The next three years were devoted to studying theology and philosophy at the Catholic University of Leuven and at Saint Anselm Athenaeum in Rome. Dom Bruno took the Benedictine vows in Rome in 1925, binding himself to a monastic life at Mont-César and obedience to its abbot. Mont-César was known as an "intellectual abbey" and Dom Bruno was allowed to complete his studies concentrating on the writings of Saint Irenaeus, a second century Father of the Church. He was ordained a priest in 1928 in Leuven, and the University of Leuven awarded Dom Bruno a Doctorate in Theology three years later.