ROME — In a global celebration of missionary life, Pope Leo XIV canonized seven new saints on Oct. 19, during a solemn Mass in St. Peter’s Square. Among the new saints is Bartolo Longo, the lay Dominican and founder of the Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary in Pompeii.

Longo’s journey from involvement in the occult to becoming one of the greatest modern promoters of the Rosary has is a testament to God’s mercy and the transformational power of prayer. His canonization marks a moment of particular joy for the Dominican Family, who regard him as a model of holiness for lay Catholics.

Br. Cristóbal Torres Iglesias, OP, General Promoter for the Laity, said Longo’s spirituality advances a profoundly Dominican form of evangelization. “Every time we pray the Rosary, we not only hear the biblical stories of the Annunciation, Jesus carrying the cross, the Transfiguration or the Resurrection proclaimed; we also ‘see’ the story in our mind’s eye,” he said. “Longo, who used the Rosary both as a tool for contemplation and for preaching, understood that when we incorporate it into our prayer life in this rich way, the Rosary allows us both to ‘contemplate and share with others the fruits of contemplation.’”

The Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary in Pompeii, today one of Italy’s most visited pilgrimage sites, was founded by Longo as an act of reparation and as a place of mercy for the poor. Br. Cristóbal noted that the shrine was “a place to encounter Christ in the poor as much as through pilgrimage and prayer.”

Longo’s preaching of the Rosary was inseparable from his works of mercy. His devotion led him to found an orphanage in 1887, an institute for the sons of prisoners in 1892, and another in 1922 for the daughters of prisoners. In him, the Church sees what Pope Leo XIV called in Dilexi te “the close connection between Christ’s love and his summons to care for the poor.”

Br. Lawrence Lew, OP, Promoter General of the Rosary, emphasized that Longo’s conversion reflects the Dominican mission to preach both mercy and truth. “St. Bartolo’s conversion shows us that three elements, at least, must be in place for the miraculous work of conversion to take effect,” Fr. Lawrence said. “Firstly, the prayers of others for him, the communion of saints at work. Secondly, the challenge of a genuine friend moved by the Holy Spirit. Thirdly, an openness to grace and a response of repentance.”

He added that Longo’s lifelong devotion to the Rosary flowed from that same grace. “St. Bartolo depended on the promise of Our Lady that ‘one who propagates my Rosary shall be saved,’ and so in reparation for his sinful past he devoted his life to making the Rosary known,” Fr. Lawrence said. “The Rosary is nothing more or less than a sacred preaching of the good news of salvation.”

A remarkable conversion

Born in 1841 in southern Italy, Longo drifted away from his Catholic upbringing while studying law at the University of Naples. He became interested in spiritualism and began attending séances and participating in occult rituals. At one point, he was even “ordained” as a priest of Satan in a parody of the Catholic priesthood, taking part in blasphemous ceremonies that imitated the sacraments. The experience left him increasingly tormented, isolated, and depressed. Accounts from his later life describe a period of mental and spiritual darkness, marked by despair and near-suicidal thoughts.

Through the influence of a friend and a Dominican friar, Longo experienced a dramatic conversion. Subsequently, he dedicated the rest of his life to promoting the Rosary, founding charitable works for orphans and prisoners, and organizing pilgrimages to Pompeii. Longo’s famous Supplication to Our Lady of the Rosary — still prayed each year by thousands — remains one of the Church’s most beloved Marian devotions.

Fr. Cristóbal reflected that Longo’s life continues to challenge believers today. “Whenever we feel frustrated at our own or others’ apparent resistance to the movements of grace,” he said, “we would do well to remember that the ‘lost cause’ before us — be it somebody else or even ourselves — may be the next Bartolo Longo.”

In a letter to the Order celebrating the canonization, the Master of the Order of Preachers, Br. Gerard Francisco Timoner III, OP, noted the significance of this moment for the Dominican Family. “In this Jubilee Year, the Dominican Family is blessed with two new saints, St. Pier Giorgio Frassati and St. Bartolo Longo,” he said. “Indeed, the preaching of the Gospel in manifold ways, according to the different states of life within our Family — friars, nuns, apostolic sisters, lay and priestly fraternities — is truly a path to holiness. May all the holy men and women of our Order intercede before the Lord for the whole Dominican Family.”