The Feast of the Holy Rosary and the Battle of Lepanto

Two months out of the year are dedicated to Our Lady, May and October. Today is the Feast of the Holy Rosary in honor of the great defeat of the Muslims at Lepanto in 1571 when the Holy League defeated the invaders in a terrific sea battle. That decisive battle saved Western civilization and drove the Turks out of the Mediterranean for years. 

If you've never read the story of Lepanto, today is a good day to do it -- to recognize the courage of those like the brave head of the Famagusta garrison on Cyprus, General Marcantonio, Bragadino. His long resistance to the Islamic siege gave the Holy League time to prepare under the leadership of Don Juan of Austria. When the garrison surrendered with a promise of safe passage for the survivors of the fight, the lying Turks carried out a systematic extermination and took many into slavery. They skinned Bragadino alive, stuffed his body with straw and raised him to the top of the mast.

Pope Pius V had a miraculous vision of the victory and later in thanksgiving to the Blessed Mother instituted the Feast of the Holy Rosary. 

Chesterton's poem Lepanto is a powerful description of the battle. 

If you want more, Christopher Check is an expert on Lepanto and riveting in his presentation.