Oct. 3, 2012 Wednesday: Blessed Bartolo Longo
Blessed Bartolo Longo
Bartolo was born on February 11, 1841, in southern Italy. He received a good education from the Piarist Fathers. He later studied law, but the university he attended had little respect for Gospel values or the Church. Bartolo’s faith began to weaken, and in time he became interested in demonic rituals. Fortunately, Bartolo remained friends with a professor who was a devout Catholic and a deeply spiritual man. Together with a Dominican priest, this professor was able to bring Bartolo back to the practice of his Catholic faith.
Bartolo earned his law degree and became an attorney in his hometown. He began living a holy life of prayer and good deeds. He was especially devoted to praying the Rosary.
Bartolo went to Naples in order to help the poor in the city’s slums. He became tutor to the children of a wealthy widow. He traveled with her when she visited her properties, and he saw firsthand the poverty and ignorance of her tenant laborers. He knew that God was calling him to bring faith and hope to these people. He decided that the best way to present the faith to people who couldn’t read was to teach them to pray the Rosary. By meditating the mysteries of the Rosary, they would learn of the life, death, and resurrection of the Lord, and of Mary’s important role in leading Christians to her Son.
Soon, people were crowding the little church in Pompeii to pray the Rosary before a picture of Mary, which he had found at a flea market. The church had to be enlarged, and Bartolo began raising funds for a magnificent basilica in honor of Mary, Queen of the Holy Rosary. He also began a magazine called The Rosary and the New Pompeii, featuring articles explaining the faith. In order to live out the Gospel message, and not just write about it, Bartolo built an orphanage and a home for children whose parents were in prison.
Bartolo was often misunderstood and ridiculed by people who did not agree with him. As he grew older, he suffered from illness. But he never gave up trusting in the power of the Rosary to accomplish all that God asked of him. He spent the last years of his life in continual prayer.
On October 5, 1926, this holy layman died at the age of eighty-five, his rosary still in hand. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1980.
The Rosary is a simple prayer, yet it brings us into contact with the deepest mysteries of our faith. We should make an effort to pray at least a part of the Rosary each day, so that we will often call to mind the life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus. The Rosary is a special homage to Mary, who is our Mother as well as Christ’s.
-Daughters of St. Paul
Bartolo was born on February 11, 1841, in southern Italy. He received a good education from the Piarist Fathers. He later studied law, but the university he attended had little respect for Gospel values or the Church. Bartolo’s faith began to weaken, and in time he became interested in demonic rituals. Fortunately, Bartolo remained friends with a professor who was a devout Catholic and a deeply spiritual man. Together with a Dominican priest, this professor was able to bring Bartolo back to the practice of his Catholic faith.
Bartolo earned his law degree and became an attorney in his hometown. He began living a holy life of prayer and good deeds. He was especially devoted to praying the Rosary.
Bartolo went to Naples in order to help the poor in the city’s slums. He became tutor to the children of a wealthy widow. He traveled with her when she visited her properties, and he saw firsthand the poverty and ignorance of her tenant laborers. He knew that God was calling him to bring faith and hope to these people. He decided that the best way to present the faith to people who couldn’t read was to teach them to pray the Rosary. By meditating the mysteries of the Rosary, they would learn of the life, death, and resurrection of the Lord, and of Mary’s important role in leading Christians to her Son.
Soon, people were crowding the little church in Pompeii to pray the Rosary before a picture of Mary, which he had found at a flea market. The church had to be enlarged, and Bartolo began raising funds for a magnificent basilica in honor of Mary, Queen of the Holy Rosary. He also began a magazine called The Rosary and the New Pompeii, featuring articles explaining the faith. In order to live out the Gospel message, and not just write about it, Bartolo built an orphanage and a home for children whose parents were in prison.
Bartolo was often misunderstood and ridiculed by people who did not agree with him. As he grew older, he suffered from illness. But he never gave up trusting in the power of the Rosary to accomplish all that God asked of him. He spent the last years of his life in continual prayer.
On October 5, 1926, this holy layman died at the age of eighty-five, his rosary still in hand. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1980.
The Rosary is a simple prayer, yet it brings us into contact with the deepest mysteries of our faith. We should make an effort to pray at least a part of the Rosary each day, so that we will often call to mind the life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus. The Rosary is a special homage to Mary, who is our Mother as well as Christ’s.
-Daughters of St. Paul
