WESTON -- What should have been the worst days of Father Giris Azize's life were actually his best.

On Feb. 3, 1995, Alexandra Christine, his daughter and "little miracle," was born with sirenomelia, also called mermaid syndrome, an extremely rare birth defect that caused her legs to fuse together like a tail. Very few babies born with sirenomelia survive infancy. When the Azizes were expecting Alexandra, doctors informed them that the baby would likely die in the womb.

"Many of the doctors needed our prayers to help them have faith in the Lord," Father Azize wrote in a 1995 letter to his aunt that he shared with The Pilot. "Many of their recommendations were to terminate the pregnancy immediately. Clearly, our answer was that it was the decision of God who gives life and decides the destiny of us all."

Father Azize and his wife discussed the matter with their parish prayer group. At first, they felt it would be best to keep Alexandra's condition secret. They decided, however, that Jesus wanted them to turn their tragedy into a miracle.

"The wonder of the Holy Spirit and the greatness of God flooded us with happiness," Father Azize wrote in the letter. "We brought many people to our prayer group to witness the immense love that Jesus held for us."

As Alexandra's birth neared, the Azizes' prayers and rosaries became more fervent. She was born alive, and died three days later. It reminded Father Azize of the Resurrection.

"These days were the most beautiful days of our life. The Lord allowed us to be purified by Alexandra Christine and even more importantly to be closer to God who helped us carry our cross," he wrote.

Despite all the pain he was going through, he saw his baby smile at him. He would hold her against his chest so she could feel the warmth of his body. He felt her heartbeat grow slower in her final hours.

"In this moment of agony, we had realized that it was time to return the piece of Heaven back to Jesus the almighty," he wrote.

Father Azize has four children, and "four in Heaven." Timothy Clare, Anthony Mary, and Mary James died in the womb. The grief of those losses is part of what brought him to Pope St. John XXIII National Seminary in Weston, the only seminary in the U.S. geared toward training men over 30 for the priesthood.

"I think my experience can really help a lot of parishioners going through hard times with marriage or life, losing children, miscarriages," he told The Pilot. "And I think that God has a plan that is beyond my understanding, but I think that's why I'm here."

Father Azize, 64, is one of five men who will be ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Boston on May 16.

"It is unbelievable, scary, and amazing," he said. "It is, I cannot describe the words, but sometimes I'm in awe, asking God, the Lord, 'You know that I'm not worthy for this.' But he always said, 'You are. I want you to be here.'"

Father Azize, also known as "Father G.," was born in Puerto Rico. He grew up with his parents, older brother, and two chihuahuas in a rural suburb of San Juan. He attended Catholic school from elementary school to high school. His parents were not particularly devout, but his mother would take him to Mass. He served as an altar boy and an organist in his parish. To this day, he plays the organ at Pope St. John XXIII.

"The complexity of it, and the solemn, beautiful sound and music, especially Bach's music," he said. "You have many varieties of sound you can make, but also the music you can play, different voices, at the same time."

He moved to Colorado to attend school at CU Boulder and the University of Denver. The move required him to adjust to a new language, culture, and climate. He wanted to be a doctor or cancer researcher until he discovered that he grew faint at the sight of blood. Still wanting to work with people, he spent 30 years in the pharmaceuticals and medical devices industry, ultimately retiring after seven years in Pfizer's immunology and inflammation division.

He was also heavily involved in the Church. His work as a photographer for the non-profit Catholic news agency ZENIT took him to two World Youth Days: 2011 in Madrid with Pope Benedict XVI, and 2013 in Rio de Janeiro with Pope Francis. He was also involved with Cursillo retreats, pro-life groups, the Knights of Columbus, EWTN, the Legionaries of Christ, and Catholic summer camps. In 2019, he went on a pilgrimage to Fatima, where he felt called to the priesthood. Priests and sisters would often tell him he was meant to be a priest. Sometimes he would enter a church and be asked if he was a priest or seminarian. He entered Pope St. John XXIII in 2022.

"In this seminary, your life will change immensely because you're here, it's like a fraternity," he said. "You're here together with other men who gave their lives to Christ. They are fully embedded in doing God's will and providing what the Church needs, which is a strong, holy priest."

He is currently a transitional deacon at St. Stephen Parish in Framingham, which has a large Hispanic community.

"You're interacting with them, and you can really connect with their culture quickly," he said. "Being bilingual helps to quickly learn the way how they react, the way the stress works and how stress affects different situations, wars in their countries, or whatever it is, family being away."

With his ordination coming soon, Father Azize still isn't sure why God called him to be a priest. He plans to ask him when he gets to Heaven.



This article originally appeared in the April 24 issue of The Pilot.