We welcome you to the Cardinal Mundelein Auditorium on our campus for Tolton: From Slave to Priest, a professional Catholic theater production based on the life of Fr. Augustus Tolton, the first African American priest.
Auxiliary Bishop of Chicago Joseph N. Perry serves as the Diocesan Postulator pursuing the Cause of Sainthood for Father Augustus Tolton. Complete information about his cause for canonization can be found at http://www.toltoncanonization.org/
Writer and director Leonardo Defilippis was originally inspired to produce Tolton while on tour in the Diocese of Springfield. The late Francis Cardinal George not only encouraged Defilippis’ idea, but also sent financial support for the project shortly before his death in 2015.
Fr. Tolton’s compelling story has the potential to renew the faith of Catholics of every ethnicity, encourage vocations, bring hope to communities desperately in need of healing, and inspire all to work for reconciliation and peace by following his heroic example. “I pray that all can know Fr. Tolton’s holiness and friendship.” says Defilippis. “I also pray that through this project, African Americans will no longer wonder if their story – which is really our story – is worth hearing.”
O God, we give you thanks for your servant and priest, Father Augustus Tolton, who labored among us in times of contradiction, times that were both beautiful and paradoxical. His ministry helped lay the foundation for a truly Catholic gathering in faith in our time. We stand in the shadow of his ministry. May his life continue to inspire us and imbue us with that confidence and hope that will forge a new evangelization for the Church we love.
Father in Heaven, Father Tolton’s suffering service sheds light upon our sorrows; we see them through the prism of your Son’s passion and death. If it be your Will, O God, glorify your servant, Father Tolton, by granting the favor I now request through his intercession (mention your request) so that all may know the goodness of this priest whose memory looms large in the Church he loved.
Complete what you have begun in us that we might work for the fulfillment of your kingdom. Not to us the glory, but glory to you O God, through Jesus Christ, your Son and our Lord; Father, Son and Holy Spirit,you are our God, living and reigning forever and ever. Amen.
More information at toltondrama.com
