October 7

October 7 is a very important date for all Catholics. It is a tradition in our Church to celebrate October as the month of the rosary. But where does that tradition come from? From the fact that October 7 is the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.

The history of this feast is very meaningful. It goes back to the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, in which the forces of Christendom miraculously managed to defeat the Ottoman fleet. The so-called “Holy League,” formed by the Kingdom of Spain, Venice, Genoa and the Papal States, emerged victorious against all odds, since the Muslim forces were far larger than the Christian ones. Miguel de Cervantes, the author of Don Quixote, fought there; he was wounded and lost the use of his left hand, which earned him the nickname “the one-handed man of Lepanto.” The novelist, very proud of having fought there, called it “the most memorable and lofty occasion that past centuries have seen, or future ones hope to see.”

Here is a brief account of the battle: Don John of Austria gave the signal to begin by raising the banner sent by the Pope with the image of Christ crucified and of the Virgin, and he made the sign of the cross. The Christian commanders encouraged their soldiers and gave the signal to pray. The soldiers fell on their knees before the crucifix and stayed in that posture of fervent prayer until the fleets drew near. The Turks bore down on them very quickly, because the wind was strongly in their favor, and they were far superior in number and in the breadth of their line. The wind, which was very strong, died down just as the battle began. Soon it began to blow from the other direction, now in favor of the Christians. The smoke and fire of the artillery drifted over the enemy, almost blinding them and finally wearing them out.

Pope Pius V, at the Vatican, never stopped praying to God. During the battle a rosary procession was held to pray for victory. The Pope was talking with some cardinals when suddenly he left them, stood for some time with his eyes fixed on the sky, and said: “This is not the time to talk any more, but to give thanks to God for the victory he has granted us.” The authorities later compared the exact moment of the Pope’s words with the records of the battle, and they matched precisely. Pope Saint Pius V attributed this triumph to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and so he declared October 7 the feast of Our Lady of Victory, a celebration that was later changed to the feast of the Rosary by the next Pope, Gregory XIII.

In Venezuela, since 2002, hundreds of campaigns have been organized (inside and outside the country) to pray the rosary for Peace in our beloved Homeland. We have received testimonies from Venezuelans in Miami, Texas, Boston, Madrid, Sydney, Mexico City, Bogotá, Lima, Rome and elsewhere who have their own groups of Venezuelans praying the rosary for our country before the image of our patroness, the Virgin of Coromoto. As a result, beyond our political differences, thousands of Venezuelans have not allowed hatred and division to nest in their hearts, because, as the saying goes, “the family that prays together stays together.”

One of these wonderful national campaigns is the one organized since 2005 by the National Council of the Laity, “A Million Children Praying the Rosary,” held throughout the country every October 18 in parishes and schools to pray for unity and peace (www.unmillondeninos.org).

October is a very special month, and the Virgin knows that her “favorite” Venezuelans have been holding her hand throughout all these years so as to be “sowers of peace and joy” in times of great difficulty. Let us keep praying this Marian prayer every day (as the Virgin has asked in all her apparitions) for Peace in the world and in our beloved Homeland, and for the conversion of sinners. God and the Virgin never fail!