BONNET SHORES — When your surname rhymes with a delectable circular Italian comfort food, it comes as no surprise that the Zizza family loves their pizza. So much so that they have pie making down to a science — literally.
On a recent Sunday evening, the clan gathered for one of their final pizza-making nights around the large kitchen island that has served as the focal point for food, fun and family time for much of 28-year-old Vincent “Jay” Zizza’s life.
The oldest of matriarch Kim Zizza’s four children, Deacon Jay Zizza will be ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Providence this Saturday at the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul.
While life is about to change for him, it is also changing for his mother and younger siblings as well.
Although Deacon Zizza was born in Michigan, where his father, a physician, was serving his medical residency, he and his family, including brothers Riley, 20, Liam, 23, and Jared, 26, have called the sprawling manse with a view of the water in the quiet Narragansett enclave of Bonnet Shores home for all their lives.
When Jay was young and the house was newly built, he was asked what type of theme he wished for the whimsically styled turret that formed the ceiling over his bed to be painted.
He said he wanted it to have the moon, planets and stars.
Kim decided to sell the well-appointed home — which she had built upon land previously owned by her family and on which she was raised herself — to move about five miles inland.
She and sons Liam, a Stonehill College grad who is applying to attend dental school, Jared, who holds a master’s degree from Boston University and is currently serving a fellowship in health science at the University of Connecticut, and Riley, who is studying exercise science at Sacred Heart University, will miss all the family time they were used to having with Jay, who is known for having a pleasant and caring smile on his face with everyone he meets.
“Jay was always happy,” Kim recalled of her oldest son’s formative years. “The only time I saw him stress out was when he lost a school paper, and he was very, very upset. I said, ‘Jay, just calm down, let’s look for it,’ and we found it.”
Riley said he has always been impressed with his brother’s intellect.
“He’s the smartest,” he says unequivocally. “He’s very logical. I can see how the priesthood is a better fit for him.”
With a master’s degree in chemistry, Kim worked hard to prepare her boys for rewarding and fulfilling lives. She gave them a Catholic education, sending all three to Monsignor Clarke School in Wakefield, then to Bishop Hendricken in Warwick, where Jay graduated in 2016.
Her oldest takes a position at the head of the kitchen island, carefully grating fresh cheese for their pizzas which feature homemade dough made to exacting specifications, with all the brothers double checking to ensure the chemistry of the dough ingredients is correct to produce the best results.
“Jay makes his own dough,” Jared said of his brother’s quest for the perfect pizza.
Science runs so deep in the family that Liam, an engineer, once built an outdoor pizza oven for the family to cook their pizzas in. He has also been known to email documents out detailing instructions to follow in the creation of new pies.
Like Liam, Jared also has an eye for consistency and quality in the pizza making process.
All three sons are of a mindset that if you’re going to do something, you should put in the effort to ensure you get it right the first time.
“Jay never wanted to write when he was younger, now he’s writing his sermons, and they’re really good,” Kim says proudly of her son.
When Jay was a student at Bishop Hendricken he enjoyed playing tennis and unified volleyball and running cross country.
He also found fulfillment in working as a mentor to those with disabilities in Hendricken’s Peer Options Program. His younger brothers would also serve as mentors when their time came.
It was during Jay’s years at Providence College that the idea of pursuing a vocation to the priesthood began to grow with him, an idea fostered by the Dominicans he had teaching his classes.
“By my third year, I was really confident with the idea of a vocation,” he said.
He would meet with Father Brian Morris, then-director of vocations for the diocese, to learn more.
Deacon Zizza graduated from Providence College in 2020 and then began his formation studies at Our Lady of Providence Seminary before going on to major seminary at St. John’s in Brighton, Massachusetts.
Although he has a thoroughly Italian last name, Deacon Zizza is only half Italian. On his mother’s side, he also has French and Irish ancestry.
“He’s always been a good leader,” Liam said of his brother.
Jared remembers his brother being very uplifting to other teammates on Hendricken’s tennis team,
“He was the shepherd on the tennis team,” Jared said.
Jared hadn’t expected his brother to pursue a vocation to the priesthood, but said, “I’ve seen him grow into the role.”
Deacon Jay allowed his family to make their pizzas first, saving his own for last. After he removed his pie and weighed in on the merits of crust crispness and the ratio of cheese and toppings he began to reflect on how he will minister as a priest.
“I try to go with the Augustinian philosophies,” he said. “Saint Augustine starts with the human heart.”
He points to Christ the King Pastor Father Jared Costanza as having been a positive role model in his life.
“He is very inspirational. His homilies were always very inspiring,” Deacon Zizza said.
“He created a big, welcoming community for all parishioners.”
After attending weekly Mass at Christ the King, and being inspired by those homilies, Deacon Zizza would look up at night into the turret and contemplate what it meant to be a person of deep faith.
Those glimpses of the heavens must have helped to inspire him to embark on his life’s journey to lead all souls to heaven.
