Short Summary: Bartolo Longo, a former Satanic priest, dedicated his life to promoting the Rosary and built a church in Pompeii, where many miracles occurred.
Details
Location: Pompeii, Italy
Year: 1875
Prayer: Prayer of Blessed Bartolo Longo I place myself, my God, in your hands. As a son I abandon myself to your fatherly embrace. Roll and roll again this mud, it has nothing to say. It is enough that it serve your designs and not resist your will for which I was made. Ask, command, prohibit. What do you wish that I do, or that I not do? Lifted up, knocked down, suffering, dedicated to your works by sacrificing my will to yours, I can only say, as did Mary: “Behold I am your servant. O Lord, let it be done to me according to your Word.” Amen.
Verse: nan
Full Story
Bartolo Longo is certainly one of the most unlikely devotees to the Mother of God. During his education in Naples as an attorney, he was introduced to Satanism, and went on to become a Satanic priest. It was through the help of a good friend, Vincent Pepe, that he was able to remove himself from the cult and rejoin the Church. In repentance and gratitude, Longo went on to dedicate the rest of his life to charitable causes. He worked tirelessly with his wife to care for many orphans in the city, and in promotion of the holy rosary as a particularly powerful prayer against evil. He acquired a damaged painting of the Madonna in 1875, which had been acquired from a junk shop for the price of eight carlins (equivalent to one dollar). He had it restored, and desired to enshrine it in a new church. The ambitious project was funded by gifts from both the poor and wealthy people of Pompeii. During the construction, many prominent healings were documented. The first involved a twelve-year-old with severe epilepsy, Clorina Lucarelli. Her distraught relatives made promises in prayer to help with the new church if the child could be granted a miracle. Clorinda was immediately cured when the image of Our Lady was exposed for public viewing. The miraculous nature of the healing was certified on oath by two doctors. In another case, Fr. Anthony Varone had received Last Rites while he was dying from gangrene. He was suddenly healed the day the cornerstone of the new church was laid, and went on to celebrate a Mass in thanksgiving the following day on the feast of the Holy Rosary. A month later, Giovannina Muta was also in her last stages when she prayed to “Our Lady of Pompeii”. She reported having a vision of the Blessed Mother, as depicted in the painting restored by Bartolo Longo. When the vision faded, she was fully healed. Hundreds of other miracle stories surrounded the church built by the former Satanist. After his death, Pope Pius XI commanded the creation of a great basilica on the same site. To this day, thousands of pilgrims visit the church daily.
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