Bartolo Longo
We celebrate the feast of Blessed Bartolo Longo on Oct 5, the same day as St. Faustyna…my friends share many things in common…Therefore we will reflect on Bartolo Longo today since St John Paul II called him the Apostle of the Rosary.
ONE
Bl. Bartolo Longo was born on Italy's Adriatic coast in 1841. At the age of ten his mother died and Bartolo began to lose his way. During his time in Law School at the University of Naples he completely gave up his faith.
In his confusion and emptiness, without God to turn to, he began to visit some of Naples’ infamous mediums. That was his introduction into the occult. Soon, his thirst for the supernatural led him into outright Satanism, where after a period of intense study and rigorous fasting, he was consecrated a satanic priest and promised his soul to a demon. For the next year, he began to preside over satanic services and to preach more boldly against God and the Church — treating them as the real evils.
Under the demonic influence the physical and psychological health of Bartolo began to decline rapidly. In his despair, he heard the voice of his deceased father urging him to "Return to God! Return to God!"
A good friend and faithful Catholic professor, Vincent Pepe, persuaded Bartolo to meet with a Dominican Priest who was consecrated to Mary and dedicated to the Rosary.
The Priest confronted him about his obvious declining mental and physical health - which both knew, in this particular situation, resulted from the demonic obsession. After three weeks of lengthy conversations, on the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Bartolo went to the sacrament of Reconciliation which drove the devil and demons out of His soul, flooding him once again with the life of the Most Holy Trinity.
TWO
Even though God had forgiven, Bl. Bartolo could not forgive himself.
One evening, as he walked near the broken down Church at Pompeii, he had a profound mystical experience. He wrote: As I pondered over my condition, I experienced a deep sense of despair and almost committed suicide. Then I heard an echo in my head of the voice of the Dominican Priest, repeating the words of the Blessed Virgin Mary: "Whoever spreads the Rosary is saved!” 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 spreading your Rosary.'”
From that moment until his death, Longo dedicated himself to leading people to Jesus through Mary by encouraging all to pray the Rosary daily, and to gather as families and friends, where he would teach them the Catechism and to meditate on the truths of our Faith in the Rosary. This he did alongside his wife, the Countess Mariana di Fusco.
THREE
Apparition of Our Lady, Queen of the Holy Rosary
With the financial support of the Countess, Bartolo rebuilt Pompeii’s famous Basilica of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary,
In this church a miraculous event took place. The Blessed Mother appeared to a young girl, Fortuna Agrelli, who became ill with three separate incurable diseases. Her doctors gave up all hope.
One day, Fortuna was praying in this Church with her family before the image of Mary, Queen of the Holy Rosary, when she received a vision.
· Sitting on a throne decorated with flowers with the Infant Jesus on her lap, Mary held a Rosary in her hand and was accompanied by St. Dominic and St. Catherine of Siena.
· Fortuna cried out to Our Lady, "Queen of the Holy Rosary, be gracious to me, restore me to health."
· The Blessed Virgin replied, "You have invoked me by various titles and have always obtained favors from me. Now, since you have called me by the title so pleasing to me, 'Queen of the Holy Rosary,' I can no longer refuse the favor that you petition; for this name is most precious and dear to me. Make three novenas, and you will obtain all."
· May 8, 1884 Fortuna was cured. Afterwards, Our Lady appeared again. This time she said, "Whoever desires to obtain favors from me should make three novenas of the Rosary in petition and three novenas in thanksgiving.
· Meaning - To pray the Rosary for 27 days in petition
· Then 27 days in thanksgiving
· This is the origin of the 54 Day Rosary Novena
FOUR
Bartolo Longo had the habit of meditating on the whole life of Jesus and His teachings, not limiting his meditation in the Rosary to the 15 mysteries…Hmm… sound familiar….And this practice of Bl. Bartolo inspired St. John Paul II to add the Luminous Mysteries to the Rosary. Regarding the influence of Bl. Bartolo, JPII, in his letter on the Rosary writes:
In the spiritual journey of the Rosary, based on the constant contemplation – in Mary's company – of the face of Christ, this demanding ideal of being conformed to him is pursued through an association which could be described in terms of friendship. We are thereby enabled to enter naturally into Christ's life and as it were to share his deepest feelings. In this regard Blessed Bartolo Longo has written: “Just as two friends, frequently in each other's company, tend to develop similar habits, so too, by holding conversation with Jesus and Mary, by meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary and by living the same life in Holy Communion, (that is, in friendship with them) we can become, to the extent of our openness, similar to them and can learn from these supreme models a life of humility, poverty, hiddenness, patience and perfection”. Rosarium 15
FIVE
Many people are sick of living in uncertainty. Fear and danger seem to lurk everywhere. The result is a heightened level of anxiety, worry, anger, frustration, sadness and isolation.
Bl Bartolo was transformed from despair to hope by the words of Our Lady: "Whoever spreads the Rosary is saved!”
It would do every one of us good and it would do great good for others if we would take these words to heart and become Apostles of the Rosary by being Apostles of Friendship.
The best way to help yourself out of a funk and the best way to help others is to ask the Holy Spirit who He wants you to reach out to in friendship and then help that person take on the habit of praying the Rosary Podcast daily.
Sharing the podcast with someone is a good start – but for them to make it a habit will take your follow-up in genuine friendship. By being Apostles of Friendship we can be Apostles of the Rosary and we both win.
This October, the month of the Rosary, I challenge you to help one other person make a habit of the daily Rosary.