Vatican City: Father Robert’s journey to the priesthood began forty three years ago in the Chapel of Saint Monica, just a stone’s throw from the Vatican. Today, as Pope Leo XIV, he marks the anniversary of his ordination with a Mass in that same chapel overlooking Piazza del Sant’Uffizio his titular church since his elevation to cardinal in 2023.

The commemorative holy card for his June 19, 1982 ordination bears a quotation inspired by Saint Augustine’s Sermon 339:

“I cannot nourish you with simple bread alone. Yet this Word is your sustenance. From the same table that feeds me, I feed you. I am your servant.”

Adorning the card is a fifteenth century Russian icon of the Last Supper, a fitting image to underscore the Eucharistic theme.

At 27, Robert Francis Prevost had already completed his studies in Canon Law at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas and made his solemn vows with the Augustinian Order just a year earlier. His ordination was conferred by Archbishop Jean Jadot of Belgium, then Pro President of the Secretariat for Non Christians a diplomat who had served as apostolic delegate in Asia, Africa, and the United States.

Three years later, Father Prevost embarked on missionary work in Chulucanas, Peru, within the Piura region, carrying his Augustinian charism to new communities.

The card’s inscription also reflects Augustine’s words from his Expositions on the Psalms (Psalm 103, III, 9):

“You serve Christ well when you serve those whom Christ served. Freed by His blood, you become His servant. Love your brethren in His name, that you may perform this service not out of obligation but out of love.”

These themes of service and belonging resurfaced powerfully in Pope Leo XIV’s first homily as Bishop of Rome during the ordination Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on May 31, 2025, when he called eleven deacons to the priesthood. He urged them to “imitate Jesus”:

“To be of God servants of God and of His people anchors us in reality, not in some distant ideal. Like Christ, encounter those placed on your path, dedicate yourselves completely, and never transform this gift into privilege. ‘For Christ’s love compels us’ (2 Corinthians 5:14) a compelling that liberates rather than enslaves, enabling us to free, not possess. We belong to God, and that is the greatest treasure to share and multiply.”

Finally, the very chapel where his priestly journey began was designated as his cardinal diaconate by Pope Francis on September 30, 2023, completing the circle from young Augustinian priest to servant leader of the universal Church.