February 01, 2021
Evan Cascio ’03: St. Dominic Chapel ‘represents my faith journey, from pain to love’
By Evan Cascio ’03
I remember St. Dominic Chapel being built my sophomore year of college. I lived in the corner room of McDermott Hall, directly across from the construction site, and at the time I just wanted the hammering to end. What I didn’t realize was how that chapel would become the cornerstone of my faith journey.
I moved off campus the following year as a junior and a few days in, on the morning of Tuesday, September 11, my older brother, Paul Regan Cascio, died in Tower 2 of the World Trade Center, and my faith journey began.
I can’t even tell you how many hours I spent in St. Dominic Chapel, alone in prayer, in tears, prostrated before the steps of the altar, searching for guidance, searching for strength and grace. That was the first time I can remember smiling through tears, breaking down, finding my faith, and smiling so hard that it hurt.
Just thinking about the steps of that altar right now fills me with a joyful sadness that is hard to explain — the Taoistic side of our faith, the painful embrace of God’s hugs that we must learn to yield to in order to be released from our burdens. Every time I was lost, I would find myself in the chapel, and I would find God waiting for me, welcoming me, and teaching me how to love again.
This beautiful chapel is where I went to receive Communion with my friends, but where I also went to be alone. This chapel is where I found my true faith, where I learned I was called by name and worthy of God’s love, and where I shared that love with my wife and best friend (Amanda M. Pymm ’03) when we came back to this chapel years later to be married by Father Guido, my spiritual mentor and friend. [Rev. Joseph J. Guido, O.P. is an assistant professor of psychology and a senior staff psychologist in the Personal Counseling Center.]
We lit a candle that day to celebrate the life of my brother and another candle to celebrate the new life just beginning with Amanda. As Father Guido quoted during my wedding, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” and faith is learning that pain is an opportunity for growth when we embrace God’s love.
St. Dominic Chapel is a holy site in my life. It represents my faith journey, from pain to love, from loneliness to marriage, and I am blessed to have called it my chapel.
Evan Cascio ’03 and his wife, Amanda Pymm ’03, live with their three children in Manhattan Beach, Calif. A philosophy major at PC, he is head trader with a hedge fund.
