Anthony Viviano surprised by his priestly calling

This article originally appeared in the May 20, 2011 issue of The Catholic Missourian.

By Jay Nies

When Anthony Viviano went into the seminary to find out if God was calling him to be a priest, most of his family and friends said they weren’t at all surprised. “But I certainly was surprised!” said Mr. Viviano. Make that happily surprised for this crooning former small-business owner, one of three men Bishop John R. Gaydos plans to ordain as transitional deacons on Saturday, May 28, in the Cathedral of St. Joseph. All three hope to be ordained priests of the Jefferson City diocese next year. “This will be a huge transition,” said Mr. Viviano, “Ordination to the diaconate means you go from studying and preparing for ordained ministry to being an active minister.”

Due north

Mr. Viviano is the oldest of five born to Joseph and the late Patricia Viviano in St. Louis. He appreciates having grown up in a faith- and tradition-saturated family. “I’m half-Polish and half-Italian,” he said. “My great-grandparents and grandparents brought their heritage and faith with them, and it’s stayed through the generations.” Crucial to Mr. Viviano’s upbringing were the example and prayerful intercession of his mother, who died to attending the ordination. “Without question, I would call my dad the North Star for my life in faith,” said Mr. Viviano. “If I ever veered off course, I just looked to him to see where I needed to be.” Starting out in Catholic grade schools, Anthony and his brothers attended their father’s alma mater in St. Louis, a Catholic middle school and high school run by the Brothers of Mary.

Morning Offering

Starting at age 8 or 9, Mr. Viviano and his brothers worked in their dad’s produce business during the summer, delivering to hospitals, restaurants and other businesses. “The first thing we would do when we climbed into the truck at 1 in the morning was to pray the ‘Morning Offering,’” said Mr. Viviano. “I would be half-asleep, of course, but I remember it like it was yesterday. I can still smell the heat of an early summer morning; the wonder of what the day would bring, and the feeling of being a ‘big boy’ heading off to work with my hero.” After high school, Mr. Viviano accepted a baseball scholarship to Benedictine College and got a degree in business administration.

He worked for a year at St. Joseph Home for Boys, a home for troubled youth, in South St. Louis. He then sold computers and insurance before returning to the Viviano Produce Co. He fell in love with a girl named Debbie. They talked about getting married. Unexpectedly, they became parents of a girl named Melanie. “I was pretty shaken,” said Mr. Viviano. “I wasn’t thinking about being a dad. But you know, Melanie is the best thing that ever happened to me. The best part of my life is being her dad.”

Extended family

When Melanie was 3, her mother met the man she would marry. As husband and wife, they have had nine children. Mr. Viviano is godfather to the eighth, named for Blessed Pope John Paul II. “Their kids are like nieces and nephews to me,” Mr. Viviano said. “We’re just family.” Deeply spiritual, Melanie just graduated from the University of Mississippi, where she was active in Catholic campus ministry and in inviting other students to join her. “She’ll definitely be at my ordination,” said Mr. Viviano. So will Debbie. “I can tell you, she’s the biggest cheerleader to my becoming a priest,” said Mr. Viviano. “From the day I mentioned it to her, she said, ‘You’ve got to do it. This is what you’re supposed to be.’”

Trust and surrender

After Joseph Viviano retired, Anthony kept the business going. In around 2005, he began experiencing what he calls “a spiritual awakening, a deepening of faith.” He felt purposefully drawn to the Mass, Adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament, and various devotions of the Church. “Little by little, that moved me to want to do some volunteering,” he said. For about a year, he spent 20 to 25 hours a week at the Missionaries of Charity soup kitchen in inner-city St. Louis. “I didn’t know it at the time, but that was kind of like my ‘mini-formation’ before going into the seminary,” he said.

He was taken with the sisters’ complete dedication to service to God and His people, as well as their reverence for the Mass and respect for religious life and the Priesthood. “That really kind of triggered a move toward doing something more,” Mr. Viviano said. He talked to a friend, Father Tom Begley, who had become a priest after pursuing another course in life. “He encouraged me at some point to take a look at the Priesthood,” said Mr. Viviano. “I did, and then things kind of took off from there.”

Brotherly bond

Upon being accepted into candidacy for the Jefferson City diocese, Mr. Viviano entered the year-and-a-half pre-theology program at Sacred Heart School of Theology. He then began four years of theology studies, priestly formation and service in the Church. Sacred Heart, located near Milwaukee, is for men who enter priestly formation after age 35 or after pursuing a secular career. Mr. Viviano arrived with an awareness of how far he had come spiritually. Over time, he realized how far he still had to go. “It was a good awakening for me,” he said. “To my chagrin, it became pretty evident to me that some of the traits and habits that were fine in secular life need some honing when you take on the life of a priest.”

Fortunately, he was at a place where others were making the same discovery. “There’s kind of a brotherly bond that takes place at Sacred Heart,” said Mr. Viviano. He has found a receptive audience for his musical prowess. He leads and accompanies hymns for Mass and belts out Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Elvis Presley standards at seminary fundraisers.

“Receive the Gospel”

Mr. Viviano is looking forward to being a deacon at a parish in the Jefferson City diocese this summer, then continuing parish work in the Milwaukee Archdiocese while completing his studies. “Sick calls at hospitals, helping to minister at Mass, giving homilies, baptizing babies, helping with RCIA — I’m really lucky to be able to do all of that,” he said. He feels blessed to have spent time with so many people who have given themselves in faith to God and service. Among them is his Uncle Jerry, who Mr. Viviano called “rock-solid and unwavering in his faith.”

There is also Servite Father Dennis Logue, a chaplain at the Sisters of the Holy Spirit Adoration (“Pink Sisters”) convent in St. Louis. “He’s very prayerful, very devoted, very solid,” said Mr. Viviano. “He would take a bullet for the faith in a heartbeat.” He also looks up to Sister Irene Marie of the Little Sisters of the Poor in St. Louis. “Especially in this world that seems like it’s coming off its hinges, it’s inspiring to be in the presence of these people and experience their witness and unwavering dedication,” he said. “It’s like, whoa! I need to get on this team!” he added.

“Not about me”

Aware that nothing but God’s grace can prepare him for all the tasks and situations that await him as a deacon and as a priest, Mr. Viviano begins each day with the same “Morning Offering” his dad taught him. “It sets the tone for the day in that it reminds me that everything I do belongs to and is for God,” he said. He asks for prayers to be able to be an instrument and vessel of the Holy Spirit and do God’s work. “It can’t be about me,” he said. “I have to open myself up and let the Spirit flow through me, and I have to stay out of the way."