SynopsisAt 31, Sal Di Leo, is at the breaking point in his life. The two worlds which he vacillates between for his survival, have finally collided. They are extremely different worlds. He can no longer exist in both. He must choose one, in order to go on. “The House of The Lion”, his heritage of Royalty in the old country of Sicily, as told to him by his father, before he deserted Sal and the family and left them in poverty, becomes the driving force of his early survival. After his father runs off, he is placed in the care of Franciscan Sisters in a Catholic orphanage at 8. Driven by the belief he didn’t belong in the situation he finds himself, he is haunted by the “House of The Lion” story as his escape. It becomes his driving force and makes him determined to overcome all odds to get him back to where he believes he rightfully belongs.
Another world is presented to Sal by a pragmatic Franciscan Sister in the orphanage, Sister Mary Paul, who sees this little boy struggling with anger as he gets into fights and continuous trouble. She sees through him and knows he is covering up his sadness with the loss of his family and uses anger as his protection from the pain he is suffering. She offers Sal another way through life to deal with his losses without anger and fear, she promises will give him peace. The world of faith. Sister Mary Paul also plants the seed that he truly has a choice in the matter of either being angry or choosing a way of peace through faith. Sal fights his way through the orphanage, high school years at a boarding school, through college, and finally into early adulthood. He manages to get educated with the help of many kind people who take a liking to him and help him through college. He meets and marries a wonderful loving woman who stands behind him and tries to help him move forward and make a life for himself. Tragically, the “House Of The Lion” still drives him to pursue money and status as his way of getting back to where he believes he belongs. Without regard to ethics or anyone else, he strives to achieve wealth. He does finally achieve wealth, but to no avail. He finds it has not filled that void in him that has haunted him. He does not find peace or happiness as he thought he would. He realizes he has sold his soul for money. As a result, in his early thirties, he finds he can no longer go on. He is faced with choosing between suicide or life? His Father’s promise of the “House of The Lion”, or Sister Mary Paul’s promise of peace through faith are his choices. Miraculously, he chooses life and begins to find peace through faith.14 years later, at 45, he locates 90-year-old Sister Mary Paul living in a retirement home and reaches out to her. He shares with her that although he has changed and has made a good life for himself with a nice family and comfortable living, but still struggles with the ghost of the “House of The Lion”. She gently advises him to go back to his roots and look for the truth to find his peace. Sal listens and goes back to New York City, where his family came from, to investigate the truth about “The House Of The Lion”, once and for all. He is overwhelmed with shock and frustration when he uncovers a plethora of pain, death, and deception in “The House of The Lion” story. When he returns from New York, he calls Sister Mary Paul to tell her what he found and that he was confused and angry again. She reminds him of the promise of peace in faith, and to look close at what he has, a wonderful loving family and a comfortable life, which was all he truly needed. Knowing this was the truth, he breaks down in an emotional avalanche of sobbing. The pain and suffering are finally exorcised from within him. He is finally able to let go of the “House of The Lion”. He is transformed in a life of gratitude because of faith. Realizing God has been there for him all along, he now becomes empowered and finds a newfound purpose in his life of passing on the gift of peace through faith. |
