Pompeii – Away from the Ruins..
Part Three of the Pompeii blog series, Read part Two here.
As tourists we like nothing more than heading away from the tour groups, and that’s just what we did in Pompeii, yes we visited the ruins read about it here.
with the stunning central square and all the hustle and bustle you would expect from this crazy country.
Having walked around the busy streets for a while, we stopped off for abcoffee and a bit of people watching, but struggled to take our eyes off the huge building at the other side of the square.
The building is home of the Shrine dedicated to Our Lady of Pompeii, or Our Lady of the Rosary.
The story of this shrine is that a man named Bartolo Longo, a lawyer from the area and, although baptized Catholic, had fallen away from the faith and fell under the influence of two radical former priests while attending University who had very strong anti-Christian doctrines.
He became quite the enemy of the Catholic Church, and a Satanic priest.
By 1865 he came back to the Faith with a renewed zeal. By 1871, he had turned full circle and became a Third Order Dominican, taking the name of Brother Rosario in honor of the Rosary.
Having a great devotion to the Rosary, he placed an image of Our Lady of the Rosary in the church and soon there were reports of miracles from those who visited there……..
Believe or don’t believe, the shrine attracts enough pilgrims for this Church to be kept in top condition and an asset to the town.
And what could be more Italian than a line of Vespa’s …….