Our Lady of the Rosary and the Battle of Lepanto

"And the Pope has cast his arms abroad for agony and loss,

And called the kings of Christendom for swords about the cross.

The cold queen of England is looking in the glass;

The shadow of the Valois is yawning at the Mass;

From evening isles fantastical rings faint the Spanish gun...

...The North is full of tangled things and texts and aching eyes,

And dead is all the innocence of anger and surprise,

And Christian killeth Christian in a narrow dirty room,

And Christian dreadeth Christ that hath newer face of doom,

And Christian hateth Mary that God kissed in Galilee, --

But Don John of Austria is riding to the sea..."

- G. K. Chesterton, Lepanto, 9-13, 80-85

These telling passages provide a glimpse into the state of much of Christendom in 1571, when Pope Pius V called for help against the encroaching Ottoman empire -- a Christendom whose people had largely lost touch with what it meant to be Christian, whose leaders all failed to answer the pope's call; all but Don John of Austria, the "last knight of Europe," as Chesterton calls him.  The illegitimate son of the Austrian empire was the only leader, out of all of Christian Europe, to come to the defense of the pope and of Christianity.

The Ottoman forces outnumbered the Christians, known as the Holy League, in ships, sailors, and soldiers.  The soldiers of the Holy League, as well as many Christians gathered in Rome, implored Our Lady's intercession by praying the rosary while the great naval battle took place off the coast of Lepanto, Greece.

Through Don John's willingness to answer the call when all other leaders turned a deaf ear to the pope, through the faith of many lay people and religious who piously prayed the rosary, and through the miraculous intercession of Our Lady, the Holy League won a decisive victory over the Ottomans, keeping the Mediterranean Sea open to Christian vessels, protecting Italy from invasion, preventing the Ottomans from advancing further into Europe, and freeing 10,000 Christian slaves.

Following the battle, Pope Pius V instituted the feast of Our Lady of Victory in thanksgiving.  The name has since been changed to Our Lady of the Rosary, which is celebrated on October 7.

Chesterton's poem, Lepanto, is a wonderful five-minute read for today... I highly recommend it!