Learn what attracted Fr. Fitzgerald to the Augustinians and where the Augustinians have led him.
“It was 1955 when I entered Archbishop Carroll High School in Washington, DC. I met a couple of Augustinians that day – in spite of the fact that there had to have been more than 200 new students coming to check out the school and their upcoming semester. Little did I know how impressed I was with a couple of things about my choice to go to Carroll: the Augustinians I came to have in class and to run into in the bookstore, the library or the corridors seemed comfortable with themselves – and they seemed to like one another. It’s that second fact that – years later – I asked them about it. “Was it really as good a community as I thought back then?” I asked. They all said yes.
In my days at Carroll, however, I was not thinking about becoming an Augustinian. It really never entered my mind until a good friend and classmate decided to do that – even though the two of us never talked about it. We used to play ping pong in my basement, and our homes were about 500 yards from one another. It just never came up. He went to the novitiate; I went to Villanova, majoring in physics.
After about two months at Villanova, my physics teacher from Carroll crossed paths with me on campus. He said: “Hey, Fitz. When are you going to become an Augustinian?” I remember his question clearly and how shocked I was at my answer: “I don’t know, one of these days.” It was only in that moment that I came to realize that – deep within – I had been thinking about how impressed I was with the Augustinians who taught at Carroll: 35 of them. Now – 60 years later – I’m still a believer in the value of our friendships as Augustinians.”
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