Saint Who?
Saints Who Promoted Marian Devotion
Saint Pompilio Pirrotti
Priest and religious († 1766) Feast: July 15
Domenico Pirrotti was born in Campania, Italy, in 1710. It is told that as a little boy he discovered an old statue of Mary in his family’s attic and prophesied that it would be publicly venerated one day. Domenico entered the Piarists when he was a young man, taking the name Pompilio Maria of Saint Nicholas.
He loved the Virgin Mary very much, often uttering the short prayer Mama Bella (“Beautiful Mother”). He is said to have saved the people of a town by rousing them in the wee hours to beg “Mama Bella” for protection shortly before an earthquake struck the region. He opposed the errors of the rigorist Jansenist heresy by encouraging such devotion, as well as love for the Sacred Heart and frequent Holy Communion. As a result of his efforts, he was accused by his enemies of excessive lenience and of trying to curry public favor. For a time his confessional faculties were suspended and he was exiled. But he was so beloved by the people that they compelled the authorities to allow him to return.
Pompilio died in 1766. In 2001, the statue he found as a child was rediscovered, and its location became a popular pilgrimage destination. Known as Our Lady of Saint Pompilio, or Our Lady of the Abundance of Montecalvo, her feast is shared with Pompilio’s.
Beautiful Mother, grant us the same serenity
and devotion which led your son Pompilio
to invoke you for every need.
