By Tanya Connor  | The Catholic Free Press 

Father Chester J. Misiewicz, a world-traveler, teacher and pastor, retired July 1 and gave away most of his personal library of an estimated 12,000 books. The books fed his dreams to travel. He traveled, then shared his experiences with others. 

He has Parkinson’s disease and knew retirement time had come because of two falls. Last January he fell in the rectory of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Parish in West Brookfield, where he was pastor. He spent 18 hours on the floor before he was found. Then in June he fell again and was there for nine hours. Both times someone came looking for him when he didn’t show up for Mass, he said. 

Father Dennis J. O’Brien, then diocesan minister to priests and now deceased, suggested he move into Southgate at Shrewsbury. When Father O’Brien noticed his treasure trove of books, he suggested donating some to a religious sister in Africa for a convent, an orphanage, and a seminary.  

But what led Father Misiewicz to collect so many books? 

“I’ve always been curious,” he explained. “I can remember wanting to learn to sign my name so I could get a library card. I must have been about 5.”  

He learned to write his name in cursive and about twice a week frequented the library, reading mostly history. 

“It fed my dreams for travel,” he explained. He said he read about Ferdinand Magellan traveling the world, so in 1978 he decided to go around the world alone. He started in New York and went to Rome, Syria, Iran, India, Hong Kong, Japan, Hawaii and back to New York. 

That wasn’t his only trip. 

“When I was a youth I made a goal of 50x50 by 50” – to visit all 50 states in the United States and 50 foreign countries by age 50 – he said.  By age 35 he had completed the goal, “15 years early,” he said. “The books helped me do research for the trips.” 

He’s been on about 75 trips abroad and seen six continents.  

His last trip was two years ago, when he visited Athens, where he wanted to see a 1,000-year-old mosaic in Dafni Monastery restored after an earthquake. That trip also took him to Rome for the canonization of Cardinal John Henry Newman. 

Father Misiewicz wanted to study places important to Church history – on location.  

“For example, three times I’ve seen the white smoke over the Sistine Chapel announcing there’d be a new pope,” witnessing Church history being made with the election of Popes John Paul I, Benedict XVI and Francis, he said.  

“I taught Church history at the University of Notre Dame while I was studying there,” Father Misiewicz said. He was a graduate assistant while working on his master’s in theology, specializing in Church history. He got his bachelor’s in history from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, doing a year abroad in Rome. 

“I went to public school because my mother was a public school teacher,” said Father Misiewicz, who was born in 1947. “I left home at 15 to study to be a priest – Cassadaga, New York.” 

He was ordained in 1973 at St. Paul Cathedral and was an associate pastor at Our Lady of Fatima, Worcester; St. Anne, Shrewsbury; and St. Cecilia, Leominster, and pastor at St. Aloysius, Gilbertville; St. Charles Borromeo and Blessed Sacrament, Worcester; and Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, West Brookfield. 

At his parishes he taught courses, sharing his knowledge, experiences, books and religious items, and led parishioners on pilgrimages to Europe, the Holy Land and Canada, he said.  

Since he grew up at St. Peter Parish in Worcester, he asked to teach about St. Peter and the papacy at St. Peter Central Catholic Elementary School, he said.  

He also taught in the permanent diaconate program for 20-plus years, he said. 

Father Misiewicz said he thinks his travels made him an effective teacher. His enthusiasm for the subject and his excitement about achieving his goal, fueled students’ dreams to travel too, he said. 

“So it was nice to see that was what Father O’Brien was doing in his final days” – fueling teens’ dreams. “I think the library was a way of … getting them to realize that there’s much for them to learn about in the world.” 

The teenagers were involved in a Young Neighbors in Action project coordinated by St. Patrick Parish in Whitinsville.  

St. Patrick’s assistant director of student ministries, Shelly Mombourquette, worked with 30 teenagers from their parish, Our Lady of the Lake in Leominster and St. Denis in Douglas. 

One of the tasks was transporting religious books that several priests donated for Sister Mary Jennifer Wandia in Tanzania, said Kathy Gravel of Our Lady of the Lake. She said the foundress of the Adorer Missionary Sisters of the Poor, who has visited the area, said she’ll take as many books as they can ship. 

Mrs. Gravel estimated that there are 400-500 boxes of books, about 80 percent from Father Misiewicz, that they expect to ship in about three weeks.  

The teenagers saw it was hard for Father Misiewicz to part with his books, and one suggested they write him thank-you letters, Mrs. Mombourquette said. 

Two days before he died, Father O’Brien gave Father Misiewicz 38 pages of letters from the teenagers and chaperones letting him know the donation is an investment in others’ education. 

It was “really tough” deciding which books to keep, but “I’m glad they’re going to a good place.” He also gave four or five boxes to St. Aloysius Catholic School in Gilbertville. (He still has about 1,600 books on 13 bookcases in his two rooms at Southgate.) 

Overall, he has no regrets; he said he got to see what he most wanted to in his traveling days. He said he’s in the contemplative stage of life, a time of reflection. 

“That’s what I hope to do at Southgate – reflect on where I’ve been and the contributions we’re going to make, to make the Church even better,” he said. 

Celebrate Priesthood set for Oct. 28

Father Chester J. Misiewicz is among priests of the diocese who retired this year, so he stands to benefit from the 8th annual Celebrate Priesthood! The “Taste of the Diocese” gala to raise money for retired priests’ care is to be held at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 28 at St. Paul Diocesan Junior/Senior High School, 144 Granite St., Worcester. It’s also to be streamed online for those who cannot attend in person. 

“Have you ever faced the need to care for an elderly family member?” asks Michael Gillespie, director of the diocesan Office of Stewardship and Development. “You know first-hand how costs can add up when dealing with medical bills, assistance in living and many other issues, even before facing skilled nursing home care!”  

The customary retirement age for diocesan clergy is 75, he notes. The diocese cares for an average of 55 retired priests who’ve served for decades.  

“The gift of the priesthood is more than a personal vocation,” Mr. Gillespie says. “It is a gift to the community of faith. We are never without the sacramental graces conferred on each of us, thanks to the presence of a priest.  

“We invite you to consider ways in which you can show gratitude for the priests ... as we face the financial challenge of caring for our retired priests,” he says. 

Donors can give to the Priests’ Retirement Fund at any time during the year and/or make a legacy gift to the fund in their estate planning. 

– See worcesterdiocese.org/celebrate-priesthood and worcesterdiocese.plannedgiving.org for more information.