Considering the power of the Blessed Mother’s Holy Rosary today as we celebrate this beautiful feast day, an image of Our Lady stomping on the head of satan really does represent this true story of a man who went from being a satanist to now being a saint.
This is way back in the 1800s.
Bartolo Longo was treading a dangerous path. Although he grew up in a devout Catholic family who prayed the Rosary daily, he started dabbling in dangerous things in college, even joining a satanic cult and eventually being “ordained” a satanic priest.
But delving into this darkness did not lead to despair as hope found a way home for the wayward son—and it was all thanks to Our Lady of the Rosary!
While mocking the Church and Christianity altogether, Longo sank into a depression that led to nightmares and delusion. These haunting images led him to suffer a breakdown right near the ruins of Pompeii.
Plunging into a spiritual despair that led him to thoughts of suicide, the now saint remembered the words of Dominican friar Alberto Radente, who had implored him to turn to our Mother Mary.
Here are Longo’s own words fleshing out this mystical experience that ultimately saved his life:
“As I pondered over my condition, I experienced a deep sense of despair and almost committed suicide. Then I heard an echo in my ear of the voice of Friar Alberto repeating the words of the Blessed Virgin Mary: ‘If you seek salvation, promulgate the Rosary. This is Mary’s own promise.’ These words illuminated my soul. I went on my knees. ‘If it is true ... I will not leave this valley until I have propagated your Rosary.’”
That moment, Longo fell on his knees, renouncing the satanic occult and went on to make a full confession freeing his heart from such torment and agony. He went on to join the Third Order of St. Dominic, taking the name, “Brother Rosario.”
Bartolo Longo was canonized by Pope Leo XIV on October 19, 2025 and is known around the world as the “Apostle of the Rosary,” having founded what would become the Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary of Pompeii.
St. Bartolo Longo’s descent into the darkest visions of hell to then rising with the power of the Rosary reminds us all that regardless of your past, we are made for sainthood.