Almost from the very beginning of Islam, there were wars
upon wars between Christians and Moslems. We remember the Crusade wars, seven
major and several minor, which lasted for centuries. This is the story of the
Battle of Lepanto, which marked the end of the Crusades and was a turning point
in the history of Christianity.
Charles Martel's victory at Poitiers definitely stopped the Moslem invasion of
western Europe. In the east Christians held firm against attacks of the Moslems
until 1453. In that year, Mohammed II threw huge
assaults against Constantinople and by the evening of May 29 the Byzantine
capital fell. By 1571 the Moslems were firmly installed in Europe. Their ships
ruled the Mediterranean Sea from the Strait of Bosporus to the Strait of
Gibraltar and constantly preyed on Christian vessels unless they flew the French
flag.
Pope Pius V, in the last year of his papacy in 1571, tried to rally the nations
of Europe to join in a Holy League to stop and roll back the Moslem enemy which
threatened the entire continent. Spain, whose King Philip II was also King of
Austria, responded favorably. The Moslems were then engaged in the conquest of
Cyprus, an island belonging to the Republic of Venice.
Leading Venetian
officials would have preferred to have worked out some peaceful-coexistence
agreement with the Sultan, but under the crusading influence of Saint Pius V,
they decided to join the Holy League along with the republics of Genoa and Lucca
and the dukes of Savory, Parma, Ferrara and Urbino.
The Papal fleet was of course part of the Holy Alliance. Pius V asked Philip to
appoint Don John of Austria, the 25-year old son of Emperor Charles V, as
commander-in-chief of a planned expedition against the Moslems. After receiving
the banner of the Holy League from the Pope, through Cardinal Granvalla, Don
John's fleet set sail from Genoa for Naples on June 26, 1571.
Few historians mention that just before the departure, Philip II presented Don
John with a picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe which she had caused to be
miraculously imprinted on the cloak of the Indian peasant Juan Diego in Mexico
40 years before. Don John placed the picture in the chapel of the
admiral-vessel, the Genoese John Andrew Doria, asking for Mary's protection of
his expedition.
On September 16, the Christian fleet put to sea. Don John anchored off of Corfu
where he learned that the Moslems had leveled entire towns and villages and then
retreated to the coast of Lepanto in the Gulf of Corinth.
At dawn on October
7, at the entrance to the Gulf of Patras, the Christian and Moslem fleets
finally came face to face for the battle of Lepanto.
The wind and all military factors favored the Moslems, but Don John was
confident. He boarded a fast ship for a final review of his fleet. He shouted
encouraging words to the men and they shouted back. After Don John returned to
his own position, the wind mysteriously changed to the advantage of the
Christian fleet. First-hand witnesses wrote about this moment as a most dramatic
turn-of-events resulting from an "unknown factor".
At that very moment, at dawn on October 7, 1571--as Vatican Archives later
revealed--Pope Pius V, accompanied by many faithful, was praying the Rosary in
the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. From dawn to dusk the prayers continued in
Rome as the Christians and the Moslems battled at Lepanto. When it was all over
the Moslems had been defeated. Of some 270 Moslem ships, at least 200 were
destroyed. The Turks also lost 30,000 men while Christian casualties numbered
between 4,000 and 5,000.
The Rosary had won a great military victory. Like all truly great military
leaders who hate war and love peace, Don John retired after his victory at
Lepanto. He died a few years later at the age of 31. Another who took part in
the great battle of Lepanto, Miguel de Cervantes, lived longer to write his
famous tribute to Christian chivalry, Don Quixote.
Following the great Christian victory at Lepanto, Pope St. Pius V declared that
henceforth a commemoration of the Rosary would be a part of the Vatican's Mass
on every October 7. His successor, Pope Gregory XIII, went further. In 1573 he
established the Feast of the Most Holy Rosary--to be celebrated at all Churches
which had specific altars dedicated to the Rosary.
In 1671 Pope Clement X extended observance of the feast to all of Spain.
Only
12 years later in 1683 the Moslems again swept into Europe. With 200,000 men,
they laid siege to Vienna. After months of valiant resistance by a small
garrison, the city was relieved by an army under John Sobieski, King of Poland.
The Rosary, to which the King was dedicated, was again instrumental in a
military victory. Pope Innocent XI consecrated September 12 of that year to the
Holy Name of Mary. The Moslem hordes were hurled back yet again at Peterwardein
in Hungary by Prince Eugene on the Feast of Our Lady of the Snows, August 5,
1716. As a result of this victory, Pope Clement XI extended the Feast of the
Rosary to the Universal Church.