Feast of the Holy Rosary
Today October 7th, is the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, originally the Feast of Our Lady of Victory, because when the victory comes it will come through the Rosary!
One
October 7th, 1571, The Battle of Lepanto
Throughout the 1500s, the Muslim Ottoman Empire grew in strength, especially by means of its domination of the Mediterranean Sea. In 1571, their fleet of three hundred ships was massed, just south of Greece, in the Gulf of Lepanto, poised to invade Europe and wipe out Christianity. Pope St. Pius V saw this danger looming on the horizon. In response, he begged the leaders of the West to stop fighting among themselves and unite against the force that was a threat to all. But they were too consumed with building their own kingdoms to come to the defense of the Kingdom of God. So he turned to the Christian people, asking them to take up the weapon of the Rosary and pray it daily.
Pope St. Pius V finally found support in Don Juan of Austria, who cobbled together a much smaller fleet of about two hundred ships. Giovanni Andrea, a Genoese admiral, agreed to lead the Christian armada against the Islamic onslaught. He possessed one of only five copies of Our Lady of Guadalupe and had been touched to the original Tilma, a gift from the King of Spain, which he hung in his flagship. On October 6th, 1571, the night before the battle, Don Juan required all his sailors and soldiers to pray the Rosary while St. Pius V himself led the rosary at the Church of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva in Rome. He knew that if Europe was to be saved, it would only be through the intervention of the Mother of God and the Rosary.
Two
On October 7th, 1571, the Christian and Muslim fleets entered into Battle in the bay, south of the town of Lepanto (Greece).
The Muslim fleet, led by Ali Pasha, arranged in the formation of a massive quarter moon. The Christian fleet was arranged in the shape of a cross, divided into three squadrons: left, center, and right. The battle started badly for the Christians: the Muslim fleet broke through the left and center squadrons, heading right for Admiral Doria’s ship. Doria slipped down to his cabin, where he had hung the painting of Our Lady of Guadalupe, fell on his knees, and began to pray the Rosary. At that moment, the winds shifted against the Islamic fleet and scattered it. The Christians regrouped and destroyed two-thirds of the Ottoman armada. It is said that the sea was red with blood for miles around by the end of the battle.
In Rome, Pope Pius V knew the Christians were victorious before a message could possibly have reached him. During a meeting in the Vatican, the pope suddenly rose up and gazed out the window, saying, “This is not a moment for business; make haste to thank God, because our fleet this moment has won a victory over the Turks.”
When the official news reached Rome, Pope Pius V gave credit to the Virgin Mary. He declared October 7th the Feast of Our Lady of Victory, which we celebrate today as the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary because the victory came through the Rosary.
Three
The enemy we face today is not so much Islam. St. John Paul II in his letter to the world on the Holy Spirit explained that the main enemy today is materialism which does not mean the vice of seeking pleasure by getting and possessing wealth and things. That is greed. We are not talking about greed.
Materialism is the lie that one’s self-worth is based on achievements which are measured by money and that happiness comes from pleasure through entertainment. This causes us to be so busy and distracted that we forget about God. That is the deadly sin of Sloth.
Sloth is the vice, the deadly habit of stuffing ourselves with so much busyness and entertainment that we are no longer hungry for God. When you have no hunger for God, then you make the choice not to feed your soul with God by prayer and sacraments and spiritual things.
That choice is despair. I’m not talking about the feeling of despair, the feeling of discouragement. I’m defining the sin of despair is the choice to not do anything to feed our soul with God. That is the sin of our culture. Sloth kills the hunger for God that leads to the choice not to seek Him. That is the sin of despair.
Are you battling materialism that makes you so busy and then so exhausted that you veg with entertainment? Do you hunger for more?
Four
Now we know the enemy – so what’s the plan to defeat it?
In January of the year 2001, Pope John Paul said, okay, I’m going to lay out the plan to overcome the materialism, sloth and despair that is killing souls. He did so in a letter to the world called Novo Millennio Ineunte – the beginning of the new millennia.
He said that we don’t need any new programs. (Novo a. 29) Political programs, military programs, and even Church programs will fail. We need Jesus. Only Jesus can fix us and only Jesus can fix the world.
What the world needs is Jesus and the most immediate way to reach him is by prayer. So, John Paul said the plan to save your own soul and help your loved ones to heaven is this: Lead people to meet Jesus in prayer! John Paul wrote, “If Christians don’t develop this deep life of prayer, then they can’t reach holiness and they will be not only mediocre Christians, but worse, Christians at risk.” Because without prayer they will be defeated by materialism that makes them so busy and distracted they forget about God.
Five
The Battle of Lepanto was won by Our Lady and the Rosary
The Rosary is the means Our Lady has chosen to lead us to Jesus in prayer. So, John Paul says that all our parishes should become schools of prayer, training people in the art of prayer. And the greatest teacher of prayer is Mary and that is why John Paul says we should sit at the School of Mary every day in the Rosary.
The Problem: The world has turned away from God. The Answer: Mary is calling us to turn back to Jesus through prayer in the Rosary.
We don’t need a political or military or Church program. We just need to commit to prayer, especially the Rosary.
If you pray the Rosary once or twice a week, how about committing to 3-5 times a week? If you do that, how about seven days a week? But if the Rosary is the way to victory, then why would we not share it with others? Share this podcast with someone. Invite someone to pray the Rosary with you. Invite family and friends to come together regularly to pray the Rosary. Our Lady continuously asks us to form Rosary groups.
I often feel like the enemy parachuted in and all the good guys dropped their weapons and ran. Now, I’m just going around to find out who is on the side of God, ask them, “Do you have a weapon – a Rosary – and do you know how to use it?”
The battle for souls rages. The weapon is the Rosary. What are you going to do about it?