23th March : Our Lady Of Victory Of Lepanto
23th March
Our Lady Of Victory Of Lepanto
Country : Hungary
Year : 1716
The battle fought on August 5, 1716, between the Austrian army of Prince Eugene and the Turks at Peterwardein in Hungary, was won through the power of Mary.
To help equip the Christian army against the Turks, Pope Clement XI emptied the Papal treasury.
The Turks had come up like fire from the East, plundering, raping, enslaving, threatening to master the whole of Christendom, but had been defeated at Lepanto through the power of the Rosary. In 1716, Mary, Queen of Victory, was chosen to guide and protect her children again. The two armies met on the morning of the feast of Our Lady of the Snows; the Christian army was outnumbered ten to three; the enemy had the advantage of position; but the Christian strength lay in the right of their cause and in Mary, who watched over them. The battle was long and hot, but back of the lines, in the churches of Europe, people prayed; their prayers were heard. That evening the sun set on a free Hungary. Mary’s men had won the day; Mary’s banner floated victoriously over a Christian land.
The news filled the Christian world with joy, but nowhere more than at Rome. In thanksgiving to the mother of God for her help, glorious, solemn, pontifical ceremonies of gratitude were held in the basilica of St. Mary. Four Turkish standards, trophies of the victory, were presented in the sanctuary of Our Lady of Loreto. After Lepanto, Pius V instituted the feast of the Holy Rosary in Rome, and Clement XI extended it to the world.
Today other more sinister errors eat at the heart of Christian culture: Naturalism undermining man’s faith in God and in himself, Nationalism—Communism—is Mary’s enemy; it transforms the state into a god to which men must be sacrificed. Men are children of God, sons of Mary, not slaves of the state.
Against the errors of our time, we must appeal to Mary; she is our guide, our Queen of Victories and of Peace. For her and for her blessed son we struggle, and on her powerful intercession with the Prince of Peace we place our trust.
We struggle today to preserve our birthright as sons of God. Never in her history has America been so evidently on God’s side. And Mary, our Mother, the Queen of victory and of Peace, stands for our final victory, for our peace. Victory and peace must and will be ours, if we cling to the Mother of God. Mary will again crush the head of the Serpent, and this time, again, by means of her Rosary, if we have recourse to her through it.
