Today is the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary and it holds a special place for this apostolate.
If you’ve been following along, you’ve noticed that every reflection ends the same way: Our Lady of Victory, pray for us. Today is a good day to explain why.
In the 1500s, Christendom was under serious threat. The Ottoman Empire was pushing westward, and Western civilization as it had been known hung in the balance. The story of Don Juan of Austria, Pope St. Pius V, and what culminated in the Battle of Lepanto is one of the wilder stories in Church history.
Before the battle, the Pope urged Christians across Europe to pray the Rosary. There are accounts of soldiers kneeling on warships, Rosaries in hand, before the fighting began.
The Christians won.
In thanksgiving, Pope St. Pius V established a feast day under the title Our Lady of Victory. It was Pope Gregory XIII who later changed the name to Our Lady of the Rosary — the feast we celebrate today.
I love this story for many reasons, but it serves as a reminder that Mary has been interceding for the Church in its great battles for centuries. But she also intercedes just as readily in the smaller ones, in the skirmishes that happen within each of us — the battle to get up and pray, to practice a virtue, to love the people in front of us.
That’s why we ask for her intercession every day. The big battles and the little ones both need her.
Pray a Rosary today if you can. And give thanks to God, and to the Mother He gave us.
Let us pray. Our Lady of Victory, thank you for your intercession throughout the history of the Church and in the battles of our own hearts. Pray for us today and every day. Amen.
Keep fighting the good fight. Our Lady of Victory, pray for us.
