Signs of the Times  

  ...As it stood, Christian Europe was beginning to come under the force of Islamic pressue.  Both Germany and France were making conciliatory noises to Constantinople, even hoping for a share in Islamic spoils in the seemingly inevitable event of Turkish victory.
     There were only two nations that were even vaguely interested in forming a buttress for Christendom--Venice and Spain.  Venice, on the Adriatic, had waged a largely ineffective defensive war against the Turks.  They had managed, however, to keep their sovereignty, but 300 years of war had eroded their territory, their courage, and their finances.
       Spain at this time was led by Phillip II, a man extraordinarily dedicated to the Faith and sovereign of one of the largest empires the world has ever seen.  He was King of Spain, the Netherlands, England, Master of Italy and Lord of parts of the Western Hemisphere and also the Philippines.  Phillip II responded somewhat cautiosly to the Pope's requests because his armies were committed elsewhere to defend Spanish possessions.
      A new Sultan of the Turks, Selim the Sot came to power.  HE proclaimed himself the "owner of all men's necks" and he decided that it was an appropriate time to officially include all European necks.  Pope Pius V clearly saw that the possibility of European capitualtion to Islam was now real.  On March 7, 1571, the Feastday of St. Dominic at that time, this Dominican pope signed his name to a document calling for the establishment of a Holy League against the Turks, which Spain and Venice later supported.  It is recorded that with tears in his eyes, he entrusted the Christian cause into the hands of Our Lady.

   Phillip II of Spain agreed to send ships, troops, and his half-brother, Don Juan of Austria to command the fleet.  Don Juan had distinguished himself in fighting the Moors in southern Spain.  The Venetians agreed to rebuild the small fleet of the Holy See.
      Prayer was recognized as the strongest defensse for Christendom and for the Holy League.  Phillip II traveled to the shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Extremadura, Spain.  The Christian fleet, having set sail in the middle of septmeber, prayed the rosary everyday.  After the ships assembled together on October 6th for final preparation, Dominicans and Jesiuts passed from deack to deck hearing confessions and offering Mass, while in Rome, Pius V ordered prayers to be said in all convents and monasteries of the city.  The Holy League received orders to sail.  Don Juan "led the fleet from his flagship, the "Real", which sailed under the blue banner of Our LAdy of Guadalupe.  On the evening of October 6th, Pope Pius V led the prayer of the Holy Rosary at the Dominican convent in Minerva in Rome.

       OCTOBER 7, 1571---
       On the morning of October 7th, the Superior Naval Forces of the Turks sailed in traditional Islamic crescent formation from their harbor at Navkapos (Lepanto in Italian).  The flagship of the Sultan carried a tooth of the prophet Mohammed encased in a crystal ball to aid their forces in battle.
       The Holy League's forces looked out and saw a crimson banner billow on the Turkish flagship with Arabic words of the Prophet set in gold.  In response, Don Juan "unfurled a dazzling banner of blue damask with the figure of Christ crucified embroidered in gold thread surmountinghe allied emblems.  The Holy League's commander lined up his own ships in the middle with the Venetians forming a line to his left and the Genoese on his right.  The battle was on.
        With great speed the opposing ships clashed.  Much was at stake and both sides sacrificed heavily.  The Holy League lost about 8,000 lives and 17 of the 100 galley ships were sunk, but they managed to free 15,000 Christian galley slaves on the Turkish ships.  The Sultan's 300-ship armada lost 260 ships and about 30,000 men.

       During the thick of the battle, Don Juan himself maneuvered his ship to the vanguard so that he could personally confront Ali Pasha, commander of the Turkish fleet.  The Turkish admiral was hit by a cannon ball that instantly beheaded him.  This was the turning point in the battle and by sunset the Turkish fleet was in total disarray.
       During the evening on the day of the battle, Pope Pius V was in the midst of discussions in his study in the Vatican when he suddenly broke away from his companions and crossed to the window.  He paused and with a radiant smile, turned to announce that a great victory had been won that day for the Holy League.  This was more than 2 weeks before the official courier from Venice arrived in Rome.

     Pope Pius V decreed that October 7th would thereafter be celebrated as the Feast of Our Lady of Victories in honor of the triumph of all Christendom at Lepanto.  Gregory XIII instituted the Feast of the Holy Rosary in 1573.  It was later extended to the universal church by Clement XI.  Benedict XIII added it to the Breviary with the explanation that the Turks wer defeated "on the very day on which the Confraternities of the Most Holy Rosary throughout the world were offering up their rosaries as they had been asked to do by St. Pius V.
      Pope Leo XIII (who heard God permitting Satan 100 years to sift the Church) wrote no less than 12 Encyclical letters on devotion to the Rosary and dedicated the entire month of October to Our Lady of the Rosary.  The Venetian attitude was to honor unequivocally the Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  They commissioned the building of a chapel to Our Lady of the Rosary.  "The walls were lined with records of the battle for there was no doubt in the Venetian mind of the cause of their victory...they inscribed the legend for all to see:  NEITHER VALOR, NOR ARMS, NOR LEADERS, BUT OUR LADY OF THE ROSARY GAVE VICTORY."