Call upon Our Lady of the Rosary

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Most Catholics know that May is the month we honor the Virgin Mary, but many people do not realize that October is another month of the year in which we especially venerate our Lord’s mother.

Oct. 7 is the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. On that day in the year 1571, Pope Pius V called on all Catholics throughout Europe to hold special processions and pray the rosary publicly to ask for Mary’s intercession as the Ottoman Turks were coming to wage war with the Christians of Europe. The intent was to claim the continent for Islam.

While the ships of the Christian soldiers were greatly outnumbered, their soldiers engaged the Turks in the Battle of Lepanto, off the coast of Greece. Turks surrounded the ships gathered from throughout Europe, and it seemed the Islamic fleet would overcome the smaller fleet of the Christians. And yet, as is so often the case with Christianity, as well as in stories of the Old Testament, we witness what seems to be the impossible: By the end of the day, the Christian fleet was victorious, while nearly all of the Turkish fleet was destroyed.

Pope Pius V declared the first Sunday of October for Our Lady of Victory, and Pope Gregory XIII, who succeeded Pope Pius V, declared the first Sunday of October as the feast of the Holy Rosary, in commemoration of Mary’s intercession on behalf of Christians at the Battle of Lepanto.

We all face battles in our lives. While they may not be the magnitude of the Battle of Lepanto, we are all facing some sort of challenge at this time, particularly in a world that is so desperately trying to find its center of gravity again. We may have attempted to fight these battles on our own and find we keep slipping back into the abyss we are feverishly trying climb out of on our own accord.

Perhaps the battle is a struggle with an addiction that flared up during the pandemic, one you had previously overcome, only to find that the isolation and fear created by the shutdowns reignited your dependence on your substance of choice. You may find yourself discouraged to be back in a place you never thought you would be again in your life.

Is it time to turn to prayer and ask for help? What will it take for you to reach out to God, to Jesus, to the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary to humbly implore their intercession in the battle you face? We can continue to fight these battles on our own, with our own resources, and find we face the same walls of our self-made prisons. Or we can humbly turn to our God and ask for help. We can drop to our knees and plead for the saints’ intercession to overcome the struggles we believe we must silently and singly endure on our own.

Pope Pius V knew the Turkish fleet was much stronger and larger than the European fleet, and yet he had unfailing confidence in the Virgin Mary and the power of her intercession. He did not ask the Christians throughout Europe to pray to Mary and ask for her help with little hope of their prayers being answered. No, he asked them to pray with full confidence that she would hear and answer their prayers.

We must do the same. When we ask for Mary to intercede for us, we must do so with full confidence that she will hear us and provide the answers we seek. With her help, we can be victorious over the struggles we face. Take time during this month of October to say the rosary and ask very specifically and confidently for exactly what you need. Trust that the Virgin Mary will help you, just as she did the Christians of Europe in the Battle of Lepanto.

Soucheray is a licensed marriage and family therapist emeritus and a member of St. Ambrose in Woodbury. Learn more at her website ifhwb.com.