On Friday, September 16th, 2022, students and faculty celebrated the reveal of a new statue on Warren Street. The statue, created by sculptor Brian Hanlon, marks an important moment in Prep history. For one, it celebrates Prep’s 150th anniversary, but it also represents all Prep students filled with the potential of unwritten futures. Dr. Gomez noted our similarities to our patron: “He, Saint Peter, represents us: imperfect and imperfect-able, someone with the entire world in front of him.” 

Mr. Hanlon could have easily sculpted Saint Peter in a more classical sense: older and wiser as many saints are depicted, yet chose to approach it from a different perspective. Saint Peter was sculpted to be a young, ambitious fisherman, still unaware of the many difficulties, trials and joys of life. Inscribed under the statue is the dedication plaque, which Mr. Anthony Keating ‘78 recited: “A flawed young freshman – the man who will come to be known as Peter – looks to the horizon, unaware that the best of what he will become lies ahead. Let us see beyond our own imperfections and look to the future with courage and conviction, knowing we are always ‘Sub umbra Petri’ – under the shadow of Peter.”

Following Mr. Keating’s recitation, Fr. Tony Azzarto offered a blessing, connecting the values imbued in the statue to his homily, noting that saints are people: imperfect, and ever learning. This statue now serves as a reminder to us all, not just of our humanness, but of our futures yet to be carved.