In 1857, Pope Pius IX (1792-1878) entrusted to the newly founded Congregation of the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ (commonly known as the Resurrectionists) the church and monastery of Our Lady of Grace in Mentorelli. In this way, the then Polish congregation of the Resurrectionists became the custodian of a place of worship whose history goes back to antiquity.

A short history of the shrine in Mentorella
. Mentorella is situated 60 km east of Rome, in the Prenestinian Mountains, at an altitude of 1018 m. Tradition associates the sanctuary with the place of conversion of Placid, a tribune and commander of the Roman army, who had an epiphany here at the turn of the first and second century and, together with his whole family, embraced Christianity as Eustace. For this reason, Emperor Constantine I the Great had a church dedicated to the Virgin Mary built here, which was consecrated by Pope Sylvester I (?-335). Two stone columns dating from the 4th century may be a reminder of the first church.

The rock grotto, situated next to the church, also has a Late Antique tradition. It is associated with St Benedict of Nursia, who stayed here for a while before settling in nearby Subiaco, where he founded the first seat of the Benedictines. Mentorella was soon handed over to the Benedictines. At the end of the ninth century, they expanded the church and built a monastery. They spread devotion to the Virgin Mary and probably placed a wooden statue of the Madonna in the central place of the church, although we have no information on when exactly this happened. In Benedictine times Mentorella was the destination of numerous penitential pilgrimages. Among the famous pilgrims were St Francis of Assisi and his companion Blessed Idi and Blessed Margaret Colonna. The Romanesque exterior of the church and rare and valuable art objects have been preserved from this period. There is a Romanesque antependium (a decorated piece covering the base of the altar) with scenes of the conversion of St Eustatius and the consecration of the church at Mentorella by Pope Sylvester I, signed by Guglielmo of Chieti. In addition, there is also a richly carved Romanesque crucifix and a seven-branched candlestick from the 14th century.

We do not know the exact date when the Benedictines left the hill. It is likely that they looked after the shrine until the end of the 14th century, after which its fame began to fade and the buildings fell into disrepair.

Reconstruction by the Jesuits of the sanctuary in Mentorella
. The poor state of preservation of the monastery is evidenced by the account of the Bishop of Faenza, Annibale de Grassi (1537-1590), who, on the orders of Pope Gregory XIII (1502-1585), visited the sanctuary in 1581. Eighty years later, the Jesuit Athanasius Kircher (1602-1680), in the course of collecting material for his book on Lazio, reached the hill of Mentorella (or Vulturella or Vultuilla). From there he wrote frequently to Michał Boym, a Polish Jesuit from Lviv, with whom he jointly laid the foundations of modern sinology.

Kircher - as a devotee of Mary - decided to rebuild the shrine and ordered that his heart be buried here. The funds he raised came from, among others, Leopold I Habsburg, Emperor of Rome, and Johann Friedrich Waldstein, Archbishop of Prague. These not only ensured the renovation of the shrine, but also allowed for new foundations. The chapel of St Sylvester in the sanctuary was then covered with frescoes by A. Rosati of Vicovaro. They referred to ancient Christian history and showed the baptism of the Emperor Constantine and the consecration of the temple in Mentorella. At this time, Johann Paul Schor (1615-1674), known in Italy as Giovanni Paolo Tedesco, also decorated the Chapel of St Eustatius with frescoes. The so-called Holy Staircase (Scala Sancta) was also erected.

In 1664, Pope Alexander VII (1599-1667) granted indulgences to the shrine and from then on Mentorella became a place of numerous pilgrimages that headed here every autumn for the feast of St Michael the Archangel. St Athanasius Kircher set aside 1,400 skugs a year for travel expenses and the maintenance of confessors accompanying the pilgrims. This mission was carried out by Jesuit priests until 1772, when the order was suppressed. A reminder of the times when the Jesuits looked after the shrine with the support of the Habsburgs is the dress for the statue of Our Lady of Mentorel, probably donated in the 1760s by Empress Maria Theresia. - by Empress Maria Theresa. At the end of the 19th century, the robe was removed from the statue and incorporated into a chasuble, which is still kept in the monastery today.

Resurrection Priests in Mentorelli
Over the next century, the shrine - deprived of constant care - gradually fell into disrepair. Therefore, in 1857, Pope Pius IX entrusted the abandoned monastery and church of Our Lady of Grace in Mentorelli to the Congregation of the Resurrectionists. The Resurrectionist Fathers began their work by thoroughly renovating the buildings. This was largely possible thanks to the foundations of Polish émigrés, including Countess Julia Pusłowska, née Drucka-Lubecka (1811-1888) and Father Jan Koźmian (1814-1877). The Resurrectionists rebuilt the temple. They added a tower with windows over the main altar, and decorated the walls with frescoes, including an image of St Casimir. They also redecorated the main altar with a statue of Our Lady of Grace displayed in it. The designs were prepared and recommendations made by Fr Leon Zbyszewski and the cleric Eustachy Skrochowski, who were in Mentorelli in the last quarter of the 19th century.

Polish traces on the hill of Mentorella
From the very beginning of the activity of the Resurrectionists in Mentorella, Polish pilgrims and artists also came there, and interesting and valuable Polish artifacts remain. These include the painting 'Immaculata' - one of two surviving works by Edward Brzozowski (1815-1847), a Polish pupil of Johann Friedrich Overbeck (1789-1869) - or the statue of St Paul by Tomasz Oskar Sosnowski (1810-1886). In turn, at the beginning of the 20th century, the sanctuary was visited by the Polish painter Bronisława Rychter-Jankowska (1868-1953), who in 1905 published a book entitled Outside Rome. This was a short account of her visit to Mentorelli, accompanied by, among other things, authorial illustrations of the place.

Cardinal Karol Wojtyla also made many pilgrimages to Mentorella. He made his first pilgrimage there as the newly elected successor of St Peter, Pope John Paul II. Souvenirs of these visits are gifts - including a Mass chalice. In the second half of the 20th century, a small bell tower was erected over the sanctuary, on which bells cast by a bell-foundry from Poznan were hung.