VATICAN CITY, JUNE 11, 2002 (Zenit.org).- As his canonization approaches, Padre Pio has been honored with another tribute: a children´s musical.
The musical, presented recently in the Vatican, will be performed in schools in Italy and other countries by children.
The musical, which in Italy is entitled «Girotondo per Padre Pio,» was presented last Wednesday in the Vatican Press Office, in preparation for the Capuchin friar´s canonization next Sunday in St. Peter´s Square.
In this musical work, director Anna Bennassi tells children the story of the friar of Pietrelcina (1887-1968). The actors are also children. Music by Angelo Di Mario serves as background for the narration.
Last Wednesday´s performance had a special actor: Matteo Colella, the boy whose miraculous cure through Padre Pio´s intercession secured the friar´s canonization.
Matteo «came from San Giovanni Rotondo for this occasion. He came to give a message to others through the words of Padre Pio,» the author told Vatican Radio.
Henceforth, the musical will be presented in many schools, and even pediatric hospital centers.
The children «see the figure of the saint like a child,» Bennassi said, when commenting on the aspect that had the greatest impact on the kids who performed it.
«What will we do now without him?» the children recite at the end of the work. And they answer: «He has left us the House for the Relief of Suffering where everyone can go, and prayer which he indicated as a consolation in life.»
