{"id":8536,"date":"2012-10-07T11:44:52","date_gmt":"2012-10-07T16:44:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kathyschiffer\/?p=8536"},"modified":"2016-09-30T15:58:38","modified_gmt":"2016-09-30T20:58:38","slug":"lepanto-the-life-chain-and-the-rosary-you-can-make-a-difference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kathyschiffer\/2012\/10\/lepanto-the-life-chain-and-the-rosary-you-can-make-a-difference\/","title":{"rendered":"Lepanto, the Life Chain, and the Rosary: YOU Can Make a Difference"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

On October 7,<\/strong><\/span> the Church celebrates the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary\u2014looking back to the great victory in 1571 of the Holy League, Christian naval forces who defeated the invading Ottoman Empire in the historic battle of Lepanto<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

And on October 7,<\/strong><\/span> thousands of people of faith\u2014in cities across America\u2014will stand in silent solidarity, participating in the annual Life Chain<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The link between these events\u2014the historic defeat of invading Muslim forces by Catholic warships in 1571, and the vigils planned across our nation today to protest abortion\u2014is prayer.<\/strong>\u00a0 At both events, it is the Rosary which is the weapon.<\/p>\n


\n\"\"<\/a>The Battle of Lepanto<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

On October 7, 1571, a patchwork fleet of Catholic ships<\/strong> primarily from Spain, Venice and Genoa, under the command of Don Juan of Austria, was at a distinct disadvantage.\u00a0 \u00a0The much larger fleet of the Ottoman Empire\u2014a force with 12,000 to 15,000\u00a0 Christian slaves as rowers\u2014was extending toward Europe.<\/p>\n

However, St. Pope Pius V, realizing that the Muslim Turks had a decided material advantage, called upon all of Europe to pray the Rosary for victory.<\/strong> \u00a0Christians gathered in villages and towns to pray as the sea battle raged; and at the hour of victory the pope\u2014who was hundreds of miles away at the Vatican\u2014is said to have gotten up from a meeting, walked over to an open window exclaiming \u201cThe Christian fleet is victorious!\u201d and shed tears of joy and thanksgiving to God.<\/p>\n

The toll of the sea battle was great:<\/strong>\u00a0 The Holy League lost 50 of its galleys and suffered some 13,000 casualties. \u00a0The Turks, however, lost much more:\u00a0 Their leader Ali Pasha was killed, along with 25,000 of his sailors.\u00a0 The Ottoman fleet lost 210 of its 250 ships, of which 130 were captured by the Holy League.\u00a0 Coming at what was seen as a crisis point for Christianity, the victory at Lepanto stemmed Ottoman incursion into the Mediterranean and prevented their influence from spreading through Europe.\u00a0 Through the intervention of Our Lady, the Hand of God prevented the Muslims of the East from overcoming the Christian West.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The epic victory has been commemorated in literature:\u00a0<\/strong> Miguel de Cervantes, a Spanish soldier wounded in the battle, recovered to become a novelist, poet and playwright; and he was so inspired by this battle that he incorporated elements of it in his own acclaimed novel, Don Quixote<\/em>.<\/strong>\u00a0 And philosopher\/writer and Christian apologist G.K. Chesterton retold the story in his 1915 ballad, Lepanto<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In thanksgiving for Mary\u2019s patronage,<\/strong> in 1571 Pope Pius V instituted \u201cOur Lady of Victory\u201d as an annual feast to commemorate the victory in the Battle of Lepanto.\u00a0 Two years later, in 1573, Pope Gregory XIII changed the title of this feastday to \u201cFeast of the Holy Rosary.\u201d\u00a0 And in 1716, Pope Clement XI extended the feast to the whole of the Latin Rite, inserting it into the Roman Catholic calendar of saints, and assigning it to the first Sunday in October.\u00a0 In 1913, Pope Pius X changed the date to October 7, as part of his effort to restore celebration of the liturgy of the Sundays.<\/p>\n

The Life Chain<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

LIFE CHAIN is a peaceful and prayerful public witness<\/strong> of pro-life individuals standing for 90 minutes praying for our nation and for an end to abortion.\u00a0 It is a visual statement of solidarity by the Christian community that abortion kills children and that the Church supports the sanctity of human life from the moment of conception until natural death.<\/p>\n

Annually, on the first Sunday in October,<\/strong> LIFE CHAIN invites the churches in each city and town across North America to stand on a designated local sidewalk and pray for\u00a090 minutes, while holding one of the following approved pro-life sign messages:
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n