Ciao Don Andrea and Gregorio,
Those photographs certainly turned out well. Those grand Roman backgrounds helped, but all the boys had a nice look about them on their own merit.
I hope that you were able to somehow circulate them in your parish, which certainly would have given you an opportunity for a heroic boast, Andrew.
I remember the story that Peter Sampo would tell about the wife of J. Rufus Fears (he taught Classics for years at the Univ. of Oklahoma, I believe). Anyway, they (he and his wife) brought a group of students to Rome on some sort of school trip, and Dr. Sampo asked Charlene (the wife), who I think was from the South, how it went (the trip to Rome).
And she responded decisively in her southern accent, “I would rather be boiled in oil before I would do that again!”
I think that you can take pride in your Roman pilgrimage, and I am sure that it will bear fruit in some way.
I hope you all are enjoying the Feriae Augusti in your own manner.
Best,
Paul
Dr. Paul Connell is my classmate from Thomas More College, the Liberal Arts College that Fr. Andrew, his brother Peter, Dr. Greg Marks all attended and all graduated together in 1985. The school is based in New Hampshire and in Rome during the Spring semesters in 1983 and 1985. My brother Peter O’Connor has lead trips to Rome for high school students for over 20 years. Fr. Andrew O’Connor August 15, 2022
