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March 9, 2006 |
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| Groom-to-be spells out his intentions |
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Seminary students form letters 'Marry Me' as Vervaeck proposes to his fiance
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| Sebastian Vervaeck and his fiancee, Jessica Barutha, stand near the observation tower at St. Lawrence High School Seminary in Mount Calvary. With the help of seminary students, who were sprawled out on the pavement at the seminary, spelling the words “Marry Me,” Vervaeck, a seminary employee, proposed to Barutha atop the tower last month. (Catholic Herald photo by Sam Arendt) |
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| St. Lawrence High School Seminary students lay on the snow covered seminary grounds, spelling out “Marry Me?” Feb. 4. Students teamed up with Sebastian Vervaeck, a seminary graduate and current employee, to help him propose to his fiancee Jessica Barutha. (Catholic Herald photo courtesy of St. Lawrence High School Seminary) |
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MOUNT CALVARY — When Sebastian Vervaeck pondered the perfect proposal to offer his fiancee, Jessica Barutha, he decided, along with the support of 25 to 30 St. Lawrence High School Seminary students, to just “spell it out.”
Vervaeck, a graduate and present seminary employee, was confident about why he would propose to his girlfriend of two and one-half years. But he was uncertain of the how — that is until a group of eager students offered their suggestions and assistance.
And, on the snowy evening of Feb. 4, Vervaeck’s message was delivered when the group of enthusiastic young men, positioned on the pavement below the St. Lawrence tower, transformed into alphabetical characters, spelling the words, “Marry Me.”
“It was all pretty spontaneous to be honest with you,” said Vervaeck. “I had just bought the ring a short time before, and was really thinking a lot about how I was going to pop the question.”
When the students learned that Vervaeck planned to propose to Barutha, they started brainstorming.
“‘You have to let us help you out,’” Vervaeck said, recalling the conversation. “They were throwing a lot of ideas at me.”
According to Vervaeck, among the various suggestions he received from his students, the idea of the human-spelled message “just felt right.”
Vervaeck has been at St. Lawrence Seminary for five years and continues his education at a local technical college where he is studying marketing.
The son of a military contracted employee, Vervaeck was born and lived in Belgium for eight years prior to living in Saudi Arabia for 10 years, and then relocating to his mother’s native Chile.
According to Vervaeck, in order to continue his English education, he had to leave home and venture to the United States.
After his parents spoke with Capuchin Fr. Dennis Druggan, rector of St. Lawrence, Vervaeck was introduced to his new home.
“I started my junior year here in ’98 … and graduated in 2000,” said Vervaeck.
“By the time I graduated, my family was living in Chile, South America. After I graduated, I didn’t go directly to college. I spent a year with my family down in Santiago, Chile. After that year, I came back to work here,” he said.
In 2001, Fr. Druggan offered Vervaeck a position at St. Lawrence.
Vervaeck works in a supervisory capacity with the students, coaches the soccer team and assists in the development office.
Although he has not seen his family in almost a year, he remains in contact and continues to seek advice. He called his mother to tell her about the wedding proposal.
“I didn’t want to do anything ‘corny’ or ‘cheesy,’ but she told me if it feels right to you, then it’s not cheesy.”
Before the marriage proposal, Vervaeck said he had spoken to Jessica’s father and asked his permission.
“I have a good relationship with her father and her family, so I just thought it would be the right thing to do to let them know of my intentions,” he added.
While Vervaeck visited with his fiancee at her parents’ home in Fond du Lac, the ambitious team of students prepared their human blueprints and layout.
“At that time it hadn’t snowed yet, and the blacktop was still visible and they (students) were thinking, ‘how would we be visible from up on the tower?’” said Vervaeck. “So, they got bed sheets, and they wrapped themselves in bed sheets so they would look like white letters on the blacktop,” he said.
When the time arrived to set-up and form the message, the students discovered the blacktop, covered in snow, was no longer visible.
“So, they had to change their plans,” said Vervaeck. “They all ran to the dorm and put on darker clothing.”
As he and Jessica drove to Mount Calvary, it began to snow. “It was snowing so bad you couldn’t see the road, so I was nervous that this would not work out,” said Vervaeck. “I brought Jessica into the main building and told her I wanted to show her something.”
Although she had been on campus several times, Jessica had never seen the tower.
“We started walking up all the way to the tower, and it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be; it was quiet and some snow drifting,” Vervaeck said.
According to Barutha, she developed a slight suspicion during the climb.
“I was suspicious because we talked about (marriage) seriously, but I convinced myself that it wasn’t what I thought,” she said.
Upon arrival at the top of the tower, Vervaeck visually scanned the area below to confirm all was in place.
“At that point, I told her that there was something I wanted to ask her, but I wasn’t sure of the words,” said Vervaeck. “I started walking around the side of the tower with her and I said, ‘Look down there,’ and that’s when she looked.”
When Barutha saw the students sprawled in the snow, spelling out “Marry Me,” she giggled, said Vervaeck.
“The students told me that they could hear her kind of giggling from all the way at the bottom of the tower,” he said. “She asked me if I was serious, and I said ‘Yes,’ and I got down on one knee and I pulled out the ring, and asked if she would marry me.
“She kind of paused for a minute then said, ‘Yes,’ and we hugged,” he said.
Vervaeck then decided it was time to inform the students.
“He asked me if I wanted to tell them or should he. I didn’t really know what he meant,” said Barutha.
“At first when she saw the letters, she thought that somebody had actually shoveled it out of the snow, and she didn’t realize that it was actual people,” explained Vervaeck.
“I leaned over the side of the tower and yelled, ‘She said yes!’
According to Vervaeck, the students immediately jumped to their feet with cheers.
“When they started yelling, that’s when I really cried. It was overwhelming, and I thought it was so awesome,” said Barutha.
“I wasn’t crying before, until I saw the kids. It was perfect. I love surprises and it was a surprise,” she said.
“And, it was so unlike him,” she added.
The couple will celebrate the sacrament of matrimony on June 10 in the chapel at St. Lawrence, the place Vervaeck knows as home.
According to Vervaeck, the couple will be the first to marry in the chapel. He said his attachment and feeling of home with St. Lawrence drew him to the decision to marry there.
Vervaeck said he feels fortunate to be surrounded by the caring people of the seminary.
“It’s definitely changed the person that I was, and made me the person that I am now — and for the better. There’s so many people here who care about you, making sure you’re on the right path — whatever that path is,” he said. “In different vocations, they’re here to support you in whatever you choose.”
During a recent visit to St. Lawrence, Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan spoke about selfless love and how St. Lawrence prepares young men for lives of selfless love, said Vervaeck. “And he’s very right. As far as Jessica, I get joy from making her happy; doing things for her, and I think she does the same with me.
“So, I think things that I’ve learned at St. Lawrence definitely transfer into the relationship that I have with Jessica,” he said. “I think St. Lawrence prepares young men who come here to be good people.” |
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