This year, on Oct. 7, the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, we also mark the 450th anniversary of the Battle of Lepanto, one of the greatest victories won by the Rosary in the Church’s history. Father Donald Calloway, MIC, describes what happened in his bestselling book 10 Wonders of the Rosary:
Saint Pope Pius V, a Dominican pope, knew that if Europe were to be saved from the threat of radical Islam, it would only come about through the intercession of the Virgin Mary. It was his initiative to organize a Christian militia and ask all of Christendom to pray the rosary for victory against the Muslim threat. In preparation for the confrontation, Pope Pius V handpicked Don Juan of Austria to be commander of the Christian fleet.
Acclaimed by G.K. Chesterton as the last knight of Europe, Don Juan knew that he was about to engage in a holy war with Islam. Prior to sailing off to war, he gave orders that all blasphemy was forbidden on his ships and required that all of his men fast for three days. He forbade women from entering his vessels, lest any of his men fall into the sin of lust and mar their souls before battle. He ensured that his vessels would have priests available to hear Confessions and grant absolution. He also distributed a rosary to every man in his armada. Then, on the eve of battle, leading by example, he required that all of his men take the spiritual sword of the rosary into their hands and pray it — and they did.
Likewise, on the evening of October 6, 1571, the day before the decisive battle, St. Pope Pius V himself led the rosary at the Dominican convent of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva in Rome. With tears in his eyes and a rosary in his hand, he entrusted the Christian cause to the Queen of Heaven.
On the morning of October 7, 1571, the Christian fleet set sail in search of the Muslim fleet to meet them head on. Don Juan and his men had no idea that they were sailing toward an advanced and highly trained Muslim fleet of more than 300 vessels and 100,000 men. Though the Christian fleet had close to 285 vessels, they only had 70,000 men, many of whom were unskilled in naval combat. The two forces caught sight of each other for the first time in the large bay just south of the town of Lepanto (now Nafpaktos), Greece. Once they saw each other, they formed their battle lines. The battle was on. It was the cross versus the crescent.
The battle lasted for five bloody hours. At one point, Don Juan steered his vessel toward the vessel from which Ali Pasha commanded the Islamic forces. Before the two flagships collided and their crews could engage in hand-to-hand combat, Don Juan, filled with the spirit of God, danced with abandon on the deck of his ship. This act enraged Ali Pasha, but he was unable to take his revenge because a musket ball to the forehead immediately killed him. One of the armed prisoners who had been freed from the Muslim ship cut off what was left of Ali Pasha’s head and hoisted it on a pike. The banner of Allah was taken down and ripped apart, and the banner of St. Pope Pius V was raised in its place.
The battle was a complete success for the Catholic forces. The Turkish fleet lost more than 30,000 men. Thirty-four Muslim admirals and 120 galley captains were among the dead. The Muslim fleet also lost the majority of its vessels. The Christian fleet was able to set free nearly 15,000 Christian galley slaves who had been aboard the Muslim vessels. It was a complete and total victory for Christianity.
What is less well known about the Battle of Lepanto is that Our Lady of Guadalupe was there. In the battle formation of the Christian fleet, a decorated admiral named Giovanni Andrea Doria was in charge of the right wing of the fleet. Aboard his galley ship, he carried a most precious gift, given to him by King Philip of Spain: a replica of the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe that had been touched to the original!
As history attests, after the apparitions of Our Lady of Guadalupe occurred in Mexico in 1531, Archbishop Montufar of Mexico City had five copies of the miraculous image made. Each was touched to the original image. One of these images was given to the king of Spain in 1570. King Philip, in turn, gave his copy to Admiral Doria, who brought the image with him on his ship to the Battle of Lepanto. Our Lady of Guadalupe, La Conquistadora, had conquered the false gods of the Aztecs in Mexico; she returned to Europe to be present at the decisive Battle of Lepanto and defeat the Islamic threat.
Also present at the Battle of Lepanto was Miguel Cervantes, the famed author of Spain’s greatest novel, Don Quixote. One of the many valiant men who had come to the defense of Christianity, Cervantes was severely wounded at the Battle of Lepanto, and wrote the following about the battle that saved the west:
Ages gone by have seen nothing like unto the Battle of Lepanto, nor has our age witnessed anything to compare with it, and in all probability ages to come will never record a more beautiful or glorious triumph for the Church.
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