New musical celebrates St. Theodore Guérin’s life as a love story for the ages
As the writer of the new musical, Providence: A Love Story, Marcia Murphy, right, shares the stage with Lilah Cruz, who plays St. Theodore Guérin in the production that will be performed on March 6, 7, 13 and 14 at St. Theodore Guerin High School in Noblesville, Ind., in the Lafayette Diocese. (Photo by John Shaughnessy)
By John Shaughnessy
As Marcia Murphy brings her new musical to the stage for the first time, she views the love story as a thank you—a thank you to the woman she turned to during the most heartbreaking time of her life.
“My oldest son was diagnosed with leukemia. This was my worst nightmare,” recalls Murphy, a mother of seven. “I don’t think I would have endured without this woman. She also turned me toward Christ.”
Xavier Murphy was diagnosed in September of 2011, when he was 22 and a senior at the University of Notre Dame.
As the news rocked him, his mother and his father David, Marcia turned to words of wisdom from St. Theodore Guérin, foundress of the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods and a co-patron saint of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis who is the inspiration for the musical.
Two quotes from the saint have always especially touched Murphy: “Place yourself gently in the hands of Providence,” and “Lean with all your weight on Providence, and you will be well cared for.”
“When my husband and I were with Xavier as we received this news, these quotes were the words running through my head,” Murphy says. “They were a great reminder to focus on what I/we could control and what I/we couldn’t. Instead of being filled with anxiety, I could be present with Xavier.
“When I remember that time, I am not filled with sadness, but with great joy. I was able to read, pray and laugh with Xavier—and witness his deep longing for the sacraments.”
She kept that approach in the days leading up to Xavier’s death on Oct. 11, 2011. She also kept her reliance on St. Theodore during that time.
“When I was alone, I would always ask Mother Guérin for her prayers for courage for my family and me,” Murphy recalls.
“There was an evening two days before he passed that was very hard, because I saw Xavier’s deep suffering. That night, I called on Mary, Joseph and St. Michael to get us through the night. That was the night that Mother Guérin and I became great friends. I felt like she was right beside me, reminding me to place myself gently in the hands of Providence.
“She’s my girl. She changed me. Rather than fearing suffering, she helped me see God’s love for me, even in the moments that have brought me to my knees.”
Fifteen years have passed since that moment. Now, it has led to the love story that Murphy has written as a thank you to the woman she calls “Mother Guérin.”
Her thank you is in the form of a new musical called Providence: A Love Story. The musical will be performed on March 6, 7, 13 and 14 at St. Theodore Guérin High School in Noblesville, Ind., in the Lafayette Diocese, where Murphy is the director of fine arts.
The musical is the first major production to be showcased in the school’s new auditorium, Murphy notes.
“It seemed like the right thing to do in our new space—to thank her for her prayers.”
The desires of the heart
While St. Theodore and the Sisters of Providence continue to have a profound influence on the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, two people with archdiocesan roots have been influential in this musical tribute to Indiana’s first saint.
“While we want every musical we put on to be a success, this one feels really important,” says Angie (Schott) Goćur, Guérin’s assistant director of fine arts who graduated from St. Roch School in Indianapolis in 2005 and Roncalli High School in Indianapolis in 2009.
“From the time this musical was just an idea, we have talked about our desire for the audience to know St. Theodore Guérin better, to be inspired by her love of Christ, and ultimately to help all of us grow in our love of God and desire to become saints.”
The saint’s life has had that impact on Sarah May, a music teacher at Guérin who wrote all the songs for the show.
“I didn’t know much about her before coming to teach here, but two years ago I started reading a collection of her letters,” says May, a former parishioner, cantor and substitute organist at St. John the Evangelist Parish in Indianapolis. “I was struck by how vibrant and personal her writing voice was.
“She was very human. She was smart, hardworking, determined and profoundly relatable. I find her to be an outstanding role model. She dealt with hardships but approached life with grace and courage.”
So, when Murphy approached May last year to see if she was interested in writing the music for the show, May didn’t hesitate.
“I simply had to say ‘yes.’ It was a daunting task—it’s a lot of music—but the chance to be part of someone’s passion project and to celebrate a saint whose life I admire so greatly was too good to turn down.”
Asked to share some of her favorite songs that she wrote, May focuses on “Only You.”
“The show begins with Anne-Therese Guérin as a young girl in France, and we meet her as she sings about her heart’s desire. This was the first thing I wrote, and it was a wonderful chance to get to know the character and explore what might have been in her heart.
“She grew up seeing great natural beauty around her, despite the social and political instability of the time. And the beauty she saw drew her to want nothing more than to give her life over to the Creator of all beauty.”
An unusual, touching view of friendship
In writing Providence: A Love Story, Murphy thought it would be “boring” to present a musical version of
St. Theodore’s life in a direct timeline.
Instead, she unfolds the musical as the story of St. Theodore and Providence Sister Theodosia Mug, who was the official biographer of the saint and the recipient in 1908 of the first documented miracle attributed to the saint.
Murphy connects their stories, even though the two women weren’t alive at the same time. St. Theodore lived from 1798 to 1856 while Sister Theodosia lived from 1860 to 1943.
“Though they never met during their lifetimes, they were deeply connected through their shared love of God,” says Murphy, who often turned to God during eucharistic adoration for inspiration in writing the musical.
“Throughout the musical, audiences witness the challenges both women faced and how they continually chose to trust in Providence.”
That relationship and that shared faith mirror the connections that Murphy shares with Mother Guérin.
“Using Sister Theodosia also allowed me to tell my own story,” Murphy says. “I wanted to demonstrate that a great friendship can happen, even when one of the friends is no longer alive.”
‘I love her soul’
The friendship that’s envisioned between Mother Theodore and Sister Theodosia comes to life in the musical through the two talented teenagers who portray these women—Lilah Cruz as St. Theodore and MJ Becker as Sister Theodosia.
Their chemistry on stage reflects their closeness in life.
“I love Lilah so much,” says a beaming MJ, who is 17 and a senior at Guérin. “She’s such a ball of joy every day. If I’m ever complaining about something, she always gives me the positive side in it. She’s such a good friend who I can turn to when I really need a good influence or a positive light.”
Lilah glows too as she says, “We really make each other laugh just by looking at each other. We can talk about serious things, too. We’ve especially done that in this show since we both have big roles. I love her soul and just everything about her.”
Lilah sees that same connection between St. Theodore and Sister Theodosia.
“They have one of the deepest types of friendship because it’s brought together in prayer, and it’s rooted in Jesus,” says Lilah, who is 17 and a junior at Guérin. “Being that they’ve had a lot of similar life experiences, I feel they’re so close they’re almost like the same soul. I think when Sister Theodosia prays, Mother Theodore carries her prayers to God.”
Playing St. Theodore has also given Lilah a richer understanding of the saint.
“She was funny, enigmatic and very driven. She was very opinionated and independent. I also learned she was afraid a lot of the time.
“So that gave me the perception of her roundness of character—that she was a real person and not just a sister who everyone thinks of as a stereotypical nun. That’s going to help me portray her better because it’s realistic.”
Both actresses believe their roles in the musical have deepened their faith.
“The songs are another way to proclaim God’s word,” MJ says. “Some are strictly based on the plot, but there are songs that are giving glory to God. For me, doing theater is also a way to glorify God.”
Lilah notes, “Before I go to bed, I pray. And sometimes I think of Mother Theodore. It’s interesting to me that I can play her as a character, but she’s also in heaven now, and I can talk to her in reality. It’s brought into focus that there are people in heaven I can speak to and who understand real life experiences.”
‘An evening of beauty can change our hearts’
One of the great gifts of any musical performed by high school students is seeing how young people embrace the challenge of bringing a story to life. They use the talents they have and love—and sometimes are just discovering—to share an evening of joy with audiences.
That gift and those talents shined through during a rehearsal of Providence: A Love Story.
“I’m really proud of how our students are working to tell the story to the best of their abilities,” says Goćur, as opening night of the musical nears.
Beyond the display of talent and the joy to be shared, there’s a greater hope for this musical that has also benefitted from the gifts of Mike Panasuk, the school’s theater teacher and auditorium manager.
“I believe an evening of beauty can change our hearts,” Goćur says. “I hope our story sparks a renewed interest in Mother Guérin for many. I love that she was a strong woman who led with conviction but also operated with immense humility and obedience. I feel the world tells us we have to choose one or the other, but she’s a clear example that you can be strong and soft at the same time.
“I also hope it will help audiences to imagine heaven and realize that those who have died are interceding for us on Earth in a real way.”
Murphy lives that belief, drawing strength from knowing that St. Theodore and her son Xavier are with her always.
“So many people are suffering from something,” Murphy says. “I hope that seeing Mother Guérin’s story will help them embrace their suffering and ‘lean with all their weight on Providence.’ ”
All those hopes and aspirations come together in the finale when the stage fills with everyone in the musical.
“Like the show itself, it’s a celebration of Mother Guérin’s life, as well as the lives and voices of those whose lives she touched,” May says.
“She was a remarkable woman, and she made the world around her a better place, no matter what problems and trials she encountered. Her legacy was built one muddy footprint, one cold night, one prayer at a time, and it still affects us today.”
(To view the cast of Providence: A Love Story rehearsing one of the songs from the musical, go to youtu.be/1bsxgnZpCik.) †
A musical tribute to St. Theodore
The musical, Providence:
A Love Story, celebrating the life of St. Theodore Guérin, will be the first major performance in the new auditorium at St. Theodore Guérin High School in Noblesville, Ind., in the Lafayette Diocese.
The musical will take place in Our Lady of Champion Fine Arts Center, starting at 7 p.m. on March 6, 7, 13
and 14. Matinee shows will also start
at 2 p.m. on March 7 and 14.
Tickets are available at GuerinCatholic.org/fine-arts-events. †
