Oct 07 – Homily – Fr Bonaventure: Our Lady of Victory/Rosary

Homily #101007 ( 24min) Play - Originally this feast was known as "Our Lady of Victory" as we see in the battle of Lepanto, a battle won through the power of the Rosary.

Men at Arms and God's Victory

Providence, mediated through the maternal Heart of Mary, brought the natural forces of gallant knights under the influence of supernatural direction and power. Pope St. Pius V sent Don Juan of Austria and the Holy League with rosaries into battle, and he asked all of Christendom to pray along with them and for them. He said: “I am taking up arms against the Turks, but the only thing that can help me is the prayers priests of pure life ” (Kriesel, 54). Philip II of Spain had responded to that providence, and although he would prove himself fickle and jealous of his half-brother, Don Juan, he would show himself Our Lady’s instrument, in spite of himself. The year before the Battle of Lepanto, Philip received a parcel from the Archbishop of Mexico City, in New Spain. Don Fray Alonso de Montúfar, having seen the miracles accomplished through the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe on the tilma of Saint Juan Diego, sent a small reproduction that had been touched to the original to the King, in the hope it would accompany the navy into battle against the Turks. And so it did. King Philip commanded that it be mounted in the cabin of Admiral Giovanni Andrea Doria, who commanded 64 of 208 galleys that would be pitched against the much larger fleet of the Sultan (Dale Ahlquist and Peter Floriani, “Notes,” in Lepanto).

On the morning of October 7, 1571 the ships of the Holy League sailed into the Gulf of Lepanto, against the wind. The galley slaves rowed toward the much larger Turkish fleet. They had been unchained and handed weapons, having been promised freedom upon a Christian victory.

Don John of Austria was a true knight, a man of both prayer an action. Pope St. Pius V knew that Don John was a cut above the average man, “someone who in council would rise above pettiness and envy, who in battle would lead without flinching” (Kriesel, 53). During the battle with “crucifix in hand,” Don John went from ship to ship calling out repeatedly to his men: “My children, we are here to conquer or die. In death or victory you will win immortality” (Beeching, quoted by Ahlquist, 29). Under the blue banner of Our Lady, with Her image on Admiral Andrea Doria’s ship, and with the whole of Christendom praying the Rosary the good Don John went confidently into battle.

Just as a century earlier the Maid of Orleans, St. Joan of Arc, had said: “the men will fight, and God will give them the victory,” so John, while confident in prayer, used his wits and his prowess with boldness and determination. According to Melvin Kriesel, Don John was well prepared with a number of surprises. At Lepanto, he introduced into sea warfare for the first time high walled war galleys that were armed with large banks of canons. These he sent well in advance of the rest of his fleet, to “soften up” the enemy, before the main body of the fleets engaged. He also removed from some of his ships their iron rams, which allowed him to use the main canon in these vessels’ bow much more effectively and devastatingly. In addition, he prevented the Muslim soldiers from boarding the Christian ships by having nets “stretched from stem to stern.” When the enemy attempted to board they had the obstacle of the net to tangle with, meanwhile the Christian muskets decimated them. All of this proved devastating to the enemy and helped to bring about a relatively easy victory (Kriesel, 58-59).

But in the end, it was God, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who indeed gave the Don John the victory. When the fleet entered the Bay of Lepanto they had the wind in their faces. The galley slaves struggled to power the fleet into battle, while the much larger Muslim fleet rested and waited with the wind in its favor. But as Don John and his officers knelt in prayer beneath the blue banner of the Holy League, the wind suddenly changed, the Christian sails filled and Our Lady’s host was now suddenly bearing down upon the Turks. -http://maryvictrix.wordpress.com/2007/10/07/the-spirit-of-lepanto/

Ave Maria! Our Lady of the Rosary - Mass: OF, - Readings:

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