Shattered Shells

Reflections on a Seminarian’S Fall and Recovery: a Memoir

In a poignant memoir flush with humor and regret, the author looks back on the curious journey which brought him to a high school seminary on the University of Notre Dame campus in 1964 to study for the priesthood. There, in the boarding schools cloistered setting, each day was occupied by prayer, studies, silence, and labor, providing a straight and narrow path to ordination. Still, his better angels were unable to distance him from juvenile lapses, ranging from mindless mischief to egregious misconduct.

Spotting the troublemaker, the priests bestowed absolution and encouragement, but after two years, the clerics had seen enough. Expulsion and banishment followed, pushing him into the cold embrace of secular society. Years later, he returned to the same campus to conclude his educational sojournthis time in the prestigious law school. With the benefit of maturity and hindsight, the author reflects on the failings of his past and the lessons learned.