St. Mary's chapel hosts wedding

By Tanya Connor |  The Catholic Free Press

WORCESTER – It was the groom’s idea. They could have their wedding at the health care facility – because the bride’s grandmother lives there and they wanted her to be included.
Katherine Crescenzo and her parents, John and Maryanne Crescenzo, shared this story with The Catholic Free Press moments before her marriage to Christopher Cabral at St. Mary Health Care Center Monday afternoon.
“A wedding isn’t a wedding without family,” the groom explained afterwards, when asked about his idea. The wedding had just taken place in the center’s chapel with a small congregation of family members, residents and other supporters.
Msgr. James P. Moroney, rector of St. Paul Cathedral, celebrated the Mass for the couple, who are from New York, where a reception for family and friends is to be held later.
Mrs. Crescenzo said her daughter is an elementary school teacher, her new son-in-law a registered nurse, both working in New York City. She said they hope to move to New Jersey and join a parish there.
Mr. and Mrs. Crescenzo live in Brimfield, but she was brought up in Auburn.     She said her mother, the grandmother of the bride, Phyllis Kaczyk, 90, grew up in Worcester and that’s where her heart is. And now her home is at St. Mary’s and it’s hard for her to leave the center.
After the wedding Mass there, a few photos were snapped in the hallway and chapel. Then the newlyweds entered the main dining room to the singing of “Here Comes the Bride.”
“We’re so grateful you had us” come here, the bride told the handful of residents and staff gathered for a mini-reception.
She and her new husband cut a cake they’d brought to share with the residents, and fed each other the traditional piece. Then they were off to a reception at the nearby home of her uncle and aunt.
The bride’s grandmother said, “I’m thrilled to death. This is so lovely. They’re both lovely people. I told Christopher I have a new grandson-in-law.” She said she was sorry her husband, Ted Kaczyk, who died two-and-a-half years ago, wasn’t able to be there.
Before the wedding Mass Mrs. Crescenzo said: “My mother has been here for two-and-a-half years and she loves it here. She has lots of lady friends and they’re attending.”
The bride and her parents explained how this unusual wedding venue came about. She said she was surprised when her fiancé proposed having their wedding at the health care center.
“I thought it was a wonderful idea,” she said. “We talked to Mom and Dad.”
Mr. Crescenzo said his wife started crying in reaction to the proposal to include her mother in this way.
“I talked to Nana first,” Mrs. Crescenzo said. She wanted to make sure her mother would be OK with having the wedding at St. Mary’s. Her mother said, “I would be honored.” She also picked the celebrant – Msgr. Moroney – who she’s become friendly with as he celebrates Mass there.
Another question was where to hold the reception. Mr. Crescenzo said his wife’s brother and sister-in-law, Gene and Penny Kaczyk, offered their nearby home, and Mrs. Kaczyk set up everything and did all the cooking.
“I’m overwhelmed,” the bride said, just before going to the chapel to get married. “I’m very excited. It’s beyond what I could have expected.”
“It seems right,” added her mother. She said her mother had help counting down to the big day – from fellow residents, nurses and a hairdresser.  
“It was more fun!” resident Jeannette Sienkiewicz said after the wedding. “And to share in Phyllis’ happiness … Phyllis was delighted that they would even think of having it here.” But others asked, “Why not? You are a wonderful grandmother.”
She said the bride’s grandmother gives so much of herself; “she has a nice, positive attitude that helps us all.”
Resident Carita Fontaine said it was a wonderful idea to have the wedding there; it “gives everybody a boost.”
Johanna Freeman, another resident, said she never expected to see a wedding there.
“It was a beautiful service; she made a beautiful bride,” said fellow resident Elaine Lamoureux. “We were talking about it a week or so ago” in anticipation.
“And we were practicing with Sister,” said Mrs. Fontaine. Sister Marie Therese Martin, a Sister of St. Joseph who is on St. Mary’s board, led the songs for Mass on a harp.
“When I was sitting there listening to the priest talking, it kind of brought a tear to my eye, when you think about the monumental commitment they’re making,” Mrs. Fontaine, a widow, said of the bride and groom. “They have no idea … about what life holds … in their married life. It seems in every life there’s some misfortune.” But a couples’ strength is dealing with such misfortune together, she said; “it’s your faith in God that gives you that strength.”
In his homily Msgr. Moroney talked about the couple being a witness to others through their love. Through their free, faithful and fruitful love for one another “we come to know Christ’s love for us,” he said. He said when they were children they began to learn that love is “not about me” but about the other.
“This was one of the most wonderful weddings I ever celebrated, because of the faith and joy, not only of the bride and groom, but of the holy house in which they chose to celebrate it,” Msgr. Moroney told The Catholic Free Press. He said he thought it was the first time in his 39 years as a priest that he celebrated a wedding in this kind of facility.
“It brought such joy into our home,” said Sister Dorothy Scesny, St. Mary’s director of mission integration and spiritual care. The Presentation Sister of the Blessed Virgin Mary said the bride’s mother had asked her, when trying to make arrangements, “Have you ever had a wedding here?” She replied, “I don’t think so, but all things are possible.”