Holy Name of Mary
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The Battle of Vienna
In 1571 the Muslim Holy War to destroy Christianity and conquer Europe was stopped at the Battle of Lepanto, due primarily to lots and lots of ordinary people praying the Rosary. I’ll share that story with you on Oct 7, on the Feast of Lady of Victory.
With that failed sea invasion, the Muslims sought to conquer Europe and Christianity by land. By 1683, the Islamic forces had reached the heart of Europe and laid siege to Vienna.
The Emperor fled Vienna and King Louis XIV of France ignored their cries for help.
Less than 15,000 defenders were trapped within the city walls of Vienna, while the Muslim army swelled to more than 150,000. If Vienna fell, nothing would stop the Muslims from sweeping through the rest of Europe.
The small number of fighters left in the city were abandoned by their leaders and surrounded by a much larger force bent on their destruction.
It certainly looked like there was no hope.
But God and Our Lady never abandon their children.
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King Jan Sobieski and Mary
Blessed Marco d’Aviano, a Franciscan monk and chaplin to the Christian army in Vienna encouraged everyone trapped in the city under siege to resist by praying the Rosary every day.
Rejected by the King of France, Pope Innocent XI then appealed to King Jan Sobieski of Poland to come to the aid of Vienna and all European Christianity. Sobieski led the most feared cavalry in Europe, called the Winged Hussars because they had sown eagle’s feathers to back of their armor and looked like eagles flying as they rode into battle.
More importantly, Sobieski was ardently devoted to Mary and the Rosary. When he received word from the Pope, he summoned his cavalry and army, and went straight to Czestochowa, where the miraculous Icon of the Black Madonna is kept. There they consecrated themselves to Mary, then marched more than 400 miles, to Vienna.
Sobieski ordered his army to pray the Rosary as they journeyed.
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Sobieski and his forces arrived outside of Vienna on the evening of September 11, 1683.
This was supposed to be the day Islam launched its final blow to Christianity, but they did not account for Sobieski and the Mother of God.
At 4:00 am, on the morning of September 12, King Jan Sobieski and his forces celebrated Mass and reconsecrated themselves to Mary. Without hesitation they threw themselves into the assault. Sobieski’s soldiers ran with abandon down the hill toward the Muslim army, shouting as they ran, “Jesus and Mary, save us!”
While the famed cavalry, the Winged Hussars charged with 18,000 strong, the largest cavalry charge every.
And Jesus and Mary did save them, as well as the city of Vienna.
By the end of the day, the massive Muslim Army was completely destroyed and those who survived fled in disarray, leaving everything behind in their camps.
After the battle, King Jan Sobieski related the events of the victory to Pope Innocent XI, describing to the pontiff exactly what had happened that day. He said, “I came, I saw, and God conquered!”
Upon his return to Poland, Jan Sobieski went immediately to the shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa on a pilgrimage of thanksgiving and laying the captured Muslim flag before the miraculous icon of Mary.
Once again, the victory came through Mary, the Rosary and the countless faithful who responded to her call. In gratitude the Pope declared September 12, the Feast of the Holy Name of Mary. And that is why I only drink Sobieski vodka!
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What enemies do we face?
1. We have external enemies that want to see the Catholic faith destroyed in the world and in us;
a. Satan;
b. People who serve Satan, whether knowingly or unknowingly by lives of sin and Anti-Catholic ideas;
2. But in this spiritual battle the enemy with the most potential to destroy…is myself
a. I become a coward and a traitor by my disordered desires, feelings and vices
b. My good desires that have become twisted that corrupt my thinking and behavior
c. Because we are ruled by misplaced desires we do all kinds of things to harm ourselves and others
3. We are ruled by the desire
a. To be better than anyone else because we think our identity and worth depend upon it
b. The desire for the praise and esteem of others
c. The desire to escape the call to reach our full Godly potential, to escape our responsibilities or pain or boredom by
i. Anger over the things that are beyond our control
ii. Eating to console our pain
iii. Drinking to drown our pain
iv. Lust
v. Gossip by tearing others down to our level instead of striving to rise to the level of God
4. What are the disordered feelings that attack you the most?
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Jesus and Mary, Save us!
1. Sit with Jesus and Mary
a. Then ask yourself: “What messed up feelings or desires attack me?”
b. What comes to mind?
i. Overwhelming pressures
ii. Anger
iii. Fears about something you can’t control
iv. Worry that some bad thing will happen
1. Identify the feeling or desire that has taken you hostage and threatens to destroy you
2. The messed-up feelings tempt us to do destructive things
a. To live in bitterness and regret
b. To escape through busyness, entertainment, food, alcohol, pain killers, pornography
c. Worst of all these feelings control our thinking and behavior
3. To be victorious over these enemies
a. Admit that on our own we are powerless to defeat them
b. Then, like Sobieski and his forces cry out “Jesus and Mary, save us!”
c. Then submit or entrust those destructive feelings and desires to Jesus and Mary
i. Jesus and Mary I consecrate my anger, my feeling of overwhelm, my fears and worries to you
d. Every time this enemy strikes
i. Turn again saying, Jesus and Mary save us
ii. And submit that emotion to them
iii. And save us they will!