In 1571 Pope Pius V instituted "Our Lady of Victory" as an annual feast to commemorate the victory of Lepanto. The Battle of Lepanto took place on 7 October 1571 when a fleet of the Holy League, a coalition of Spain (including its territories of Naples, Sicily and Sardinia), the Republic of Venice, the Papacy, the Republic of Genoa, the Duchy of Savoy, the Knights Hospitaller and others, decisively defeated the main fleet of the Ottoman Empire.
The five-hour battle was fought at the northern edge of the Gulf of Patras, off western Greece, where the Ottoman forces sailing westwards from their naval station in Lepanto (Turkish: İnebahtı; Greek: Ναύπακτος, Naupaktos or Έπαχτος, Épahtos) met the Holy League forces, which had come from Messina, Sicily.Victory gave the Holy League temporary control over the Mediterranean, protected Rome from invasion, and prevented the Ottomans from advancing further into Europe. Lepanto was the last major naval battle fought almost entirely between oar-powered galleys, and has been assigned great symbolic importance since then.
The victory was attributed to the Blessed Virgin Mary, as a rosary procession had been offered on that day in St. Peter's Square in Rome for the success of the mission of the Holy League to hold back Muslim forces from overrunning Western Europe. In 1573, Pope Gregory XIII changed the title of this feast-day to...
"Feast of the Holy Rosary". This feast was extended by Pope Clement XII to the whole of the Latin Rite, inserting it into the Roman Catholic calendar of saints in 1716, and assigning it to the first Sunday in October. Pope Pius X changed the date to 7 October in 1913, as part of his effort to restore celebration of the liturgy of the Sundays. In 1969, Pope Paul VI changed the name of the feast to "Our Lady of the Rosary".[1]
Prior to the battle of Lepanto, in thanks for the victory of the Battle of Muret, Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester built the first shrine dedicated to Our Lady of Victory.
THUS SO DEDICATED TO ALL OUR DIVINE MOTHERSR.I.P.
Thursday is also the ninth anniversary of the American invasion of Afghanistan. At least 2,007 NATO service members have died fighting since Oct. 7, 2001, according to an AP count.
MAY THEY ALL FINALLY REST IN PEACE
O DEATH DIVINE
AT WHO'S RECALL
RETURNETH ALL
GATHER THY CHILDREN
TO THY BOSOM STARRED
GIVE US BACK THE REST
THAT LIFE HATH MARRED
~ ALFRED VIGNY ~
