Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary

(Painting: "The Battle of Lepanto" by Paolo Veronese, c. 1572, Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice)


By Rob Moreland, Mobile, Ala. - St. Ignatius

Pope St. Pius V established October 7, as a feast day for Our Lady of Victory, in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary's assistance in securing victory for the Christian forces in the Battle of Lepanto. It was a horrific battle, with the loss of 30,000 Muslims and 7,500 Christians, but was a huge victory for Christian Europe. In thanksgiving Pius added "Help of Christians" to the Litany of Loreto. Later Pope Gregory XIII changed the name of the feast day to Our Lady of the Rosary because it was through the praying of the Rosary that the battle had been won. 

On October 7, 1571, in the Bay of Lepanto, off the coast of western Greece, one of the bloodiest naval battles in history was fought between the Holy League and the Ottoman Muslims. The Ottoman Muslims had amassed a huge naval fleet of galley ships  in an attempt to control the Mediterranean Sea and invade the continent of Europe. 

Pope St. Pius V, in order to defend against the threat of the Ottoman Muslims,  organized the Holy League composed of Spain, Venice, Tuscany, Savoy, the Knights of Malta, and the papacy. Together these powers amassed a fleet of war ships to meet the Muslim threat.  John of Austria,  a half-brother of King Philip II of Spain, was selected to be the  commander-in-chief of the Christian fleet. 

Entrusting the Christian fleet to the protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Pope Pius urged every Christian to  prepare for the battle by reciting the Rosary. But, it appears that Mary also assisted in the victory of Lepanto as Our Lady of Guadalupe.

In Maria of Guadelupe, German author, Paul Badde (Ignatius Press: 2008), writes about Our Lady of Guadalupe, who appeared to Juan Diego in Mexico in December 1531. The miraculous image of Our Lady of Guadelupe is imprinted on Juan Diego's cactus cloth cloak and is venerated today in a shrine in Mexico City.  

Badde tells us of an interesting connection between Our Lady of Guadelupe and the Battle of Lepanto, fought 40 years after the St. Juan Diego's vision. He recounts that the Genoese ships were under the command of twenty-four year old Admiral Andrea Doria. (Yes, the same Andrea Doria the ill fated cruise ship was named for.) At one point during the battle, things were working against Doria and his ship. In desperation, he went below to his cabin, knelt and pleaded before a new miraculous image of the Virgin Mary. It was the first copy of the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe to reach Europe. 

In 1570, the archbishop of Mexico had a copy of the original image made,  and gifted it to the king of Spain, Philip II. The king passed it on to John of Austria, who, in turn, entrusted it Andrea Doria, to bring good fortune. Doria brought the image aboard his ship and it went into battle with him.

Soon, after Doria returned to deck, the winds changed to the favor of the Christian ships. This change in winds proved to be one of the deciding factors in their victory. 

Badde relates that "after the battle of Lepanto, the image had been in the possession of the Doria family, in the Malaspina Castle, outside Genoa, until Cardinal Giuseppe Doria willed it, in 1811, to the tiny highland parish of Santa Stephano d'Aveto, whose church became a shrine for pilgrims." The image remains there today.

"Give me an army saying the Rosary and I will conquer the world"

Pope Blessed Pius IX