The Painting of Our Lady of the Rosary
A painting, bought for one dollar and carried to the church on a manure cart, is said to have instigated miracles and has certainly inspired the construction of an impressive Basilica
Although the, almost adjacent, excavations of Pompei are the main attraction for visitors to the city, at certain times of year, when this painting of the Virgin Mary and the infant Jesus handing rosary beads to two saints are particularly venerated. The painting is on the altar of the Pontifical Shrine of the Blessed Virgin of the Rosary at the end of Via Lepanto in Pompeii. The important dates are 8th May ( Feast of Our Lady of Pompeii) and the first Sunday in October (Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary). The story around the painting, is said to attract more visitors on these two particular days than ever visit the ruins in a day.
Remarkably the painting was donated to a reformed Satanist priest Bartolo Longo, who had returned to his Catholic roots and been attracted to the Marian ritual of the Rosary. He wanted to establish a church to celebrate the tradition of Our Lady of the Rosary. The painting was originally bought by Dominican priest Alberto Radente for eight carlini (about 1 US dollar at the time) in Naples who offered it to Bartolo Longo (promising great miracles) but to save money Longo had the large painting delivered on a manure cart.
When it was installed in a (at the time) small, almost derelict, church on the current site a number of miracles are reported to have occurred. The first was the curing of a girl’s epilepsy followed by recovery of a cleric dying from gangrene. Numerous other miracles were subsequently claimed. The church started to attract pilgrims and it grew and grew and eventually became the highly decorated basilica we see today.
When the painting was obtained it was in very bad condition but it has been restored 3 times once by an amateur in 1876 once by famous painter Federico Madlarelli in 1880 and finally by Vatican artists in 1965.
Longo was a lawyer and alongside his religious work as a Dominican Tertiary he continued his law practice. He went to Pompei to take care of the affairs of Countess Marianna Farnararo De Fusco who became a major benefactor to both the church and Longo’s work with the poor.
At the suggestion of the Pope at the time (Leo XIII) Bartolo Longo and the Countess were married on April 7, 1885 and continued to perform many charitable works and provided for orphaned children and the children of prisoners, an idea which was very radical at the time. An image of Longo and the Countess is cast in bronze above one of the doors of the basilica.
Whilst the church is an amazingly decorated building the story of the painting and the degree of faith it seems to instill are the most amazing part of a visit which you will benefit from if you do a bit of reading in advance.
The position at the end of Via Lepanto is significant. Our Lady of the Rosary was previously CalledOur Ladyof Victory, celebrating Christian success in the Battle of Lepanto.
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