The Story of Our Lady of the Rosary

This week the Catholic church celebrates the feast of our Lady of the Rosary and honors her miraculous intercession at the iconic Battle of Lepanto in 1571. Dr. Sri shares with us the historical context and story behind this important feast and reminds us of the power of Our Lady’s intercession when we entrust seemingly impossible situations to her.

On October 7th 1571, our Lady intervened in the Battle of Lepanto and changed the course of Western civilization. Let us also turn to Mary in our personal battles and entrust the impossible to her.

The Battle of LePanto 1571

On October 7th, 1571 our Lady intervened in a powerful way to help the holy league defeat the Turks at the Battle of LePanto. During this time, the Muslim church was expanding their dominance in Asia and Africa and they were seting their eyes on Europe. They were gaining increasing control over the Mediterrenean sea and they were hoping to seize control of St. Peter’s Basilica to turn it into a Mosque. The Pope at the time, Pope Pius V, organized a Holy League, a coalition to defend Europe against the Muslim forces. While only a few European nations came together and formed a very small army, the Pope fell on his knees and turned to God. He began praying fervently and encouraged all of Europe to pray the rosary and go to Eucharsitic adoration. The soldiers of the Holy League also prayed the rosary. While the Muslim forces were much stronger and had more ships, Pope Pius V entrusted everything to God through the hands of Mary.

The morning of the battle, the Holy League ships set off to meet the Muslims churches. In the beginning of the battle, the wind was against the Holy league but later on the directions of the wind suddenly shifted and the Holy League was able to defeat the Muslim forces. The Holy League attributed the miraculous wind shift to Mary. Pope Pius V dedicated that day of victory to our Lady, coining it as the feast of our Lady of Victory and eventually the name of the feast was changed to Our Lady of the Rosary.

Practicals

1. Turn to Mary when you face difficulties and seemingly impossible situations.
2. If you struggle to pray the rosary every day, start small by praying a decade or two a day but strive to be consistent.
3. Feel free to break up the rosary in decades throughout the day.
4. Always keep a rosary in your pocket, it is a powerful spiritual sword.

Resources

• Visit Dr. Sri’s website at www.edwardsri.com and to book online events with Dr. Sri email events.edwardsri@gmail.com
• Subscribe to our show by texting “allthingscatholic” to 33-777
• Find more of Dr. Sri’s episodes at ascensionpress.com/allthingscatholic
• Pocket Guide to the Rosary
• Ascension is pleased to offer our new and improved online bible study programs and sacramental preparation programs digitally to help you minister with flexibility. Go to ascensionpress.com to view all our offerings!