Michael Bonetti prepares vestments in the sacristy at St. Leonard of Port Maurice Parish in June. Pilot photo/Wes Cipolla
BOSTON -- Michael Bonetti, master of liturgical ceremonies at St. Leonard of Port Maurice Parish in Boston's North End, always keeps an eye out for priestly "wardrobe malfunctions."
"What the priest wears for Mass is, I think, a very sacred part of the celebration," he said. "Well, maybe not everyone notices it; it's just me. I like to see that things are ironed, things are pressed, things are put together for the celebration. That's my personal pet peeve."
As master of ceremonies, Bonetti is responsible for making sure each Mass runs smoothly and in accordance with the celebrant's personal wishes (every priest has his own style). He decorates the altar, takes inventory of all the liturgical items in the 152-year-old parish, and prepares the chalice, patens, and vestments. One of his proudest recent accomplishments is helping to bring a first-class relic of Pope St. John Paul II to the parish in January.
"I love decorating," he said. "I like to keep it simple, but I like to keep it extravagant for special celebrations."
Sometimes he gets made fun of for his fastidious attention to detail.
"I love to show people the work we do or the way we celebrate our Masses here," he said. "Everyone's always telling me ... 'You're in the North End, you're not in Rome.' I say, 'Doesn't mean you can't work towards it.'"
He estimates that he has been to Italy anywhere between 15 and 24 times. His cell phone wallpaper is the interior of St. Peter's Basilica. He met Pope Francis at a general audience in 2023, shook his hand, and gave him a zucchetto from the papal tailor in Rome. As is tradition, the pope accepted the new zucchetto and gave Bonetti the one he was previously wearing. It now sits under glass in Bonetti's home.
When The Pilot visited with Bonetti at St. Leonard's on June 21, he was setting up for Mass that evening. He removed the unconsecrated hosts from their plastic packaging, muttering about how tough they are to open. He peered at the calendar on the wall and stroked his chin, then flipped through the lectionary to make sure it was at the right spot. He took the appropriate vestments (which he also irons and steams) out of the closet and hung them up for the clergy, remarking that they always get put on the hanger the wrong way.
"It makes me mental," he said.
The fast-moving, fast-talking Bonetti is something of a rarity among liturgical masters of ceremonies -- not only is he a layman, but he has yet to reach his 30th birthday.
"I consider myself a very old soul," the 29-year-old said. "I get along with everyone who's older than me, which I think is great, because you really do learn a lot. And the nice thing about being younger in this parish is I feel that I'm carrying on the tradition based on our own parish traditions."
Bonetti's "office" is located in St. Leonard's second sacristy, a small room packed with candles, monstrances, crucifixes, kneelers, and cardboard boxes labeled "wine." He says he enjoys looking at historic photos of St. Leonard's and recognizing objects he still uses to this day.
A lifelong North Ender, he was born on Endicott Street ("We get very territorial about our streets that we're born on") and now lives down the road from his childhood home. His ancestors came to the North End from Sicily and Campania. He grew up next door to the St. Anthony Society, of which he is now president. He organized the volunteers for St. Anthony's feast in June, helps take care of the saint's statue that is paraded through the streets, and handles fundraising, finding vendors, and running the society's meetings.
"That was a foundation of my faith and really set my starting point for a very dear devotion to St. Anthony," he said.
As a child, he attended Mass every Sunday and grammar school at St. John's on Moon Street.
"I tell everyone, it's the greatest neighborhood in the world," he said. "It's a very tight-knit community. We all know each other. It's kind of like an extended family."
He said the North End has its own language and accent, which he didn't realize until he attended Arlington Catholic High School.
His first experience of non-Catholic education came when he studied marketing at Suffolk University. That education in marketing has helped him with his work in the parish.
"I never say we're selling, because we're not," he said. "So I don't think of us as salesmen. I think we are promoting the faith that we put out there."
The North End, with its dense population and constant stream of tourists, is the perfect place to promote the faith. Promotion comes naturally to Bonetti -- his day job is chief engagement officer for MassDOT.
"It's an interesting crossroads," he said, adding: "My job is very people-oriented, and one of the greatest things is when my faith has taught me that I need to have patience. It's a hard job. There's a lot of work to it."
His faith is his "backbone" while he's at work.
"You have a tough day at work, you have something that doesn't go your way, this is where you lean back on," he said.
Most of his spare time is spent at St. Leonard's. He considers volunteering a second job and a hobby at the same time.
"If you don't love what you're doing, that's when it becomes a time burden. This is not a time burden for me," he said.
He has served as a lector, overseen the acolytes, and delivered Communion to the homebound. Every Sunday during the pandemic, he visited his sick neighbor, Jerry, and his 102-year-old (now 106-year-old) aunt, Annie, to give them the Eucharist and keep them company.
"It's such a great opportunity to connect," he said. "When Jerry passed away, it was like, 'I don't know what to do with my Sunday morning.'"
Some of the toughest liturgies he ever served at were the Easter Triduum Masses in 2019. His grandmother Maria was hospitalized on Holy Thursday and died on the night of the Easter Vigil.
"Knowing that she was suffering, I prayed and wished for her to have a peaceful transfer at this point," he said. "I gotta be honest, I was a little distracted while doing some of my stuff that year, and it was hard. But to be honest, it gave me a lot of peace. It was a nice way to change my mind from one thing and go back and go to something that is meaningful. You walk into the Passion with her, in a sense."
The interview was interrupted when a man wearing a ribbon bearing the image of Padre Pio (whose relics were on display in the church that weekend) entered the second sacristy and whispered "bathroom." Bonetti leapt up, fished for the bathroom key in his pocket, and gave it to the man.
"There's a lot of work to do, a lot of stuff to prepare ... making sure that all the people, like all the different ministries, are in line for what they need to be," Bonetti said. "Make sure the lectors are prepared, the Eucharistic ministers, the celebrants."
It's technical, challenging, sacred work.
"I find the liturgy so interesting," he said. "I really put a lot of work into trying to understand it."
"I never intended to carry on this role, but it's something that I do with great honor and great respect," he added.