Bartolo Longo 

Blessed Bartolo Longo had a very unusual path to sainthood. Born in 1841 into a devoutly Catholic family, as a young man he went to study law at the University of Naples. The 1860s was a time of great social-political turmoil on the Italian peninsula, with a rising nationalist movement led by General Giuseppe Garibaldi, who dreamed of establishing a modern Italian nation state. The nationalists viewed the Church as an obstacle to their project and employed virulently anti-clerical language in promoting their cause. While in law school, Longo, who had drifted from his childhood faith during adolescence, embraced the nationalist movement and its radical secularism. Around the same time, Longo became fascinated by another popular development of the time, which was the rise of “new age,” neo-pagan practices such as spiritualism and occultism. Having abandoned Christianity, Longo started attending seances and consulting fortunetellers. Eventually, he became a full-blown satanist, becoming a priest in a satanic cult, and engaging in the acts of sacrilege and depravity practiced by the sect.  

Longo’s obsession with the occult had a terrible effect on his physical and mental health. He became depressed, paranoid, angry, and hateful. But in his darkest moments, he would hear the voice of his deceased father calling him to return to God. Eventually, an old friend introduced him to a priest, Fr. Alberto Radente, O.P., who was able to help Longo. The priest met with the young man over the course of a month, at the end of which Longo went to confession. Although he had received the grace of absolution and was now frequenting the sacraments and performing works of charity among the poor of Naples, he remained deeply scarred by the memories of his life in the occult.  He struggled with feelings that he could never truly be saved from his terrible sins and experienced suicidal ideations. In one such moment, during a business trip to Pompeii, he had a mystical experience of the voice of Fr. Aberto, saying: “If you seek salvation, promulgate the rosary.” At once, Longo resolved to make this his mission in life.  

The rosary became key to Longo’s spiritual, mental and emotional recovery because it is eminently reliable. A tried-and-true meditation with the Blessed Mother on the life of Christ, the Rosary will always bring the one who devoutly prays it closer to Jesus. This was the message that Longo spent his days sharing with everyone he met. Along with his life of prayer, Longo also devoted himself to caring for the material and spiritual needs of the poor of Pompeii, whose ignorance of their Catholic faith and moral poverty shocked him even more than their poor living conditions. Along with the Countess Mariana di Fusco, Longo eventually built a shrine in Pompeii dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary, which quickly became a popular destination for pilgrims because of the many miracles associated with it. Longo died in 1926. In 1980, he was beatified by John Paul II, who called Longo the “Apostle of the Rosary,” and named him as a major influence in the development of the “Luminous Mysteries” of the Rosary. This past Friday, 6/13, Pope Leo gave final approval for Bartolo Longo’s canonization, which will take place on October 19. 

posted 6/14/25