October is the Month of The Rosary
By Mary Jeppson
The month of October is a time dedicated to Mary under the theme of the rosary because of the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary on October 7th.
In the 15th and 16th centuries, there was an extensive promotion of the devotion to the rosary. Pope Pius V had expected an invasion by the Turks for some years and had redoubled his advocacy of the Rosary and now exhorted all the Faithful of Europe, including those Christians held in territories already conquered by the Turks, to pray the Rosary daily to beg Mary’s intercession to save the Church and to liberate the captives. On October 7, 1571, Christians won an important naval battle against the Moslem Turks at Lepanto Strait (near western Greece). After defeating superior forces, Marcantonio Colonna later wrote to Felipe II of Spain, it was like a dream to us all and we saw in it the direct intervention of God. At that same moment, about four o’clock in the afternoon of October 7, 1571 Pius V Ghislieri was sitting in his office at the Vatican, reviewing account with his Treasurer-General, Bartolomeo Busotti. The pope suddenly rose and walked to the open window. He stood there, looking out to the east in deep recollection, for a long time; and then he said, “A truce to our business. Now it is our task to give thanks to God for the victory that he has given the Christian armies.”
The credit for the victory was believed to be the rosary. Pius V decreed that a feast day, the first Sunday in October, every year in perpetuity as the commemoration of Our Lady of Victory. He did not live long enough to see even the first celebration.
On May 13, 1572, Gregory XIII was elected. He was the pope who reformed the whole calendar, which is why it is called the Gregorian Calendar today. In doing this he had to adjust each feast day on the calendar. The Feast of Our Lady of Victory was the only one commemorating a specific military victory. The battle at Lepanto wasn’t so much about Lepanto itself as the fact that it was through the Rosary that the destruction of Christendom had been averted. Therefore, he restructured the feast on October 7th, giving it the name by which it’s still known today, The Feast of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary.
The devotion of the Rosary has been going on for centuries and continues today here at St. Therese. In 1982 Robert and Cecilia Gwidt approached the pastor, Father Donald Berg, and asked if the rosary could be said before the 5:30 PM Mass on Saturday and the 7:30 AM Mass on Sunday. He gave his blessing with the understanding they would have to set it up and take care of the schedule. They found volunteers and began saying the rosary for over 27 years. Other charter members are John Meidl, Mabel Savino and Ray & Mary Helen Wrycha.
The Rosary is a powerful prayer. You are invited to come to Mass a half hour early and pray the Rosary for our priests, families, soldiers and our country.
ROSARY Mysteries, Meditations, and the Telling of the Beads by Kevin Orlin Johnson, Ph.D.
Catholic Custom & Traditions by Greg Dues