Age- 15, from the CD/DVD "Songs of the Faithful"
-Remarkable true story- We had already been filming on locations for two weeks.
Angelina and the director, Manuel with a film crew and us standing by sometimes
12- 14 hour days. It was in the middle of summer in Rome and it was HOT! We
were all weary from the pace we had been keeping to get this project finished
within the 3 week period. I kept asking the director, when are we going to
begin filming the music video for "Prayer of St. Joseph"? This was
most important to me, because I am Sicilian and I grew up in a family with
great devotion to St. Joseph. Back home in Mississippi, many altar societies go
through months of preparation of baking and cooking to set up altars of food in
honor of the great famine that happened in Sicily during the Middle Ages and
the people cried and prayed to St. Joseph their patron Saint for help. When the
famine ended, they were so thankful to St. Joseph that they made altars and
filled them with food from their harvest as thanksgiving. Angelina ancestors
brought this tradition over to the U.S. from Sicily and still today they spend
countless hours of making beautiful breads and food to distribute to the poor
and hungry.St. Joseph's feast day is March 19.
Back to Rome- The director, Manuel, was at his wit's end for my constant asking him," when?". He did not know of any Church in Rome that had a statue of St. Joseph where we could possibly use as a backdrop for the song. Finally, he agreed tomorrow we will begin shooting. He had no idea where, but promised. Susan Stein from Heartbeat records was with us and she was writing the script that Angelina would say before each shoot. That night, Susan stayed up as we all went to bed and wrote the script. Then off to sleep she went. The next morning we all met very early downstairs in the hotel and as I sat near Susan, she began to tell me of a dream she had. The dream was of a beautiful garden near the hotel and that would be the backdrop to the film. She asked the desk clerk if there was such a garden. He smiled and in his thick Italian accent, he pointed across the street and said there was a magnificent little garden behind the wall of a Monastery. "Who lived there?", she asked. "The Sisters of St. Joseph", he replied. He then said he could call over and get us permission to come over.
We all gathered with cameras and script in hand only to walk across this street and knock on a huge metal gate. The gate opened and we all gasped. A most beautiful garden was before us complete with a St. Joseph statue holding the baby Jesus and a stunning view of St. Peter's Basilica in the background. The sisters were most welcoming and even let us take their statue from inside, out to the garden for effect. "Prayer of St. Joseph" turned out to be one of the Director's favorite video.
Today is his feast day and I find it most appropriate to share it with you. Hope you enjoy! Thanking the Sister's of St. Joseph once more and Susan Stein for following her dreams and more importantly our faith to step out when we did.
One last note, Angelina fell ill early in the day mostly from exhaustion. We rushed her back across the street to the hotel and let her sleep for a couple of hours and then made it back in time to film these gorgeous shots at the the end of the day.
Back to Rome- The director, Manuel, was at his wit's end for my constant asking him," when?". He did not know of any Church in Rome that had a statue of St. Joseph where we could possibly use as a backdrop for the song. Finally, he agreed tomorrow we will begin shooting. He had no idea where, but promised. Susan Stein from Heartbeat records was with us and she was writing the script that Angelina would say before each shoot. That night, Susan stayed up as we all went to bed and wrote the script. Then off to sleep she went. The next morning we all met very early downstairs in the hotel and as I sat near Susan, she began to tell me of a dream she had. The dream was of a beautiful garden near the hotel and that would be the backdrop to the film. She asked the desk clerk if there was such a garden. He smiled and in his thick Italian accent, he pointed across the street and said there was a magnificent little garden behind the wall of a Monastery. "Who lived there?", she asked. "The Sisters of St. Joseph", he replied. He then said he could call over and get us permission to come over.
We all gathered with cameras and script in hand only to walk across this street and knock on a huge metal gate. The gate opened and we all gasped. A most beautiful garden was before us complete with a St. Joseph statue holding the baby Jesus and a stunning view of St. Peter's Basilica in the background. The sisters were most welcoming and even let us take their statue from inside, out to the garden for effect. "Prayer of St. Joseph" turned out to be one of the Director's favorite video.
Today is his feast day and I find it most appropriate to share it with you. Hope you enjoy! Thanking the Sister's of St. Joseph once more and Susan Stein for following her dreams and more importantly our faith to step out when we did.
One last note, Angelina fell ill early in the day mostly from exhaustion. We rushed her back across the street to the hotel and let her sleep for a couple of hours and then made it back in time to film these gorgeous shots at the the end of the day.
feeling blessed.
