From the Friars: Viva San Bartolo!

On New Years Day in 1880 a baby boy was born near Avellino, Italy and named Mariano. At that time, about 20 miles away, a man named Bartolo Longo was busy building a beautiful church that would eventually become the great Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary of Pompeii. No doubt the miraculous transformation of Bartolo and Pompeii had a profound influence on Mariano Milanese as he grew up. He would become an Augustinian priest and go to the United States to serve the growing population of Italian immigrants there. He became the first Pastor of the Italian church in Lawrence, Massachusetts which was called, not surprisingly, Holy Rosary Parish.

The beautiful stained-glass window in the sanctuary of our own Holy Rosary Shrine is based on the miraculous image of Our Lady of the Rosary in Pompeii. This clear connection to Bartolo Longo makes us rejoice all the more as he is canonized this very day by Pope Leo XIV in Rome. We give thanks and glory to God for the gift of this great saint and his heroic witness to the power of Divine grace. Rarely has a soul seemed more hopelessly lost in darkness only to turn so completely toward the Light as to be raised to sainthood.

As a college student, the young Bartolo became caught up in anti-clerical revolutionary politics and the occult, the latter to the point of becoming a satanic priest. Giving himself to the powers of evil led him to the edge of despair and insanity. His parents were devout Catholics who prayed the Rosary regularly. Their intercession drew down the grace of conversion and healing for their son. At his darkest moment, Bartolo heard his deceased father calling him to return to God.

The new saint was also known for his love for the poor and founding several schools and orphanages. Bartolo was nominated twice for the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to promote peace through the Holy Rosary. He knew the power of this prayer to bring peace to the human heart and to families and to the world.

Let us take up this weapon of Our Blessed Mother to crush the head of the serpent.

Viva San Bartolo!
Fr. Peter