Pope Leo XIV paid a private visit on August 19 to the Shrine of Our Lady of Mentorella, also known as the Mother of Graces, near Rome, highlighting once again his deep devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
According to a brief Vatican statement, the Holy Father spent time in prayer at the shrine, lit a candle in the grotto where St. Benedict is said to have lived, and later met with the Polish Resurrectionist priests who have cared for the site since 1857. He then returned to Castel Gandolfo, his summer residence.
National Catholic Register reported that this is the fourth Marian shrine Pope Leo has visited since his election on May 8. His earlier pilgrimages included the Shrine of the Mother of Good Counsel in Genazzano, the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome, where the Salus Populi Romani icon is venerated, and the Shrine of Santa Maria della Rotonda in Albano.
Mentorella, perched atop a mountain near the town of Capranica Prenestina, is one of Europe’s oldest Marian shrines. Tradition holds that Constantine founded it in the fourth century to honor the conversion of St. Eustachius, with Pope Sylvester I consecrating the church around 335. The current structure, with its 13th-century façade and mystical grotto, became a place of Benedictine devotion and later, under Jesuit scholar Athanasius Kircher in the 17th century, was developed into the shrine seen today.
The site holds special significance in modern papal history. Pope St. John Paul II made it his first Marian pilgrimage after his election in 1978, often returning for personal prayer and walking what is now known as the Wojtyła Trail. Benedict XVI also visited Mentorella in 2005, on the anniversary of John Paul’s first pilgrimage.
As National Catholic Register observed, Pope Leo XIV’s pattern of Marian visits mirrors his predecessors’ devotion and reinforces the central place of Mary in his pastoral vision. Mariologists, including Professor Mark Miravalle of Franciscan University, see in his gestures echoes of Pope Leo XIII’s Marian spirituality and even providential signs, such as his election on the feast of Mary, Mediatrix of All Graces.
Through his repeated Marian pilgrimages, Pope Leo XIV continues to point the faithful to Mary as a source of consolation, hope, and strength.
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