October 8 – Bartolo Longo, Satanist Converted by the Rosary
During the month of the rosary, I wanted to share with you a story of a man whose life was deeply influenced by the rosary.
Bartolo Longo was a young lawyer who lived in Italy in the 19th century. Influenced by various Anti-Catholic movements, he abandoned his Catholic faith, and began to search for meaning in occult practices. He began to be involved in séances, in cults, and eventually Satanism. He got so deeply involved in this that he was ordained a priest of Satan! However, rather than finding meaning and fulfillment in this life, he began to suffer nightmares, hallucinations, major depression, and serious anxiety. His spiritual, psychological, and emotional problems became so bad that he finally broke down and met with a Catholic priest to give him guidance. The priest told Bartolo about the power of the rosary. With the help of the priest, Bartolo renounced his satanic practices, and embraced his Catholic faith, especially with great love and zeal for the rosary.
Bartolo’s work as a lawyer took him to Pompeii, Italy. There he was appalled by the lack of faith there. Very few Catholics practiced or understood their faith. Many people there had also fallen into occult spiritualism practices that he himself had fallen into. Bartolo was at first very discouraged by all of this. But in his prayer, he remembered the power that praying the rosary had had in his own life in turning away from Satan towards Christ. He also remembered that the priest had taught him how the rosary had brought erring souls back tot the truth and restored hope to lost souls during the life of St. Dominic.
Inspired by a new zeal he began to greatly promote the rosary in Pompeii. He restored an old church to be dedicated for this purpose and founded a “Confraternity of the Rosary,” a group of people that would seek to re-educate people about the truths of Catholicism especially by means of the rosary and its mysteries. This zealous young lawyer also established other Catholic institutions to care for the poor and to teach the faith: orphanages, hospitals, as well as Catholic schools and religious communities. He also began construction on what would become the Pontifical Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary of Pompeii. Through an image of Our Lady of the Rosary that he placed inside this church, God brought about many healings.
Bartolo’s work bore much fruit, inspiring much conversion and revitalizing the faith. Bartolo’s personal physician, Joseph Moscatti, was inspired to a great love of the rosary by Bartolo. Joseph Moscatti is a declared Saint of the Catholic Church!
Bartolo Longo, himself, the man who had once been a priest of Satan, experienced conversion, both in himself and many others through the power of the rosary. He died Oct. 5, 1926 and was beatified in 1980, so now is Blessed Bartolo Longo.
Peace,
– Fr. Kevin
