Who Is Rocco?
Baptized Roman Catholic as an infant, God had little (if any) part in my life. If I attended Sunday Mass, it was only out of obligation. Over the years, through television, movies, & especially disordered music, my heart was attracted to the life of sin they promoted.
My rebellious youth spilled over into my young adult life & my sins increased dramatically. After years of living in mortal sin & believing I was beyond hope, I was set free by the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ in sacramental Confession, experiencing the unfathomable love & mercy of Almighty God in a very PROFOUND way!!!
(For more details on that ‘BIG CONFESSION’, listen to Rocco’s interview on Encounter Radio)
(‘Partial Testimony: The RADICAL Power of Confession’ by Catholic Speaker/Evangelist Rocco Fortunato)
By the grace of God, through Sacred Scripture, the Most Holy Rosary, daily Mass, & Eucharistic Adoration, I experienced a RADICAL CONVERSION!!!
I am now extremely grateful to be Catholic & to have been granted the grace of such a powerful conversion. Since my conversion, I’ve devoted much time to prayer & the study of the Catholic Faith. I’ve been teaching, preaching, &/or writing on the fullness of the truth of the Catholic Faith since 1993.
In 1995 I founded Spread the Blaze, an apostolate which is 100% Eucharistic, Marian, & loyal to the Holy Father. In 1997, on the Solemnity of the Annunciation & the Incarnation, I made my Total Consecration to Jesus thru Mary, thus becoming a Slave of Love of Jesus and Mary; I’ve renewed that Consecration every year since.
I’ve organized, led, & been the main speaker for Confirmation programs, Youth Groups, a Young Adult Group, a Men’s Group, Conferences, Retreats, a Street Apostolate, First Saturday Rosary Rallies, given Missions, & served as Director of Evangelization. I’ve also been on Catholic radio & had several television interviews in defense of Holy Mother Church’s teaching on the sanctity of all human life, God’s precious gift of human sexuality, & God’s design for marriage, & am a columnist for Amazing Catechists.
I love EVERYTHING that Holy Mother Church teaches & all of my preaching & teaching is done in radical obedience to the Holy Father & the Magisterium of the Church!!! I’ve also received 4 years of spiritual formation in the Marian Seraphic Pathway & am VIRTUS® certified.
The Holy Spirit has filled my heart with burning zeal for the greatest possible honor & glory of God, the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the exaltation of Holy Mother Church, & the salvation of souls – especially our youth & young adults!!!
I look forward to zealously sharing my love for Jesus, Mary, Joseph, & ALL things Catholic with you, your parish, &/or at an event. Ave Maria!!!
Yours in Jesus, Mary, & Joseph,
Rocco Fortunato
S.O.L.O.J.A.M.
Founder – Spread the Blaze
Columnist – Amazing Catechists
amazingcatechists.com/tag/rocco-fortunato/
youtube.com/spreadtheblaze
Ave Maria!!!
“My zeal consumes me!”
(Ps 119:139)
Testimonials
(From clergy & lay leaders, parents of our youth,
members of the community, & our youth)
“Let another praise you,
and not your own mouth.”
(Pr 27:2)
From Clergy & Lay Leaders
From Parents of Our Youth
Other Endorsements
From Our Youth
The following is anonymous, written feedback from high-school youth to three questions asked by their teachers after a 30 minute talk on God’s love. It always amazes me to see what the Holy Spirit will do on such a deep level in such a short amount of time…IF WE LET HIM!!! Praised be Jesus & Mary!!!
*My comments in blue
Question: What did you think of the speaker?
• “INTENSITY and passion at its finest for God.”
• “I thought the presentation was very powerful. I have never seen such devotion, such passion. I had chills listening to his speech.”
• “It was amazing. Rocco is a great speaker and I could have listened to him for a long time.”
• “I thought that it was great. Rocco Fortunato is the man.”
• “I thought he was very good, and inspirational…he is good for teenagers.”
• “It was very intense.”
• “I thought the speaker was very inspirational.”
• “It was interesting, very intense and not what I was expecting.”
• “AMAZING. Great speaker. I got chills.”
• “He was intensely religious. It was a good experience.”
• “I think Rocco taught our class very much about the Christian faith. He is full of religious knowledge and he should definitely return and speak to us again.”
• “I thought he was very powerful and passionate about what he was trying to explain about how important it is to give God’s love back to Him.”
• “I thought he was a very powerful speaker and that I learned a lot about God’s love and theology.”
• “He was very enthusiastic and powerfully speaking.”
• “I thought he was very sincere about his faith and he was very radical about it.”
• “I thought the content of the presentation was very interesting. I thought it was very insightful and helped me understand what the love of God truly is.”
• “He was awesome.”
• “I thought he was a great speaker and very informative…I really liked him.”
• “I thought he really loved the Christian faith.”
• “I enjoyed Rocco Fortunato’s presentation tremendously. I realized how much God’s love means & how to live a right Catholic way. He was so inspirational & I found out myself through his presentation.”
Question: What was the best/most important part?
• “Above all else, I was fascinated by Rocco Fortunato’s reverence & devotion to Our Lord. His faith in what he said was far more believable than that of other preachers.”
• “His speaking was the best and his story.”
• “The most important part was the prayer. It was meaningful and everyone participated. Sometimes at school, during class and at Mass, people don’t participate.”
• “God is love.”
• “The gift that he gave us at the end. I wear mine.” (Referring to the Brown Scapular)
• “Most important was that God’s always there to accept your love, he’ll always love you no matter what. I liked that he really stressed this issue.”
• “I liked when he talked about his experience in Confession when the priest explained Confession. Chills again.”
• “Praying with him; he was passionate.”
• “The best part was praying in the presence of the Blessed Mother. It was a calm and peaceful prayer which helped me relax.” (It was May, the month of Mary, and I found a beautiful statue of Our Lady of Grace behind a curtain in an alcove in the Chapel. After receiving permission from legitimate authority, I moved Our Lady to the side of the tabernacle and had the youth join me in kneeling down and praying to Her.)
• “The most important point was knowing that God loves each and everyone one of us so much. He outpours His love to us.”
• “Best part – talking about God’s love being so incomprehensible and how He loves us no matter what, even if we’re sinners.”
• “That he truly believed the love of God.”
• “When he talked about how God loves you no matter what you have done.”
• “Everything!”
• “The most important point was how anyone can be forgiven, no matter what.”
• “I really enjoyed his talk about love. This seemed the most important point.”
• “What I liked best was everything.”
• “Most inspirational part was when he talked about his conversion. Would’ve liked to hear more about that.”
• “God loves us.”
• “Whole thing.”
• “I loved his enthusiasm about the Lord & his faith.”
• “The presentation was interesting and inspiring. I liked when he passed out the scaldions.” (Brown Scapulars)
• “I liked how he was passionate and tried to convey his beliefs on us.”
• “How he talked and how he involved us in the presentation.”
• “I liked it best when he talked about how we know as Christians why we are here and what we’re supposed to do.”
• “I liked how serious and passionate.”
• “Liked everything.”
• “I liked that he was extremely enthusiastic about the Faith.”
• “He was very intense. Full of information”
• “We touched on some unique topics. I thought that some of the things he said and did were different and special.”
• “I like the intensity you had about your faith the most.”
• “That he called everyone ‘brothers’; kind of neat.”
Question: Would you recommend the speaker?
• “Absolutely” (Underlined 3 times)
• “Yes. I think a whole school assembly with him for at least 2 hours.”
• “Yes. I hope we have him again.”
• “Yes, he should come talk to the whole school in an assembly.”
• “Yes I would. He was a great speaker.”
• “Yes I would recommend this talk to everyone.”
• “Yes, if they can withstand his craziness. His craziness for Jesus.”
• “Yes.” (9 students wrote this same answer.)
• “I would recommend him to anybody.”
• “I would recommend him to others.”
• “Yes because I actually paid attention.”
• “Yea Boi!”
• “Yes, if they need someone to get them going about their faith.”
• “I would recommend him!!”
• “I recommend this talk to everyone, especially those who are in question of their faith.”
• “I would recommend him to everyone.”
• “Yes. I would recommend the talk.”
• “I would certainly recommend it to other people.”
• “I would recommend this talk to someone because all points discussed could be somewhat universal.”