“The priesthood of Christ is for eternity, so also, perhaps, the priesthood of Satan is for eternity. I am still consecrated to Satan, and I am still his slave and property as he awaits me in Hell.”
This is what Bartolo Longo thought as he wandered in the fields surrounding Pompeii one dark day.
He had come out to find space and fresh air, feeling stifled in the city streets. But his thoughts had not cleared—and he found himself despairing, thinking over every detail of his past sinful life again.
He was only ten years old when his dear mother died, back in 1851. After that his path seemed to diverge from everything good. He went to university. There his hatred of priests and the Catholic Faith in which he’d been raised grew into an obsession.
Blessed Bartolo Longo
He joined the occult…found himself among the Satanists…nay, led them as their “ordained” high priest. He promised his soul to a demon.
It wasn’t long before his body and soul began to torment him. His health shattered and he began acting like an insane man.
Finally, in 1865, he turned to a Dominican priest—a priest!—for help. For three long weeks the priest met with Bartolo; finally he absolved him and Bartolo entered the Church once more.
Shouldn’t everything be alright now? But it wasn’t. He felt damned, and nothing could change that. Why not go now, and end this earthly torment?
Suddenly, Bartolo remembered a promise of the Blessed Mother: “One who propagates my Rosary shall be saved.”
Desperate and afraid, Bartolo turned to his Mother in the Rosary. There he found healing and trust in God’s boundless mercy. He spent the rest of his life promoting this powerful Marian prayer.
The Blessed Mother had crushed the serpent in Bartolo’s past through her Rosary.
Read more about Blessed Bartolo Longo and 25 other Rosary heroes in Fr. Donald Calloway’s captivating book, Champions of the Rosary: The History and Heroes of a Spiritual Weapon. You’ll read about the history of this unconquerable prayer and dive into the exciting tales of some of its greatest victories. A gripping account that you won’t be able to put down this Lent! Get your copy today at The Catholic Company!
