Michael Sacilowski prepares debut of St. Francis of Assisi play

He’s been the Apostle to Ireland, the father of Jesus, and the Padre of the Poor, now Michael Sacilowski is ready to tackle St. Francis of Assisi.

The director of discipleship for the Cheektowaga Catholic Family produces one-man plays about saints. He began 12 years ago when he realized St. Patrick’s Day had become more about leprechauns than admiration of the life of the missionary to Ireland.

“I was fortunate to go to Christ the King Seminary and get a master’s degree in theology. That’s kind of what perked my interest as far as these plays,” he said of his unlikely theatrical origins. “One of the courses I took there was from Father Rick Reina. In his Spirituality class he would take a saint and convey their spirituality. I took a liking to that and started doing the performances.”

Sacilowski works with the kidney transplant program at ECMC. With no acting background other than mimicking what he sees in movies and television, he provides a multimedia presentation that includes him, in costume, interacting with a movie and voice overs. There’s also background music. So, the solo show is more than a monologue.

“It’s supposed to inspire. It has that intrigue that a drama would,” he said.

He researches and writes his own scripts. He follows his own intrigue and interest to pick his subjects. 

Being a husband and father of four attracted him to the life of St. Joseph, which happened to coincide with the Year of St. Joseph in 2020. 

“She did it All,” his play on Lackawanna’s Venerable Nelson Baker, came from Sacilowski’s appreciation of the magnificent work Father Baker offered locally.

“I think he’s the greatest Western New Yorker ever,” Sacilowski said.

The upcoming “Rebuild My Church” will detail the dramatic conversion process the Italian mystic and friar went through when he denounced his family’s wealth, and incorporated his love of nature and animals.

“There’s the drama,” he said. “The drama of his life for his ability to turn aside all the social pressures that he had, all the family pressures that he had, and to be able to turn and do the right thing, I think has a dramatic appeal.” 

It’s meant to be educational as well as entertaining.

“And I think to evangelize too,” he added. “I think to give us a sense of pride in who we are as Catholics, to understand that these saints are a part of our faith. We can draw inspiration from them. It has inspired me to read more about Nelson Baker and to pick up that book that I’ve had on the counter.”

Tim Neel, religion teacher at Queen of Heaven School in West Seneca, was so impressed by the Father Baker-themed “She Did it All,” he brought it to his middle school students.

“The content and attention to detail were spot on, but I was blown away by his timing. It was perfect between his parts and the recorded ones,” he said, adding the performance kept the attention of everyone, including the young students present.

“We felt like Father Baker was right before our eyes,” said Carolyn Rebmann, a parishioner of St. Joseph’s in Gowanda, who saw a performance at her parish. 

The performances truly are one-man shows as Sacilowski also is the only one behind the scenes handling the promotional end, printing his own flyers and calling performance venues.

He is now booking performances for “Rebuild my Church.” The 70-minute show can be produced in a church, gym or parish hall, and is suitable for schools, parish groups, and religious education programs.For more information, contact Sacilowski at mike.sacilowski@yahoo.com.