Celebrating in Rome!

Attending Our Son’s Roman Doctoral Defense

This past June, my husband and I flew to Rome to attend our son’s defense of his doctoral dissertation on June 19th. A Doctoral Defense is where a doctoral candidate presents his or her material, research, findings, and conclusion. Then, a panel of professors gives them questions. The entire event lasts for an hour. Will’s Defense was held in a classroom at The Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas which is also known as the Angelicum. The Chairman of Will’s Defense said that Pope John Paul II presented his Defense in the same room. It was a thrilling experience. About 48 priests attended, and afterwards we celebrated Will’s successful passing of the Defense by having a toast at the Casa Santa Maria, then walking to Will’s favorite restaurant in Rome for Indian food.

Will was busy packing up after three years at the Casa Santa Maria, to return to Orange County to be a parochial vicar in a wonderful parish. However, we had a lovely time eating together and doing lots of walking and sightseeing. The beautiful vestments for clergy below are from a famous store in Rome–Gammarelli. I included the photos because the store and its garments are exquisite and historical.