Catholic Heroes of Faith - Blessed Bartolo Longo:

14 October 2020

‘One who propagates my Rosary shall be saved.’

The story of Blessed Bartolo Longo is one of the most hope rendering stories of conversion of a hardened sinner to a state of holiness. He was a practising Satanist priest who gave up his wayward life and became the ‘Apostle of the Rosary’. After his conversion, he spent the rest of his life propagating devotion to the Holy Rosary. His writings on the Rosary have inspired thousands including Pope John Paul II who drew several insights from his writings whilst writing the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary. Bartolo was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1980.

Early life:

Bartolo was born in 1841 into a pious Catholic family. His mother taught him to pray the Rosary daily and help the poor and needy. When he was ten years of age, he lost his mother. From thereon he began to stray away from his faith. His adolescent years were a time of great political upheaval in Italy as Guiseppe Garibaldi was seeking to eliminate the papal city states and unite Italy.

When Bartolo went to Naples to pursue his higher studies at the University of Naples, many of his professors were ex-priests who were against the Church. He too got influenced by the negativity against the Church and the Pope and began to hate priests and the Holy Pope. Most of all he hated the Dominicans. He began to stray into occult and became a complete apostate. He was drawn into Satanism and after a period of preparation, he became a Satanist priest. He began practising his Satanic priesthood by publicly denouncing the Catholic faith. As a result he soon entered into severe depression and suffered anxiety disorders. Medical help was of no relief. His family and friends prayed desperately for him and reached out to all the people who might help him.

Conversion:

Prof. Vincenzo Pepe who belonged to his native town and who was a professor at the University, responded to his family's requests. He was shocked to see the plight of Bartolo and exclaimed “Do you want to die in an insane asylum and be damned forever?” Bartolo confessed his state of mind to Prof. Vincenzo who took him in his care. He introduced him to Fr. Alberto Radente, a Dominican priest who helped him find his way back to the faith. Fr. Alberto gave him a detailed course in the Catholic faith. Through prayers and counselling he was convinced of his error and brought back into communion with the Catholic Church and given the Sacraments. Bartolo dedicated his life to serving the Church and took a vow of chastity.

Vocational life:

On March 25, 1871, on the Feast of the Annunciation, he joined the Third Order of Saint Dominic taking the name ‘Rosario’. On the advice of Fr. Alberto, he joined a pious group of friends who were engaged in missions of caring for the poor, sick and needy. There he met the wealthy widow Countess Mariana di Fusco. He was sent by the Countess to collect rent from poor farmers on a vast land that she owned near the city of Pompeii. There he was shocked to see the abject poverty of the people who had no faith and lived in total moral corruption.

One day when he was going through Pompeii he was reminded of his sinful past as a Satanist priest. Though he was forbidden by Fr. Alberto from thinking about it, he often despaired if he would be forgiven by God for so great a sin. In his despair he heard the voice of Fr. Alberto repeating the words of the Blessed Virgin “One who propagates my Rosary shall be saved”. In his own words he described his feeling as “these words certainly brought an illumination to my soul. Falling to my knees, I exclaimed: “If your words are true that he who propagates your Rosary will be saved, I shall reach salvation because I shall not leave this earth without propagating your Rosary.”

Propagation of the Rosary:

From thereon he lost no time. He made every effort to propagate the Rosary. He taught the people of Pompeii how to pray the Rosary. He formed a confraternity of the Rosary and organised a yearly Rosary feast. In 1875 he invited a group of priests to speak about devotion to the Rosary. He obtained a painting of Our Lady of the Rosary giving the Rosary to Saint Dominic and Saint Catherine of Siena. The painting was greatly blessed by the Lord and several miracles were reported. With the help of the Countess he built a church to keep the image and people flocked to the Church to pray and seek the intercession Our Lady. This church is today the Basilica of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary of Pompeii. He also wrote books on the devotion to the Rosary and composed novenas and a prayer manual too. He became close to Pope Leo XIII who was also greatly devoted to the Rosary.

All along in his mission, he was greatly assisted by the Countess who supported him in every way. Soon people began spreading false rumours about them. In order to put an end to the rumours, Pope Leo XIII advised them to get married. As Bartolo had already vowed his chastity and the Countess was a widow though they got married, they remained chaste.

Together they opened an orphanage for children of prison inmates who were often condemned and forced to become criminals. Bartolo urged people to learn the Catechism and propagated the doctrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin that eventually led to the solemn dogmatic proclamation of the Assumption in 1950. For his relentless service, he had his share of sufferings too. He was accused of mishandling funds but was later cleared of all the charges. In 1906 he turned over all his property to the Holy See and assisted the new head of administration.

Amongst all his works, his greatest contribution to the Church was his writings on the Holy Rosary that inspired Pope John Paul II in drafting the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary. In his 2002 Apostolic Letter named Rosarium Virginis Mariae, in which he introduced the Mysteries of Light, Pope John Paul II mentions the admiration he had for Bartolo and the insights he gained through his writings. He ended his Letter with these words:

“I entrust this Apostolic Letter to the loving hands of the Virgin Mary, prostrating myself in spirit before her image in the splendid Shrine built for her by Blessed Bartolo Longo, the apostle of the Rosary. I willingly make my own the touching words with which he concluded his well-known Supplication to the Queen of the Holy Rosary:

“O Blessed Rosary of Mary, sweet chain which unites us to God, bond of love which unites us to the angels, tower of salvation against the assaults of Hell, safe port in our universal shipwreck, we will never abandon you. You will be our comfort in the hour of death: yours our final kiss as life ebbs away. And the last word from our lips will be your sweet name, O Queen of the Rosary of Pompeii, O dearest Mother, O Refuge of Sinners, O Sovereign Consoler of the Afflicted. May you be everywhere blessed, today and always, on earth and in heaven”.

Death & Beatification:

Bartolo remained in the Shrine propagating the Rosary and living a life of prayer till his death on October 5, 1926 at the age of 85. On his deathbed he was surrounded by the orphans whom he loved and his last words were “My only desire is to see Mary, who has saved me and who will save me from the clutches of Satan.” He was beatified on October 26, 1980, by Pope John Paul II who called him “Apostle of the Rosary”.