Girls, you know how much I just LOVE Sister Simplice, the caring, non-judgemental nun, who attends to Fantine during her final days in Victor Hugo's novel, "Les Miserables." Sister Simplice did not appear in the stage musical, and I have no reason to expect she will be in the forthcoming film version of said musical. But she was featured in the 1978 made-for-TV version of Victor Hugo's story, which featured Richard Jordan, as Jean Valjean, Anthony Perkins, as Inspector Javert, and Donald Pleasance's (who went on to do the film classic, "Halloween," that same year!!!) daughter, Angela in the role of Fantine. Sister Simplice was here portrayed by that great British character actress, Celia Johnson.
But there is a real life Sister Simplice, in our midst. I am talking about Sister Camille D'Arienzo. For lo these many Sundays, Monsieur and I do not miss her morning broadcasts on 1010 WINS radio. I am telling you, it is like attending Mass, better even, because, unlike some gasbag priests, Sister Camille gets right to the point. She is a Native New Yorker, born and raised in Ozone Park, Queens, having been a Sister Of Mercy since 1951!!!!!!!!!! She has been a champion for education--she received a Bachelor's Degree in it from Fordham, in 1968, and then an M.A. and Ph.D. in Communications from the University of Michigan, from which she parlayed that into her broadcasting career, for which she has never missed a Sunday, since its inception in 1973. Would you, believe, darlings, that was back when I was just graduating high school????????
Sister Camille is a radical nun, because she wears real clothes, and shows her hair!!!!!!
I mean, back when I was raised, a REAL nun did not show her hair, because she did not have any; it was all shaved off!!!!!!!! She covered her body completely, because she was a Bride Of Christ, and always bathed surreptitiously. She would sleep on a bed of nails, with one eye open, staring at something tempting, like a succulent peach, in order to resist temptation.
But that was then, and this is now! Sister Camille may not shop at Prada, but she IS a media darling, after all! And with a name like D'Arienzo, you know she knows her way around an Italian kitchen!!!!!!!! Bet she whips up Timpanos for the needy. I am sure Stanely Tucci knows her!!!!!!! In between attending Mass and all the other services she provides. At 75, this Sister has more energy than some of my girls, including yours truly.
Let us all be inspired by Sister Camille. At least, listen to her wisdom on Sunday. It will do you all worlds of good, as it has done me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
As Leonard Cohen himself said, "the Sisters Of Mercy, they are not Departed or gone!"
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