An Aggie Jersey, a Pope, and the Kind of Faith God Grows at St. Mary’s
Bryce LaRue is a freshman at Texas A&M.
If you met him on campus, you probably would not immediately think, “That’s the guy who handed an Aggie football jersey to the Pope.”
You would likely think something simpler: joyful, grounded, and quietly bold.
When Bryce talks about St. Mary’s Catholic Center, he does not describe it as a campus activity. He talks about it as something deeper. A place that has shaped his faith.
“Howdy, my name is Bryce LaRue. I'm currently a freshman at Texas A&M and I'm involved at St. Mary's Catholic Center,” he said. “St. Mary’s is really important to me, and it's a great community that I'm glad to be a part of.”
The moment that eventually unfolded in Rome did not begin in Rome.
It began with a young man learning to trust Jesus with bold prayers.
Serving pilgrims in Rome
Last summer, Bryce volunteered at the Vatican during the Jubilee year. His days were spent helping guide the steady flow of pilgrims passing through St. Peter’s Basilica.
“So many people came through the Vatican,” Bryce said. “It was really neat to be part of that. I helped with crowd control at the tomb of St. Peter, praying with pilgrim groups, leading them and guiding them.”
The work was simple but meaningful. For Bryce, it was an opportunity to serve the Church in a very tangible way.
Months later, that service led to something unexpected.
Because of his work volunteering during the Jubilee, Bryce was invited back to Rome for a special audience with Pope Leo XIV for the volunteers who had served during the year.
It was a smaller gathering, an opportunity for the Holy Father to personally thank those who had helped welcome the thousands of pilgrims arriving in Rome.
As Bryce prepared for the trip, an idea began to take shape.
If he had the chance to greet the Pope, he wanted to bring him a gift.
Something Aggie.
A jersey for the Holy Father
At an Aggie volleyball game, Bryce found himself seated near Texas A&M head football coach Mike Elko. He introduced himself and shared his idea: a custom Texas A&M football jersey for the Pope.
Coach Elko loved the idea.
Soon, Texas A&M football helped produce a jersey that read Leo XIV with the number 14. The jersey was signed by Coach Elko and quarterback Marcel Reed.
With the jersey in hand, Bryce headed to Rome to bring it to the Holy Father.
The moment arrives
On January 7, Bryce arrived early for the papal audience and waited.
“My heart was beating so fast,” he said. “I had prayed so much for this. Giving an A&M jersey to the Pope felt like such a bold prayer.”
Then Pope Leo walked over.
Bryce handed him the jersey. They shook hands. The Holy Father received the gift with visible joy.
Bryce also handed him a letter from St. Mary’s Catholic Center and its pastor, Fr. Will Straten ‘00, assuring the Holy Father of the Aggie Catholic community’s prayers and even inviting him, boldly, to visit Kyle Field.
Why not dream big?
A wider Aggie connection in Rome
Bryce’s encounter is only one of several moments in recent months connecting current Aggie Catholic students to the Holy Father.
Last December, Kevin Deleon found himself meeting Pope Leo during a family pilgrimage to Rome. The trip coincided with his parents’ 25th wedding anniversary, a meaningful moment since they had originally been married during the Jubilee Year in 2000.
More recently, another group of Aggie Catholic students traveling to Rome during spring break captured a brief but joyful moment in St. Peter’s Square when Pope Leo offered a greeting to their friends back in College Station.
Image provided by Brother Bernardo Ross ‘15
For students thousands of miles from home, the message felt both surprising and personal.
Back at St. Mary’s, stories like these quickly make their way through conversations in the student center, late-night study sessions, and gatherings after Mass.
They are the kinds of stories that remind students that the Church they experience each day in College Station is the same Church that fills St. Peter’s Square in Rome.
What the moment did to Bryce’s faith
For Bryce, however, the jersey was never the point.
What God was teaching him was.
“Right after I gave him the jersey, I was so emotional,” Bryce said. “It made me realize that bold prayer doesn’t go unanswered by God and that God really wants us to seek Him boldly.”
He walked away not impressed with himself, but overwhelmed by God’s faithfulness.
“If God answers a prayer like this,” he said, “how much more will He provide in heaven? How much more will the goodness of the Lord follow me all the days of my life?”
The kind of faith God grows
Bryce’s moment with Pope Leo XIV quickly spread through the Aggie Catholic community.
But the deeper story is not about a football jersey traveling from College Station to Rome.
It is about the kind of faith God quietly grows in places like St. Mary’s Catholic Center.
A faith rooted in the Eucharist.
Strengthened by friendship.
And bold enough to believe that God sometimes answers prayers in ways we never expect.
Students like Bryce are learning to trust the Lord with their whole lives.
Sometimes that trust carries an Aggie football jersey all the way to Rome.
