According to the USCCB, there are more than 13,000 permanent deacons serving in parishes around the United States. Many of these ministers are married and have secular jobs as engineers, first responders, salespeople, and a myriad of other careers. It’s safe to say, however, that no other deacon has a job quite like that of Deacon Anthony Ligouri, Jr..
In addition to his duties at the parish of Corpus Christi in Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey, Deacon Ligouri is a professional singer, songwriter, and recording artist. He is also a licensed Elvis Presley tribute artist. Some parishioners even call him “Deacon Elvis.”
Anthony Ligouri does give off an Elvis vibe with his sweeping pompadour and long sideburns. The hairstyle comes with his music job, of course, but it also expresses his deep affection for Elvis. When Aleteia sat down with Deacon Ligouri earlier this fall, he spoke about his passion for music and the King of Rock and Roll, but he also shared an extraordinary experience he had in his early 20s.
A life-changing emergency
A native of the Garden State, Anthony Ligouri was raised Catholic by his parents, who were “faithful and made us go to all the catechisms and things like that.” He recalls how during his boyhood he loved “watching the 4:30 afternoon movie when I got home from school. I always loved Holy Week when they had all those biblical films.”
In college, he said his faith was “falling off” until his life was changed by a grave medical emergency. Perhaps due to a long involvement with contact sports, Ligouri’s omentum – the layers of tissue that protect the intestines and lower organs – somehow became twisted and then infected. He was rushed to the hospital for surgery.
Decades later, Ligouri still vividly recalled lying on the operating table when everything went wrong, and he had an out-of-body experience. He described “going through a tunnel of light, which is not a cliché.”
Meeting Jesus
“Going toward the light, I remember seeing really tormented souls going the opposite way. Which scared the heck out of me. When I did emerge, it was like a paradise. There’s so much more to the story, but I saw a flash of light and then I looked in the distance and I saw Jesus.”
“He was larger than life,” Ligouri said. “His hair was silver, not gray. And he shined like – though I didn’t know much about it at the time – like the transfigured Christ.”
Deacon Ligouri can still picture every moment of the encounter in detail. “It was an absolutely life-changing experience,” he said. He wrote everything down soon after so that he would never forget and later published it in a book, He Said, “Peace Be Still,” which is currently out-of-print (but not for much longer, we hope).
Jesus saved and forever changed his life that day, Deacon Ligouri said. By this time, he was performing live in a 50s cover band, including Elvis favorites. “I met up with a family that was following my shows. They belonged to a kind of Pentecostal church.” Ligouri began attending services with them.
Years later, he enrolled his first son in a Catholic elementary school and became friends with the pastor of the church. “He started asking me to volunteer for this and that. And it kind of just led me back to where I guess I belonged.”
An early fan of music – and Elvis
Ligouri credits his love for music to his family. “My father wasn’t a singer, really, but he loved country music, especially Johnny Cash.” In a baby scrapbook, his mother wrote down that he was always singing cowboys songs. “I guess whatever songs my dad was playing,” he said with a laugh.
And my grandmother and great-grandmother used to watch all the Elvis films on TV. There were girls, guitars, fast cars, and motorcycles. I thought that was all kind of cool. So that’s how I got hooked on Elvis.
Ligouri was devastated when Elvis died. “I did his songs, but not a show because I thought that was going to be disrespectful. But then it kind of morphed into that because people really enjoyed me doing it. I could sound pretty dead-on when I really want to, you know.”
Certain Elvis tribute artists want to “mimic every move Elvis made,” Ligouri said, but his approach is different:
That’s not what I do. I just try to bring the spirit and the music, and (focus on) the emotion you evoke from the audience, you know, whether it's a sad country weeper or a gospel song or whatever. People really, really feel it, you know.
His Elvis tribute shows are just one part of his remarkably busy music career, however. For decades, Ligouri has performed in live shows and recorded multiple albums. Many of his songs have appeared on the music charts. He splits his time between his home in New Jersey and one in Nashville, where he collaborates with the singer-songwriter Jerry Foster. Ligouri was inducted into the Alabama Country Music Hall of Fame in 1991.
“Deacon Elvis”
With such a busy career, what spurred him to devote substantial time to the diaconate?
Oddly enough, it was at a First Communion Mass. I was doing some music for the service. The priest, Fr. Tom, was preaching and the Gospel led him to talk about vocation, including vocations to the diaconate. It opened my eyes. I just never realized that as a married man, I can still become part of the clergy.
I was a Jesus guy my whole life, whether I fell away from the Church or not. I always had this affinity for Jesus – even when I wasn’t going to church on a regular basis. And I said, ‘Yeah, I’d like to do this.’
Over the years, Deacon Anthony Ligouri has become a vital part of the parish community at Corpus Christi – and, yes, newcomers to the church sometimes do double-takes when they see him at the altar. Parishioners fondly refer to him as “Deacon Elvis.” Beyond his unique appearance, however, Anthony Ligouri is known for his kindness and generosity.
Imitating Christ ...
One member of the community, Sylvia DeFelice, shared with Aleteia her own memory of how the deacon brought her family consolation at a moment of loss:
I lost my husband 15 years ago from a heart attack, (when) my children were 17, 10, and 8. He was the first one at my doorstep the following morning inspiring us with the vision of heaven and God’s love. He placed us in a circle, we all held hands and prayed. My children ‘s hearts were broken from their loss but his presence and compassion brought us together at that moment, which I can describe as ‘a feeling of heaven and earth joining together.’
For Deacon Ligouri, the value of his vocation is serving his community and bringing consolation. His favorite Gospel passage is Matthew 25, he said, paraphrasing Jesus’ words:
'When I was naked, you gave me clothes and when I was hungry, you fed me. When I was thirsty, you gave me drink and when I was in prison you visited me. When you did it for the least of my brothers, you did that for me.' That's my ministry right there in the nutshell.
... and paying tribute to Elvis
Deacon Ligouri has even managed to incorporate his music into his ministry. He and his son Christian often perform concerts for his parish, along with various charities and church organizations. Their music has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for worthy causes.
In giving of himself, Anthony Ligouri imitates the transfigured Christ who saved him in his darkest hour – but these concerts also pay tribute to his favorite music artist:
One of the things that attracted me to Elvis Presley was his kindness and his generosity to a fault. Money was just like something he could use to help that person over there he didn’t even know. A person would maybe have a fire in their house, and he would rebuild it. But these things were never news until after the fact because he didn’t want them publicized. I mean, the guy gave away things not to be showy but because he loved people. And I always thought, ‘Wow, here's the guy that's got everything in the world and he just gave it all away.’
You can learn more about Anthony Ligouri's music on his website. Watch him pay tribute to Elvis in his rendition of "Help Me Make It Through the Night" in the video below:
