From a life of confusion and despair to one of deep peace and purpose, Bartolo Longo, who will be canonized by Pope Leo XIV today, discovered the transforming grace of the Rosary.
There are few stories in the modern Catholic world as striking as that of Blessed Bartolo Longo. Born in Italy in 1841, Longo pursued law and eventually drifted far from the faith of his upbringing, immersing himself in occultism, séances, and even satanic rites. In a moment of profound despair he encountered the words: “One who propagates my Rosary shall be saved.”
That moment marked the turning point. Longo embraced a new path: to live the Rosary and to lead others to do the same. He became a Dominican tertiary, adopted a life of charity, and settled in Pompeii where his legal work opened his eyes to widespread spiritual impoverishment.
In Pompeii he helped build and restore the Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary, founded schools and orphanages, and established the Confraternity of the Rosary—all with the Rosary as the spiritual centre. Longo came to see the Rosary as a “sweet chain that unites us to God, bond of love that unites us to the angels, tower of salvation against the assaults of Hell.”
What his experience teaches us is that the Rosary is not a passive devotion, but an active engagement in mystery. As one writer puts it, when praying the Rosary “he is caught up in the details of the story… each decade comes alive.” Longo’s own writings affirm that by holding conversation with Jesus and Mary in the Rosary one can become “to the extent of our openness, similar to them.”
We live in an age of speed, where silence is rare and reflection is uncomfortable. The life of Longo encourages us to reclaim the Rosary as a practice of contemplative stillness, a daily chain of devotion that opens us to mercy and service.
Beatified in 1980 and praised as the “Apostle of the Rosary,” Longo’s legacy invites each of us: to pray the Rosary faithfully, to live its mysteries, and to carry its message into the world.