October 5th - Bl. Bartolo Longo
Bartolo Longo was born on February 11, 1841 in Latiana, Italy. His father
was a well-to-do physician and man of culture. His mother was a devout
woman
who always saw to it that her children prayed the family rosary every
night.
Bartolo derived his great love of Mary from her. As a young boy, Bartolo
was
lively, intelligent and at times a mischievous lad. He loved music, played
the piano and flute and was the conductor of the school band.
During the 19th century, Italian universities became hotbeds of
resistance.
A wave of anti-clericalism swept through the universities. Bartolo studied
law and received his law degree in 1864 at the age of 23. He graduated
from
the University of Naples, the alma mater of St. Thomas Aquinas and St.
Alphonsus Liguori.
During his studies in Naples, Bartolo's faith weakened, as he came under
the
influence of friends who were involved in the occult. He attended seances
and eventually was ordained a priest in a Satanic cult. He took on such
severe fasts, that he endangered his health. He became depressed and
nervous
and seemed to hear the voice of his dead father: "Return to God! Return to
God!"
During this time, he publicly derided the Church, priests and anything
connected with the Faith. The Satanic sect that he belonged to, ridiculed
priests, bishops, and the rites of the Catholic Church. The experiences
that
Bartolo underwent in this sect were so horrible that Bartolo went into a
state of insanity for a short period of time. His family prayed hard and
long for Bartolo.
Our Lady chose a good friend of the young lawyer to help redirect his
shattered life. His name was Professor Vincente Pepe, who taught near
Naples. Bartolo would talk to him about his activities in the Satanic
cult.
Vincente was disgusted at what he heard and his angry reproach stung
Bartolo. The young lawyer came to admit that he was mentally confused. He
very much needed support of God-loving people. Vincente introduced Bartolo
to a learned Dominican priest, one trained in the philosophy and theology
of
St. Thomas Aquinas. His name was Fr. Alberto Radente, O.P., who was chosen
by Mary to be the friend, confessor and spiritual director of the young
lawyer. The Dominican helped Bartolo withdraw from the Satanic cult. He
gave
the lawyer, a comprehensive review of theology and prepared him for the
reception of the sacraments. This great Dominican priest prayed earnestly
and even fasted for Bartolo Longo.
Fr. Radente professed him into the Third Order of St. Dominic on March 25,
1871, after explaining to him the history of the Order, founded by St.
Dominic and confirmed by Pope Honorius III in 1216. The Pope stated at
this
time that Dominicans would be "Champions of the Faith and True Lights of
the
world." This new lay Dominican lawyer was now bent on repairing his past.
He
visited a seance for the last time, holding a medal of Mary and cried out:
"I renounce spiritism because it is nothing but a maze of error and
falsehood." He then went to student parties and cafes denouncing spiritism
and proclaiming his faith in Christ and the Church. Fr. Radente said to
him:
"If you are looking for salvation, propagate the Rosary. It is the promise
of Mary. He who propagates the Rosary shall be saved." This young lay
Dominican lawyer was destined by God to become one of the greatest modern
apostles of the Rosary. In prayer, Bartolo said to Mary: "I shall not
depart
from this earth without first displaying before you, the triumph of your
Rosary."
Bartolo went to the Valley of Pompeii in 1872, which was to be his area of
work. He was determined to evangelize the people of Pompeii by means of
the
Rosary as his spiritual Father, St. Dominic did in southern France in the
early 13th century. There is the Dominican tradition that in 1208, in the
Chapel of Notre Dame in Prouille, France, Mary appeared to St. Dominic and
said: "Wonder not that until now you have obtained so little fruit by your
labors; you have spent them on barren soil not yet watered with the dew of
divine grace. When God willed to renew the face of the earth, He began by
sending down on it the fertilizing rain of the Angelic Salutation.
Therefore, preach my psalter, composed of 15O Angelic Salutations and 15
Our
Fathers, and you will obtain an abundant harvest of souls." Pope Leo XIII
confirmed this tradition over and over. Since the days of St. Dominic, the
Rosary has been the special charism of the Dominican Order. The Catholic
Church looks to the Dominicans as official promoters of the Rosary.
Bartolo
Longo was destined to be a true light to the world, a true Dominican in
the
spirit of St. Dominic.
At the age of 44, Bartolo married Marianna de Fusco on April 7, 1885. They
were married in the private oratory of the vicar general of the
Archdiocese
of Naples. Bartolo's dear friend, Pope Leo III, encouraged the couple to
get
married.
Bartolo was an avid writer. His words were: "O God! In one hand, you
placed
the Rosary, in the other, a pen." Of the Rosary he wrote:
"The entire Rosary has the beauty of reproducing the theological thoughts
concerning Mary, they are reproduced in the entire dialectic of truth and
deduction. Marian theology and the Rosary are two poems that are united
into
one, two hymns forming one hymn, two magnificent temples, two cathedrals
of
thought and piety, that come together as one... Here in the Rosary, piety
speaks in the language of theologians. Here meditation rises to the
heights
attained by scholars. Here prayer dwells where the scholars are brought to
a
halt. Marian theology and the Rosary are therefore similar to two temples
having at the same height their pinnacles and spires. The people of God in
the Church have found the Rosary, its Book of Psalms. The clergy have the
Divine Office, the people have the Rosary. Like The Divine Comedy, the
Rosary is a trilogy: it recall the joys, sorrows, and triumphs of Jesus
and
in perfect symmetry, for each part it has five chants, and each chant in
turn is an episode. The Rosary could very well be called the poem of human
redemption. The Rosary is a poem that takes its lively but simplistic hues
from the pure palette of the Gospel; while at the same time it draws its
logical ties, its harmonious responses, its entire intimate dialectic from
the highest theology."
Bartolo Longo ended his long and fruitful life on October 5, 1926, at the
age of 85. 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." In his last will and
testament he declared: "I wish to die a true Dominican tertiary in the
arms
of the Queen of the Rosary with the assistance of my holy Father St.
Dominic
and of my mother St. Catherine of Siena." His death was followed by
miracles
and he was beatified by Pope John Paul II on October 26, 1980. This Marian
pope greatly admires Blessed Bartolo Longo and called him Man of Mary on
the
day of his beatification. On that occasion, 50,000 people cried out at St.
Peter's in Rome, "Blessed Bartolo, pray for us."
This version taken from:
http://www.catholic.net/rcc/Periodicals/Faith/0506-96/articl10.html
Quote:
We declare that the greater part of those who are damned have brought the
calamity on themselves by ignorance of the mysteries of the Faith, which
they should have known and believed, in order to be united with the elect.
-Pope Benedict XIV (1740-1758)
Bible Quote
25. But Jesus called them to him, and said: You know that the princes of
the
Gentiles lord it over them; and they that are the greater, exercise power
upon them. 26. It shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be the
greater among you, let him be your minister: 27. And he that will be first
among you, shall be your servant. 28. Even as the Son of man is not come
to
be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a redemption for
many. (Matthew 20:25-28)
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TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN
My Queen, my Mother, I give myself entirely to Thee, and to
show my devotion to Thee, I consecrate to Thee this day, my
eyes, my ears, my mouth, my heart, my whole being without
reserve. Wherefore good Mother as I am thine own, keep
me, guard me, as thy property and possession. Amen.
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