Roman Rios arrived in New Norcia as a 22 year old monk.  He was here for only eleven years and by the time he left he had become the Prior. 

While he was in New Norcia he wrote a history of the monastery which, until now, has existed only as a typescript. It is an important work, for it follows on earlier historical works by Bishop Salvado, Theophile Berengier and James Flood and brings the historical narrative through the reign of Abbot Torres(1901-1914) into Abbot Catalans time. In 1943, Rios’ transcript was improved in respect to English expression by a monk of the monastery, Father William.  

This edition incorporates Fr William’s improvements and expands significantly on the footnotes, bibliographical references and classical and biblical allusions