I love this church and it's beautiful shrines. When I go to Dublin for a few days every year I always try to get to Mass in White friars and also in St Theresa's in Clarendon St. I'm a fan of the Carmelites.
My Grampa Dan O'Loughlin was a great fan of the Carmelites and supported the Carmel in Philadelphia. My Mom passed on to me a night time prayer that she prayed regularly under Dan's or my Dad's influence (?) which came from the same Carmel. I now strive to pray it nightly before retiring.
Fulton Sheen loved Ireland and celebrated his Irish identity. In return he was loved and admired as a hero by not only the Irish people but the Clergy and the Bishops. But on the other hand he experienced some intense hostility from elements of the American Hierarchy and clergy who loathed him. Looking back on it I suspect it was because homosexuality had spread widely amongst the clergy in places like the USA and Italy even way back then. It had not yet done so in Ireland at least openly. So Sheen was not a problem. Homosexuals can be very vindictive indeed, demonically so. https://irelandxo.com/ireland-xo/history-and-genealogy/ancestor-database/bishop-fulton-j-sheen Visits to Ireland THENCE he crossed to London to be assistant priest in St. Patrick's, Soho, a parish with many Irish and Italian members. When 30 years old he returned to Peoria to work in St. Patrick's parish, the poorest in the town. After a short while there he began his 25 years as a professor of theology at the Catholic University in Washington. Bishop Sheen has paid several visits to Ireland. The last occasion on which he was here was in April of this year, when he dedicated the Church of St. Michael in Croghan, Co. Roscommon. He is to-day director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith in the United States, and with a staff of 30, writes to 100,000 missionaries, copes with about 2,000 letters daily, and administers the work of 128 diocesan directors of the society in America. Bishop Sheen is a striking symptom in North America of the renewed curiosity about Christianity and, particularly Catholicism. Like celebrated preachers of other days, he does not spare his hearers. In 1949, he told Congress: You ought to pray to God now as never before that 'He will not use Russia as the Instrument of His Justice for the liquidation of a Western world that has forgotten God. Instead of perfunctorily praying to God and then tabling the prayers as "unfinished business," we say to you: Gentlemen, this is the unfinished business – your prayers.
Thanks Padraig. I read some more about him at the link you posted. He sounds like a very formidable and holy man. I must try to read some of his books too.
His books are very easily read as he loved to tell stories. My favorite book was, 'Treasure in clay jars', the story of his life. My favourite story was of him visiting Lourdes as a young priest and having no money to get home.
Yes, Clarendon St. is a lovely church too. I don't go into the city centre as often as I used to. Must visit next time I'm nearby.
From Totus Tuus Fb page today: "In the late 1800s, Bartolo Longo found a worn, forgotten painting of the Virgin Mary in a junk shop. He brought it to Pompeii, never imagining what would happen next. Soon after, this humble image began to be credited with incredible healing miracles—stories of the sick being cured, the hopeless finding peace, and lives being transformed through the intercession of Our Lady. Word spread like wildfire. What started as a simple chapel grew into the magnificent Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary of Pompeii—now one of the world’s most important pilgrimage sites, drawing millions of faithful every year. A powerful reminder that God can use even the most ordinary things to work extraordinary wonders! Have you ever experienced the power of Our Lady’s intercession? Or visited a shrine that touched your heart? Share your story."
Today is the Feast of Saint Bartolo Longo. Saint Bartolo, Pray For Us. Pictures and text (slightly altered) from the Fb page of Sr. Julia Mary Darrenkamp, Fsp. "St. Bartolo Longo’s feast day is October 5th… the same day as the more widely known St. Faustina but he’s a major Saint in his own right and one especially needed for today. He was raised Catholic and while studying law at the University of Naples, got involved in anti clericalism, and then dabbled in the occult to the point of becoming a satanic priest. This eventually caused him severe psychological distress, and his friends told him to abandon these practices and return to the faith. He went to confession, but still felt overwhelming guilt. Then he remembered a promise connected with praying the rosary, that whoever promoted this devotion would be saved. He spent the rest of his life doing just that. Bartolo Longo went on to build the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary in Pompeii and also started the 54 day rosary novena. No matter how lost you are. No matter what you’ve done or where you’ve been. Remember Bartolo Longo. He’s the perfect example of “Every saint has a past. And every sinner has a future."
I was just saying a little prayer for his intercession. If God can save him, anyone can be turned around.
From Totus Tuus: On October 5, the Church celebrates the feast of St. Bartolo Longo, the Apostle of the Rosary. Born in 1841 near Brindisi, Italy, he studied law in Naples and for a time fell into spiritism and atheism. Through the guidance of a Dominican priest, he returned to the faith and became a Lay Dominican. Longo dedicated his life to spreading devotion to the Rosary. In the poor valley of Pompeii he built a church and later the great Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary, which continues to draw pilgrims from around the world. He also founded orphanages and works of charity with the help of Countess Marianna de Fusco, whom he later married in a chaste union. He died on October 5, 1926, and was canonized by Pope Leo XIV in 2025. His feast invites the faithful to rediscover the power of the Rosary and the possibility of profound conversion, no matter how far one has wandered. Saint Bartolo Longo, pray for us.
