(This is part two of Michael J. Miller's moving account of how one man overcame the “New Age” spiritism of his time. You may read part one by clicking on “From the Occult to Life in Christ” in the top left-hand column.)
By the end of 1864 Longo completed his university degree. More importantly, he once again professed the Catholic faith. After practicing law for a while in his hometown, he returned to Naples to do charitable work in the slums. Bartolo Longo was admitted as a Third Order Dominican on October 7, 1871, the Feast of the Holy Rosary and the 300th anniversary of the Battle of Lepanto. He took the religious name “Fra Rosario”.
The Dominican Tertiary made the Rosary the spiritual basis for all his endeavors. Through a prayer group he met a wealthy young widow, the Countess Marianna de Fusco. She contributed vast sums for the renovation of churches but had difficulty managing her many properties. Bartolo Longo became the administrator of her estates and the tutor of her children.
While traveling with the Countess to inspect her lands, Bartolo Longo observed the destitution of the tenant farmers and laborers who lived in the Valley of Pompei. Their spiritual poverty was even greater: what little they knew about the faith was intertwined with superstitions. The lawyer became convinced that, in order to improve socio-economic conditions, religious ignorance and indifference must also be overcome.
Bartolo Longo tried to gather people for prayer in a small, dilapidated church in the valley of Pompei. He met with little success until he placed upon the altar a picture of the Queen of the Holy Rosary holding the Infant Jesus. With the passage of time, legends about this sacred image have developed; the true story is revealing.
Bartolo Longo considered buying a beautiful artwork from a dealer in Naples, but hesitated to spend so much money for a rustic chapel. Instead, Sister Maria Concetta De Litala donated a homely old painting and told him not to worry about the art critics. The next problem was how to transport the large painting back to Pompei for a prayer service that same evening. Longo hired a carrier, Angelo Tortora, who used to clean the stables of the Neapolitan aristocracy and sell the manure in the country. The painting of Our Lady of the Rosary was brought to Pompei in Tortora’s wagon, on top of the usual load of merchandise.
The centuries-old painting has been restored on three occasions since, but miracles began to happen almost immediately after it was placed in the village church. People came in droves to pray the Rosary. Many returned to the practice of their faith. Innumerable petitions were answered through Our Lady’s intercession.
From these humble beginnings, in the wild, marshy moor at the foot of Mount Vesuvius, arose a modern town called New Pompei. When the local bishop came to confirm both children and adults, he dissuaded Longo from his plans to renovate the little church and told him to construct a basilica there instead. Bartolo Longo promptly began raising funds and making arrangements. The magnificent Rosary Basilica of Pompei, completed in 1891, became a beacon of hope in an impoverished rural area.
Bartolo Longo not only taught the Pompeians how to pray, but he founded an orphanage and many other charitable institutions to help improve their lot. He hit upon the idea of an institution for the children of prisoners. (Not being orphans, strictly speaking, they were ineligible for government assistance). The project, though controversial, soon demonstrated that providing a Christian, caring home environment for these unfortunate children was a powerful means of rehabilitating their criminal parents. The first little Calabrian boy taken into the home grew up to be a parish priest.
As Nuova Pompei with its institutions thrived, the lay apostle Bartolo Longo continued to live an extremely simple life of prayer and penance. After years of being an invalid, he died in 1926 at the ripe old age of 85, Rosary in hand. 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.” He is buried in the crypt of the Basilica in Pompei. In his homily at the beatification of Bartolo Longo on October 20, 1980, Pope John Paul II called the new Blessed, “the apostle of the Rosary, the layman who lived his ecclesial commitment completely.”
St. Francis of Assisi said that “When we speak the Name of Mary, heaven becomes more beautiful and earth rejoices. The demons are terrified and vanish like the dust in the wind.” The life of Blessed Bartolo Longo demonstrates the power of Our Lady’s intercession and the wonderful transformations that occur when a Christian community recites the Rosary and lives the Gospel faithfully.
