After his June 21 ordination as a priest for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, Father Marco Cerritelli will celebrate his first Mass the following day at St. Jane Frances de Chantal Church in Bethesda, Maryland – his childhood parish where he said being an altar server made an “impact and impression” on him.
“I recall being attracted to the priesthood from early elementary school,” Deacon Cerritelli said in a reflection on his vocation before his ordination as a priest. “I remember the impact and impression that altar serving had on me when I began doing so in the fourth grade at St. Jane de Chantal Parish.”
He added that “the reverence the priests at my home parish showed for the Mass and the Eucharist left a deep impression on me from a young age. Their devotion made it clear that something profound was being offered at the Mass – something I could not find anywhere else in the world.”
The 32-year-old Bethesda native also credits his vocation to the Benedictine monks at St. Anselm's Abbey School – where he attended middle and high school – who “inspired me by the simplicity and joy they lived. Their lives, given entirely to prayer, study, and service to the Lord, showed me how it is possible to live fully for the Lord.”
Deacon Cerritelli’s return to celebrate Mass at the altar of his childhood took a circuitous route that included stops in Indiana, Virginia, Austria and Rome. He earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and theology from the University of Notre Dame. Later, working as a campus missionary for the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) the future priest served at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia and the University of Vienna in Austria.
While in Austria, he took classes at Katholische Hochschule and the Pope Benedict XVI Philosophical-Theological University, known as the Hochschule Heiligenkreuz. He studied for the priesthood at the Saint John Paul II Seminary in Washington and the Pontifical North American College in Rome.
It was while serving as a FOCUS missionary that the future priest found that his relationship with the Lord deepened, and “I realized that He was calling me to serve the Church as His priest.”
“The Lord gave me the grace to realize that nothing would bring me greater joy than offering my entire life to Him. He made the next step of entering the seminary clear and simple; all I had to do was say ‘yes’,” he said.
The son of Mario and Susana Cerritelli, Deacon Cerritelli has one brother and three sisters. Susana Cerritelli was born in Spain and Deacon Cerritelli has dual U.S. and Spanish citizenship. In addition to English, he speaks Spanish, Italian and German.
“My family went to Mass weekly and impressed on us the importance of the faith,” Deacon Cerritelli said. “Along with my other siblings, I always attended Catholic school. My formation in Catholic education was very formative for me in seeing the importance and relevance of the Catholic faith in my whole life.”
Outside of his priestly vocation, Deacon Cerritelli enjoys playing soccer, discussing philosophy, traveling, and learning new languages and cultures.
As he looks at his call to serving as a priest, Deacon Cerritelli said he was drawn to that vocation “out of a desire to give my life to Christ and His Church in gratitude for all that the life and salvation (Christ) has given me.”
