From Satanic Priest to Apostle of the Rosary

Bartolo Longo was born in 1841 in Latiano; a small town near Brindisi in southern Italy.  He was born into a wealthy family of devout Catholics, living in a large house with servants.  Bartolo described himself as a child in these words: "A lively and impertinent imp, sometimes rather a rascal."  At the age of six, Bartolo attended a boarding school where he was taught by priests.  He played the piano beautifully and had a passion for fireworks. He had a vibrant personality and a fiery temper. 

In 1851, when Bartolo was just ten years old, his father died and his mother remarried a lawyer.  Bartolo decided to pursue the profession of his step-father and went to the University of Naples to study law.  While immersed in study, Bartolo's faith waned and he drifted from his Catholic faith.  The university proved to be a dangerous place for his impressionable mind.  

During the 1860's there was a strong nationalistic movement in Italy, and Bartolo was caught up in the fervor of political ideologies sweeping the nation.  He was attracted to the political movements surrounding him. Due to his anti-Catholic professors, he became radically opposed to Catholicism, and like them, he developed a particular disdain for the papacy, the priesthood, and Dominicans. Caught up in the fervor of the environment, Bartolo later wrote, “"I, too, grew to hate monks, priests and the Pope, and in particular [I detested] the Dominicans, the most formidable, furious opponents of those great modern professors…” About this period of his life Bartolo says that he "became ensnared on the enticing hook of so-called freedom of conscience and thought." Atheism and doubt surrounded Bartolo and he entered a time of deep interior darkness.

There was, at this time, a growing popularity of spiritualism across Europe.  Many students at the University were experimenting and becoming involved in occult practices.  Hungry for truth, Bartolo began to visit mediums and attend seances. During these occult ceremonies, Bartolo thought that he would find the answers he was seeking. He relates in his own words that he "believed he finally found the path that would lead him to the truth."  In reality, it led him into contact with evil spirits.  Instead of listening to the voice of truth through the Catholic Church, he let himself be duped by the devil.  

Eventually, Bartolo desired to communicate with the spirits directly instead of through a medium, and he decided to join a satanic cult.  Now fully immersed in the occult, Bartolo was ordained and consecrated a priest of Satan. Leading up to his ordination, Bartolo had to undergo such rigorous fasting that he was reduced to skin and bones. It is said that during his ordination ceremony he went into a trance and communicated with evil spirits, and at the moment of his consecration to Satan, there was an enormous clap of thunder.  Later, Bartolo described how during this ordination he "promised his soul to the demon, who then shook the walls and manifested itself with blasphemous shrieks."

From that time on, Bartolo was enveloped in depression, anxiety, and confusion. He exercised his priestly duties by officiating at Satanic rites, by speaking out against Catholicism, and corrupting others by preaching error. He said that he felt the constant presence of a dark being with whom he communicated daily.

At the University of Naples, Professor Vincent Pepe (one of the few remaining Catholic professors at the University) confronted Bartolo. The life of sin that Bartolo had been living took a physical toll on him, and Pepe told him that if he continued down this path, he would end up in an insane asylum and be damned forever.  Bartolo could not deny his poor mental and physical health, so he was convinced by Pepe to go see a Dominican priest named Fr. Alberto Radente. 

Fr. Radente, a holy Dominican, met with Bartolo every day to listen and talk. These discussions between a Satanic priest and Dominic priest lasted for three weeks and ended with Bartolo renouncing spiritualism as a deception and falsehood.  He agreed to go to confession with Fr. Radente.

On the Feast of the Sacred Heart, 1865, Fr. Radente gave Bartolo Longo absolution and allowed him to receive Communion.  Bartolo had returned to the Catholic Church and was free of Satan's death grip on his soul.

Back in the grace of God, Bartolo's soul was clean and his mind was free. Professor Pepe allowed Bartolo to move in with him and introduced him to faithful Catholics.  Bartolo began to pray earnestly for guidance as he sought out his vocation.  He considered both married life and the priesthood but discerned with a spiritual director that neither was God's will for him.  His vocation was to be a single layman in the world.

As he was seeking his vocation, he prayed the rosary daily and developed a devotion to Our Lady.  He began to study to become a Dominican Tertiary, and in 1871, on the feast of the Holy Rosary, Bartolo was received into the Third Order of St. Dominic and took the name Brother Rosario. He made a promise of celibacy in order to serve God with an undivided heart.  Around this time, seeking to make reparation for his previous scandal, he reportedly visited a séance and held up a rosary, declaring, "I renounce spiritualism because it is nothing but a maze of error and falsehood."

Bartolo had kept up his law practice and now had to travel to Pompeii for business for his client, Countess Mariana di Fusco. In Pompeii he was shocked at the condition of the poor and illiterate who were ignorant of Church teaching and were caught up in superstitious charms and witchcraft. 

Bartolo was also struggling with paranoia, depression and anxiety.  He fell into despair as he began to doubt God's forgiveness.  He feared that his consecration as a Satanic priest would bind him to Satan forever.  So strong was his hopelessness that he contemplated suicide. He wrote: "One day in the fields around Pompeii, I recalled my former condition as a priest of Satan… I thought that perhaps as the priesthood of Christ is for eternity, so also the priesthood of Satan is for eternity. So, despite my repentance, I thought: I am still consecrated to Satan, and I am still his slave and property as he awaits me in Hell. As I pondered over my condition, I experienced a deep sense of despair and almost committed suicide.”  But in the midst of this struggle, he remembered Mary's promise to St. Dominic, that whoever promotes the rosary will be saved. He continued, “Then I heard an echo in my ear of the voice of Friar Alberto repeating the words of the Blessed Virgin Mary: 'One who propagates my Rosary shall be 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 propagating your Rosary.'"  In that moment, he vowed to spend the rest of his life propagating the rosary, knowing that it was the way to save his soul and to save the souls of others.  He had found his vocation.

The promotion of the rosary and the restoration of the Catholic faith in Pompeii became Bartolo's life mission.  He wrote to Mary, "If it be true that you promised St. Dominic that whoever spreads the rosary will be saved, I will be saved, because I shall not depart from this land of Pompeii without having spread your rosary."  With the permission of the Bishop and the financial support of the Countess, he began to restore the church building and to instruct the people in the teachings of the faith.  In 1873, Bartolo organized a celebratory Feast of the Rosary to be celebrated annually in Pompeii and began construction of a Shrine dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary.

Bartolo dedicated his life to many great works and missions, tirelessly working on projects.  Not only did he construct the shrine, which was eventually enlarged to a basilica in 1939, but he also constructed a city around the shrine to help the poor.  He was a prolific writer and published books on the Rosary. He founded an orphanage for boys and founded a group of Dominican nuns to educate them.  He opened a book shop and bindery to teach the orphans how to work and earn money.  He was awarded the papal knighthood of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre.

In 1885, Pope Leo XIII advised Bartolo to marry his widowed friend, the Countess.  They were united in marriage, but maintained a chaste union because Bartolo had made a promise of chastity.  They worked together doing charitable works for the rest of their lives.

In 1906, Bartolo and his wife gave all of their property to the Holy See.  He continued working at the shrine until he was 80 years old.

In October 1926, at the age of 85, during his last hours, he prayed the rosary surrounded by the orphans who he loved so much.  He died peacefully while Mass was being offered in an adjacent room.  His dying words were: "My only desire is to see Mary who has saved me, and who will save me, from the clutches of Satan."

On October 26, 1980, Bartolo Longo was beatified by Pope John Paul II, who would call him the "Apostle of the Rosary."

Bartolo Longo is a relevant example to us today.  He was a Catholic deceived by new age practices, caught under the bondage of Satan in the occult.  But he eventually responded to God's grace and found freedom from the deception of sin.  Once a Satanic priest, Bartolo Longo now has the honor of being one of the greatest champions of the Rosary in the history of the Church.