Deacon Anthony Vilardo prioritizes his faith

Back in 2013, Anthony Vilardo attended a presentation about the permanent diaconate. At the time the now 57-year-old West Seneca resident had a very active role at St. Vincent de Paul Parish, Springbrook, helping with Life Teen, Family Promise and several other ministries. His involvement, faith life and devotion to the faith earned him entrance into that presentation.

Deacon Vilardo just became the fourth of those eight men to be ordained.

The process of his formation began in 2017 with self-reflection.

“Where you are at this moment and how God is calling you to change,” he said. “From an intellectual standpoint, the academic education through formation was challenging, but extremely eye opening.”

He points to the relationship between the Old Testament and the New Testament as being the most striking. “The laws and traditions of the Old Testament are fulfilled in the New Testament,” he said.

All deacons earn a master’s of arts in pastoral studies from St. Bernard’s School of Theology and Ministry in Rochester. Due to the distance and the Covid pandemic, classes were held via Zoom.

His favorite course was Sacramental Theology.

“Just going in-depth with the various sacraments, the origins of the sacraments, and seeing the prefigurements in the Old Testament really made them more real to me. Not that they weren’t real before, but it brought a lot more meaning to the sacraments than I had before.”

The closing of Christ the King Seminary and the Covid-19 pandemic lock down shifted the education process.

“From a formation standpoint, everything changed – not having classes in person, not doing formation weekends in person, was extremely challenging for me,” Deacon Vilardo explained. “I’m OK on computers. To communicate by screen is a challenge for me. I like to have one-on-one communication with people either in a classroom setting or just talking with somebody. So, that was a challenge,” he said. “The formation weekends were extremely challenging because I wasn’t with the other men in formation. There is a tight bond with other people who are pursuing formation. You develop these friendships and relationships. I cherish those conversations and opportunities to be on the formation weekends with everybody else. We didn’t have that free time in between sessions to get together with our other brothers in formation through Zoom.”

Looking back on the experience, he sees it in a new light.

“It was a challenge, but I think it was setting us up for being able to adapt to different changes as they arise,” he said.

He already serves as a lector and eucharistic minister at his parish, and looks forward to participating in the sacraments at a diaconal level. Beyond that, he has no set plans. 

“I’m leaving that in the hands of God. My role as a deacon is to be a faithful servant to God,” he said.

As some parting words of wisdom, he advises to make time for God.

“The biggest thing for me that I have learned over these years is to grow in your spirituality in any way, you have to 1, prioritize it, and 2, set time aside just to be with God and not have any preconceived notions going into it. There are lots of different types of prayer that we can partake in, but to privatize and set time aside for God in quiet whether it’s in adoration or in a room in your home and just meditate and let God speak to you.”