Fr. Gregory Coiro, O.F.M. Cap.

St. William the Abbot has been a rich source of vocations. Fr. Gregory found our page on the Internet and sent these memories on November 17, 1997.

I was an altar boy at St. William the Abbot in 1963, 1964, and 1965. Monsignor Flinn, God love him, admitted me to St. William's School in January 1964, when I was in the fifth grade, because he believed I had a vocation to the priesthood. He did this despite the fact there was a very long waiting list!

How well I remember the fabulous -- and sometimes tough -- Ursuline Sisters I had as teachers. Mother Virginia was principal, and my teachers included Sr. Edward, Sr. Cecilia, Sr. Alphonsus, Sr. Charles, and Sr. James. I used to help Sr. Blanche in the Library. The one lay teacher I had was Mrs. Posey in the sixth grade -- she was one strict lady! I learned a great deal from her.

The priests at the time were Msgr. Flinn, of course, Fr. William Fitzpatrick (stentorian tones when he preached), Fr. Frederick Heiden (tough on altar boys), and Fr. Mark Dunne (who was inspirational). During those years Msgr. Francis Mugavero used to help out on the weekends. He would later become the Bishop of Brooklyn.

My family moved to California in November, 1965, when I was in the seventh grade so I did not get to fulfill Msgr. Flinn's wish that I be a St. William's graduate who went on to become a priest.

Pax et Bonum,

Fr. Gregory Coiro, OFM Cap.

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Archdiocese of Los Angeles

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