and donation ticket prize drawings.
The proceeds will go toward the care of Hawaii’s retired and infirmed Franciscan Sisters and renovation of their residence, St. Francis Convent Care Center in Manoa.
For the anniversary commemorations, the sisters are offering four major sponsorship opportunities: the $5,000 Saintly Sponsor, the $1,000 Gold Sponsor, the $2,500 Platinum Sponsor and the $500 Silver Sponsor.
Sponsors earn a number of tickets to the play, invitations to a Nov. 9 donor reception and different levels of recognition.
Individual tickets to “November’s Song” cost $20. Donors may also sponsor a sister to attend.
Two framed lithographs from Wyland Galleries and an aluminum scenery print will be the prizes for a special drawing at a $25 donation per ticket or five tickets for $100.
“November’s Song” was last produced last November, for the first time in more than 25 years, to celebrate the Oct. 21, 2012, canonization of St. Marianne.
The play is performed as an introspective monologue by St. Marianne, played by Eva Andrade, backed by a silent support cast of sisters, patients and at one point, Father Damien.
For more information regarding the anniversary celebrations, contact Sister Alicia Damien Lau, 348-7701, or email adlau@sosf.org. Or visit www.sosf.org.
