For about three decades, students at St. Anthony of Padua School in Akron have kept a Holy Week tradition: performing the story of Jesus’ last week on earth in mime.
School officials said the program, performed by about 50 seventh and eighth graders, has been offered every other years in recent times. This year, they invited Bishop Edward Malesic and Tracey Arnone, associate superintendent of Catholic schools for the diocese, to attend the afternoon program on March 27. A second performance was offered that night.
(See photo gallery above.)
The entire student body filed quietly into the church in anticipation of the event. Lights were dim as the performers – dressed in black with their faces painted either stark white or with a pattern to depict their roles. They processed up the main aisle and place props for the program – including “nails,” a hammer, a cross, a crown of thorns and veils for Mary, Jesus’ mother, and the women of Jerusalem – in front of the church. Silently, the student performers took their places around the church. Some were positioned in pews throughout the church and recited parts of the story as it began.
A narrator read the story, “What a Week for Jesus,” which some audience members described as part “Godspell” and part “Jesus Christ Superstar.”
The performers moved quietly through the church to perform the program, which began on Palm Sunday and ended with Jesus’ Resurrection.
At times, the church was quiet and at other times, songs or music were played.
The students moved quietly and deftly into place as Jesus appeared, dressed in white with a Superman-like emblem on the shirt.
The program covered Jesus’ appearance before Pontius Pilate, the scourging, crowning with thorns and carrying the cross to Golgotha, where the Crucifixion took place. Sound effects and flickering lights added to the somberness of Jesus’ death. His sorrowful followers silently filed away, with some returning a short time later to claim the body and “bury” it, placing it carefully on the altar.
The full cast returned after the burial and placed flowers on Jesus. The performance moved several in the audience to tears.
After the program, the audience silently left the church. Each person was handed a small nail as a memento.
Students moved into the gym, where Bishop Malesic spoke to them briefly.
“I love that Jesus was placed on the altar,” he said, explaining that’s where he gives his life for us during the sacrifice of the Mass.
“The people mocked him, beat him and crucified him. He rose from the dead and then went back to those same people because he never leaves us,” the bishop said. “God takes great delight in each one of you, his sons and daughters. He loves you so much he is willing to die for you. He wishes the best life possible for each of you.”