Mary

Currently I have been volunteering at a Centre Of Peace bookshop, originally coming out of the Medjugorje movement. As well as books we sell a wide range of Catholic items. Being at the shop has meant I have been finding out more about Medjugorje and other Marian apparitions around the world. As well as Marian apologetics.

The following article on Bl. Bartolomeo Longo and the Rosary was written by Br. Ezra Sullivan, OP. It originally appeared on the Catholic Exchange website on October 26, 2007, in the month dedicated to our Lady of the Rosary.

On the day of Bartolo Longo’s beatification, October 26, 1980, Pope John Paul II called him a “man of the Madonna”; he later called him “a true apostle of the rosary” and “a layman who lived his ecclesial pledge to the full”. And John Paul II knew what he was saying — his own Marian spirituality was influenced deeply by what, as a young man, he had gleaned from Bartolo’s life and works.
So who was this a man who so profoundly affected the greatest pope of the 20th century and who has had a permanent effect on the way we Catholics venerate Mary? Unfortunately, he is unknown to many of those in the English-speaking world. His name is Blessed Bartolo Longo. Most people who know of Bartolo have heard of him from asides made by John Paul II in his apostolic letter on the rosary — but there is much more to this remarkable man than a few pithy quotes. His feast day is October 6th, and this is his story.

..... Through Bartolo’s tireless efforts, the occult arts were practically eradicated in the region of Naples, a worldwide Marian movement was started, and a church that was once used by about 100 elderly people became a basilica shrine that is now visited by about 10,000 a day.
Bartolo’s Marian and rosary-centered spirituality was so influential that, in his own day, he was directly encouraged by Bl. Pius IX, St. Pius X, and Leo XIII, the last of whom has been called the Pope of the Rosary. After his death, Bartolo’s influence on the very highest circles of the Church did not wane. It was due largely to the popular movement which Bartolo started that Pius XII made the infallible declaration on the Assumption of Mary. Even in our own time, Bartolo continues to inspire the Church.
Br. Ezra Sullivan, O.P. is a Dominican Friar in formation for the priesthood at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C.. Please visit our vocations blog: www.dominicanfriars.org.

To read the full article go here: http://www.dominicanfriars.org/2007/10/29/the-rosary-the-devils-defeat/

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