Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, and what's a satanist got to do with it?

Provocative subject lines, indeed! First, today is the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. As JD Flynn noted in today’s The Pillar newsletter (go subscribe), Our Lady always shows up.

Now, about that satanist thing: I will be on Morning Air this Thursday at the usual time of 8:20 am eastern to discuss the one and only Bartolo Longo. Dude really was a satanist. But guess what? Now he’s going to be a saint! That’s right, this atheist possessed by demons will shortly become the Church’s newest saint. How could that be? Listen in to find out!

I have known about Bartolo for a while because of his Marian devotion, which I think I learned about in the Legion of Mary. His story is just so weird and sad and tragic up front - and then completely turned around and grace filled for the other 3/4 of this life. I’m contemplating a couple things:

One, he became an atheist in college in the midst of the political revolutionary stuff happening in Italy at that time (late-ish 1800s). It’s like kids now - they go to college all cheerful and bright eyed and come out all goofed up. So he’s a patron for that.

Another thing: to me, he’s the patron saint of good choices and having good influences. He made terrible choices as a result of grief, personal ego, a tendency toward independence and stubbornness too, I would say. But it was the prayers and the efforts of some devout and genuinely loving Catholics in his life that brought him back from total self-destruction. So here’s to being aware enough to make good choices, when called to in tough personal circumstances, and for the saving power of good friends and influences.

I hope you enjoy the conversation. Check here for where you can listen.