Still staying at Castel Gandolfo, the Pope made a private visit to a shrine east of Rome, the Shrine of Our Lady of Grace at Mentorella, which is entrusted to a group of Polish religious.
Vatican News reported the history of the shrine:
Mentorella is about 40 miles east of Rome and sits on top of a mountain. It holds a special connection to several pontiffs: Pope John Paul II, just nine days after being elected pope, made a pilgrimage to the Shrine. Pope Benedict also visited the sanctuary in 2005 and Pope Innocent XIII requested his heart to be buried there.
Tradition holds it was the place where St. Eustachius (Eustace) converted in the 2nd century. Two hundred years later, Emperor Constantine built a basilica on the spot where the saint converted and it was consecrated by Pope Silvester I in the years before 335. [Silvester is the pope who was represented by delegates at the Council of Nicaea.]
Centuries after, in the 500s, the land was turned over to the monks of Subiaco. In the middle of the 13th century, the wooden statue of the Virgin Mary — which is still found in the church today — was created.
After the Benedictines abandoned the area in the 14th century, Pope Pius IX placed the Congregation of the Resurrection in charge of the Shrine in 1857.
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According to tradition, St. Benedict lived in this cave at the shrine for some two years.
