MEMORIAL: OCTOBER 7
This feast was established in 1573 by Pope Pius the Fifth in gratitude for the naval victory of the Christians over the Turks at Lepanto. Without this victory, Europe would have been controlled by the Muslim Ottoman Empire. Pope Pius ordered the churches of Rome opened for prayer day and night, encouraging the faithful to pray the rosary for protection from the invasion. When word of victory reached Pope Pius, he added a new feast to the calendar on October 7th, Our Lady of Victory, which would later be renamed Our Lady of the Rosary.
