Bartolo Longo (the satanist who became a Catholic saint!)
This is such an interesting story. And a hopeful if you’ve kind of given up on what singer Jack Johnson sang about ‘Where have all the good people gone?’ Our world is getting madder and madder, and more nasty, dishonest and spiteful. But here’s a real historical story, to show that good can come from evil.
Bartolo Longo was born near Brindisi in northern Italy, to a devoutly Catholic family. He grew up without his mother (who died when he was just 10) and studied law at Naples University, where many of the tutors would teach against the established church, believing they were intellectually superior.
This rubbed off on Bartolo, who was turning not just against the church, but dabbling in the occult, visiting psychic mediums. And eventually he became a satanist (which does not always mean worshipping the devil, but more promising his soul to demons, and preaching against God, through intense study and fasting).
But Bartolo went even further, he would hold satanic services and speak out against the church. It’s not clear what he did during these services, but before long he was plagued by nightmares, depression and hallucinations that were sending him mad.
Bartolo’s family begged him to return to the church, but he refused. They asked a local Professor (Vincenzo Pepe) at a university to meet with him. He did manage to convince him to visit a Dominican priest, who after three weeks of deep conversation, convinced him to return to the church, and be forgiven for his sins.
The professor even moved Bartolo in with him, surrounding him with ‘good Catholics for two years’ to try to help him get better. Bartolo prayed, worked in a hospice and eventually become a third-order Dominican and promised to be celibate and faithful to God for the rest of his life.
He would even return to his old haunts and publicly declare his faith in God, and show them his Rosary breads! He still however was not happy, wracked with guilt over his former life. He still felt suicidal, wondering if his former life had condemned him to never have a life of true faith.
Bartolo hears a voice from Mary
Then he heard a voice ‘One who propagates my Rosary shall be saved’. He decided that he would spend the rest of his life praying and telling others to pray the Rosary. He (with donations) built schools and orphanages, and was responsible for building Basilica of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary in Pompeii (near Naples) and wrote books and novenas (nine-day prayers).
It was from his writings that Pope John Paul II was inspired to create the Luminous Mysteries (prayed by Catholics on Thursdays). In 1980 (over 60 years after his death), Bartolo Longo was canonised as a saint. The mysteries cover:
- The Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan
- The Wedding Feast at Cana
- The Proclamation of the Kingdom of God
- The Transfiguration
- The Institution of the Eucharist
So if you think that you’ve messed up in life, chances are you never became a Satanist priest! And even if you did, there’s still hope. One of the world’s most popular Rosaries (and one of its most hopeful) all stemmed from a Naples boy who gave his soul to demons, confessed, and is now one of the world’s most beloved Catholic saints!
