Feast date: Jan 01

“My only desire is to see Mary who saved me and who will save me from the clutches of Satan.”

- Blessed Bartholomew Longo’s last words

 

Perhaps one of the most remarkable conversions in the history of the Church was that of Bartholomew Longo, who went from being a Satanist priest to a beatified, through the extraordinary assistance of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

 

Born in 1841 to a practicing Catholic family, he was not an irreligious youth, but when he went to university in Naples to study law, all that changed.  He first went from being a practicing Catholic to being involved in anti-papal demonstrations and then an atheist, following that a Satanist, eventually being ordained to the Satanist priesthood.  He had become a complete apostate.

 

However, Bartholomew’s family and friends continued to ardently pray for him and his conversion back to the faith of his childhood. A university professor of his hometown in southern Italy began to have discussions with him and with much perseverance managed to persuade him of the irrationality of his position. This was the beginning of his road to sainthood. He then was referred to a Dominican priest named Father Albert who directed his deprogramming and finally guided him back into communion with the Church.

 

He had recovered his faith, but realizing the awful scandal and damage he had caused, he wished to make reparations. He learnt first-hand of the awful poverty of the tenant farmers near his hometown. It is said that at the sight of their destitution the words of Our Lady of the Rosary came to his mind: “One who propagates my Rosary shall be saved.”

 

He believed that from this point on he would devote his life to spreading devotion to the Rosary.  His first step was to organize Rosary groups around a shrine he established in his neighborhood church around a picture of Mary called Our Lady of the Rosary. The shrine grew and became a basilica in 1901, attracting thousands of pilgrims daily, and still does today.

 

Bartholomew was aided in his work by the Countess di Fusco, a devout widow. Pope Leo XIII suggested that they marry to quiet rumors that their work together was leading to an amorous relationship. In obedience to the Pope they did so but vowed to live in celibacy.

 

They opened an orphanage for children of prison inmates, which achieved unexpected results for children who were considered lost causes and hereditary criminals at the turn of the century.

 

Bartholomew lived his last 20 years of his life under constant ill health and attacks against his reputation by those envious of him and the success of his apostolate.

 

His reliance on and dedication to the Rosary was extremelly pronounced in his life, as he acknowledged how vital Mary had been in his rescue from Satanism and conversion to the truth. He was an active proponent of the definition of the dogma of the Assumption of Mary, which was proclaimed in 1950 by Pope Pius XII.

 

Bartholomew died on October 5, 1926 at the age of 85.  He was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1980.

 

“Rosary in hand, Blessed Bartolo Longo says to each of us: "Awaken your confidence in the Most Blessed Virgin of the Rosary. Venerable Holy Mother, in You I rest all my troubles, all my trust and all my hope!”

- Pope John Paul II at Blessed Bartholomew Longo’s beatification ceremony.

Feast date: Jan 01

On July 9 the Church celebrates the feast of the 120 Martyrs of China. Religious persecution has a long history in China, especially persecution of Christians, thousands of whom have died for their faith in the last millennium.

On October 1, 2000, Pope John Paul II canonised 120 men, women, and children who gave their lives for the faith in China between the years 1648 and 1930. The martyrs include 87 native Chinese and 33 foreign missionaries. The majority were killed during the Boxer Rebellion of 1900.

“Chinese men and women of every age and state, priests, religious and lay people, showed the same conviction and joy, sealing their unfailing fidelity to Christ and the Church with the gift of their lives,” said the Holy Father during the canonisation.

“Resplendent in this host of martyrs are also the 33 missionaries who left their land and sought to immerse themselves in the Chinese world, lovingly assimilating its features in the desire to proclaim Christ and to serve those people.”

Of the 33 foreign-born missionaries, most were priests and religious, including members of the Order of Preachers, Friars Minor, Jesuits, Salesians and Franciscan Missionaries of Mary.

One of the more well-known native martyrs was a 14-year-old Chinese girl named Ann Wang, who was killed during the Boxer Rebellion when she refused to apostasize. She bravely withstood the threats of her torturers, and just as she was about to be beheaded, she radiantly declared, “The door of heaven is open to all” and repeated the name of Jesus three times.

Another of the martyrs was 18-year-old Chi Zhuzi, who had been preparing to receive the sacrament of Baptism when he was caught on the road one night and ordered to worship idols. He refused to do so, revealing his belief in Christ. His right arm was cut off and he was tortured, but he would not deny his faith. Rather, he fearlessly pronounced to his captors, before being flayed alive, “Every piece of my flesh, every drop of my blood will tell you that I am Christian.”

Augustine Zhao Rong was the first native Chinese priest to become a martyr. Born in 1746, he was served as one of the soldiers who escorted Bishop John Gabriel Taurin Dufresse to his martyrdom in Beijing. The witness of the bishop led Augustine to seek baptism at age 30. He was ordained a priest five years later and was martyred in 1815.

During the canonisation Mass, Pope John Paul II thanked God for blessing the Church with the heroic witness of the 120 martyrs, whom he called “an example of courage and consistency to us all.”

Feast date: Jan 01

St. Pelagius was a thirteen year old Christian who was martyred for refusing to denounce his faith and convert to Islam in Cordoba, Spain in 925.

10th century Cordoba was the most powerful and glorious time in the world for the muslim caliphates and they boasted the largest mosque outside of the Caaba in Mecca.

Pelagius, as a ten year old boy, was taken hostage by the Moors of Cordoba during a rampage in a Christian town. He was in captivity for three years and nobody had made any attempt to ransom him.

The Emir of Cordoba offered him his freedom if he would convert to Islam. The boy refused and the Emir had him tortured and killed. He is said to have endured six hours of constant excruciating pain until he died.

Saint Pelagius is venerated in Leon, Cordoba, and Oviedo, where his relics have been kept since they were transferred there in 985.

Feast date: Jan 01

The title “Mother of God” goes back to the third or fourth century, but the Greek term Theotokos (“The God-bearer”) was officially consecrated as Catholic doctrine at the Council of Ephesus in 431, thus becoming the first Marian dogma. At the end of the Council of Ephesus, crowds of people marched through the streets shouting: “Praised be the Theotokos!”

This Catholic doctrine is based on the doctrine of Incarnation, as expressed by St. Paul: “God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law” (Galatians 4:4).

In its chapter on Mary’s role in the Church, Vatican II’s Dogmatic Constitution “Lumen Gentium” (“Light of the People”) calls Mary “Mother of God” 12 times.

On this day the Catholic Church also celebrates the World Day of Peace, a tradition established by Pope Paul VI and confirmed by Pope John Paul II.

Feast date: Jan 01

The Solemnity of All Saints is celebrated on the first of November. It was instituted to honour all of the saints, both known and unknown, and, according to Pope Urban IV, to supply any deficiencies in the faithful's celebration of saints' feasts during the year.

In the early days of the Church, the Christians were accustomed to solemnize the anniversary of a martyr's death for Christ at the place of martyrdom. In the fourth century, neighbouring dioceses began to interchange feasts, to transfer relics, to divide them, and to join in a common feast; as is shown by the invitation of Saint Basil of Caesarea (397) to the bishops of the province of Pontus. Frequently groups of martyrs suffered on the same day, which naturally led to a joint commemoration.

In the persecution of Diocletian, the number of martyrs became so great that a separate day could not be assigned to each, but the Church, feeling that every martyr should be venerated, appointed a common day for all. The first trace of this we find is in Antioch on the Sunday after Pentecost. We also find mention of a common day in a sermon of Saint Ephrem the Syrian (373), and in the 74th homily of Saint John Chrysostom (407)..

At first only martyrs and Saint John the Baptist were honoured by a special day in the Liturgical Calendar. Other saints were added gradually, and increased in number when a regular process of canonization was established.

Still, as early as 411 there is in the Chaldean Calendar a "Commemoratio Confessorum" for the Friday after Easter. In the west, Pope Boniface IV on May 13, 609 or 610, consecrated the Pantheon in Rome to the Blessed Virgin and all the martyrs, ordering an anniversary. Gregory III (731-741) consecrated a chapel in the Basilica of Saint Peter to all the saints and fixed the anniversary for November 1.

A basilica of the Apostles already existed in Rome, and its dedication was annually remembered on May 1. Gregory IV (827-844) extended the celebration on November 1 to the entire Church. The vigil seems to have been held as early as the feast itself. The octave was added by Sixtus IV (1471-84).

Francis Merseman, from the Catholic Encyclopedia, copyright 1907.