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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 Out 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.
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