STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Joseph Bilotti of South Beach and his rosary group are praying for a miracle as they recover from the shock that their beloved Mount Manresa Jesuit Retreat House in Fort Wadsworth is closing.

“This is Staten Island’s treasure that has just been ripped away from us,” Bilotti said of the 102-year-old spiritual oasis.

“We have no say.”

“This really is terrible and how can it be allowed?” Bilotti wondered. “How can they be so callous to not even think about us?”

What most concerns Bilotti is that the chapel, which has been a place of peace and solace for him and the more than 20 people who gather to say the rosary on Tuesday nights soon will be shuttered, along with the remainder of the 15.4-acre property.

The Jesuits are in contract to sell the parcel — which is zoned for townhouses — to Savo Brothers, the Prince’s Bay development company, for $15 million.

“It actually hurts,” Bilotti said in anticipation of losing his beloved chapel.

“I didn’t think my own faith, my religion, would stoop this low for money.”

The fact that some of the proceeds have been earmarked for a Manresa Fund to finance a community-based retreat ministry on the Island is cold comfort.

“What Mount Manresa fund?” Bilotti said. “There won’t be a Mount Manresa. Who are they going to give it to?”

‘HURT’ AND “BETRAYED’

Bilotti, who has led the rosary group at Mount Manresa for 17 years, pronounced himself “hurt” and betrayed by false promises and repeated assurances that the rosary group would be allowed to continue meeting at the retreat house for as long as they were in existence.

Bilotti said he was shocked when, at the beginning of May, the Rev. Vincent M. Cooke, a spokesman for the Jesuits, reversed course and allegedly told Bilotti, “‘You have until the end of the month to get out.’”

As Bilotti tells it, Father Cooke previously asked him not to get politicians involved and not to attempt to secure landmark status for the chapel. Bilotti said he also let the Mount Manresa people know of a real estate developer who would have kept the chapel intact.

“You got somebody looking to save the chapel and you just sell it for money?” Bilotti said. “You don’t tear down the chapel. That’s a sacrilege.”

He expressed disappointment with elected officials. “What are our politicians doing, how can they allow them to do that? Our borough president lives around the block.”

Frank Caputo of Rosebank also deemed the politicians guilty of dropping the ball on this one, even though they worked to save other large open parcels, such as Pouch Camp.

“It’s really upsetting because there is nothing any of the politicians did,” Caputo said.

“I didn’t see any one of them speak up for this place.”

“It’s a shame,” said Peter Bellantoni of Rosebank, who noted “there is a lot of history here” at Mount Manresa.

Bilotti, a father of nine, described how while serving time in prison, he started a rosary group and upon his release was “saved” by his involvement in Mount Manresa and guidance from a former director, the Rev. Jack Ryan.

“Father Ryan … showed me how to forgive and forget and go on with my life,” Bilotti said.

He paid it forward by counseling troubled youth and by leading the rosary group. Over the years, Bilotti has arranged for plumbers, electricians, contractors and others to do major repairs at Mount Manresa free of charge. Now, he has heard, religious artifacts that folks donated to the chapel will be moved to a Jesuit retreat house in New Jersey or bulldozed.

Frank Shallis of Riveredge, N.J., has been attending the prayer services for the last several years. At Bilotti’s urging, Shallis installed an elevator at Manresa and donated his labor.

‘MIRACLES’

Richard McMahon of Grasmere and others talked about the “miracles” that they believe have resulted from their praying the rosary. A few years ago, McMahon had osteomyelitis and was told he would have to have his leg amputated. Although he now walks with a limp, he said he still has his leg and said he knows it was the prayers that saved him.

Michael Morigi of Rossville believes the power of prayer helped him beat cancer and avoid side effects from chemotherapy.

If Mount Manresa is indeed sold, the chapel should be saved and the remainder of the property should be used for senior housing, which is in short supply on the Island, opined John Solazzo.

The Rev. Matthew Roche of Mount Manresa has worked with Bilotti and helped to make arrangements with the Daughters of Divine Charity for the rosary group to meet in a chapel less than a half-mile away, on the grounds of St. Joseph Hill Academy in Arrochar, beginning at 7 p.m. on June 4. “It’s all we’ve got for now,” Bilotti said of the new location.

The 7 p.m. final rosary followed by a farewell mass will be said by Father Roche in the Mount Manresa chapel on May 28.

Bilotti is among those who are collecting petitions to keep Mount Manresa open; visit the website Signon.org and search for “Save Mount Manresa” to sign a petition.

— Advance news reporter Kiawana Rich contributed to this story.

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