Abbot Primate Gregory Polan, OSB (from Conception Abbey) with Fr. Prior Mauritius Wilde, OSB
I have been in Rome now for a little more than a month. Everything is new to me. But I am excited and feel privileged to serve the People of God here in the center of the Church. The internationality strikes me. To see Christians from all over the world learning, studying, working for their home countries, is stunning. To be close to the tombs of so many wonderful saints is life-giving. I am lucky to live on the Aventine Hill. Pope Leo XIII gave the Benedictines this place as a gift with the intention that they run a school. We at Sant’Anselmo still do this. There are almost ninety Benedictines from all continents who study monasticism, liturgy, philosophy and theology. The change from rural Schuyler, NE, to the metropolis of Rome was interesting. Though I was born and raised in a mid-size city, as a Benedictine I have been used to living in the countryside for more than thirty years. The Aventine is the perfect place for Benedictines in the city of Rome. As you walk up the hill, you feel more tranquility and peace. And still we are not far away from the Vatican. What do I like most in Rome at this point? The cloister of Sant’Anselmo, our liturgy chanted by the student monks, and the sweets you can buy in the pasticceria!
A view of Sant' Anselmo with St. Peter's in background