In his general audience on September 24, 2025, Pope Leo XIV made a very simple appeal. At the end of his catechesis, he simply said, “Dear brothers and sisters, the month of October is now approaching, and in the Church it is dedicated in a special way to the Holy Rosary. Therefore, I invite everyone, every day of the coming month, to pray the Rosary for peace: personally, in the family, in the community.”
The Rosary, of course, is a prayer that has sustained countless saints and sinners for centuries. This simple devotion helps us focus our prayer, meditate on the mysteries of our Lord, and through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, to grow in imitating her love for her Son. It is a devotion that is simple enough that anyone can pray it, and profound enough that it is a source of some of the Church’s most significant spiritual writings and a near-constant in the lists of tools for a healthy prayer life. That the Pope is making the request for us to pray is also very significant.
Pope Leo XIV is not the first pope to make a universal appeal to the Church to pray the Rosary. In fact, the origin of October as the month of the Rosary stems from the October 7, 1571 victory of the Christian nations of Europe over the invading fleet of the Ottoman Empire at the naval battle of Lepanto. The Ottoman threat to Europe was very real, and as the kingdoms of Europe banded together to face the military threat, Pope St. Pius V called on all Catholics to pray the Rosary. Though outnumbered, the Christian navy prevailed. In thanksgiving, Pope Pius V established a liturgical feast which, over the years, has gone by different names and dates. Pope Leo XIII dedicated the month of October to the Rosary in 1884. Pope St. Pius X settled the name of the feast, Our Lady of the Rosary, and the date of the feast, October 7, in 1913.
That Pope Leo XIV is only the most recent pope to call upon the Church to pray the Rosary. Pope Francis, Pope Benedict XVI, and Pope St. John Paul II all encouraged the entire Church to unite in praying the Rosary with some regularity. What makes the Holy Father’s call to this devotion important is not that it is unique. Rather, it is the moment in history in which he makes this request. Every age is faced with its own set of problems, moral challenges, and spiritual battles. Our age is no different. In a world divided by conflict and discord, in a time when violence and hatred seem to be front and center of our attention (and hopefully not our intention), the peace that Mary, the Mother of Jesus can bring to our hearts is desperately needed. When chaos and darkness have us frightened, when noise and clamor make it difficult to focus, and when the tensions of society strain at our hearts and minds, prayer can be very difficult. The Rosary provides us with simple method of turning to God, even as we are distracted, divided, stressed, uncertain, or anxious. The Rosary gives us a rhythm for prayer when we feel most unsteady and out of sync. The Rosary places us in the right location, for when we are most in need, this prayer puts us in the arms of our loving mother whose prayers protect and sustain us as we navigate uncertain waters.
Our Holy Father has asked us to take on a daily prayer regimen of the Rosary. We can do this on a personal, familial, and communal level. This is a call to prayer that echoes the great calls to prayer of the Church’s history. There may be no threatening Ottoman fleet for us, but the dangers and pitfalls of this era are just as deadly. Thanks be to God for this gift of the Rosary, for with these simple beads and basic prayers, we find the most effective shield against evil, the weapon the devil flees from, and the secure bond that keeps us in the peace and light of Jesus Christ. And so, take to heart these words of Pope Leo one more time. “Dear brothers and sisters, the month of October is now approaching, and in the Church it is dedicated in a special way to the Holy Rosary. Therefore, I invite everyone, every day of the coming month, to pray the Rosary for peace: personally, in the family, in the community.”
