Michael Novak is a theologian, author, and former U.S. ambassador under Ronald Reagan. He wrote this piece for National Review Online.
Miguel de Cervantes (author of Don Quixote), served on one of the Christian galleys in what he called the greatest naval sea battle in history. It was 1571, and the Turks (Muslims) had been massing an enormous fleet for an invasion of Italy. Their fleet was assembling just off a port in Greece, near the Gulf of Lepanto. The battle pitted the two largest naval forces ever assembled: the Turks fielded 280 ships; the Christians, 212. The odds on the Christians winning that battle were only slightly better than the odds on them defeating the lions in the Roman Coliseum 1500 years earlier. Nevertheless, the Christians routed the Turks and much credit was given to Pope Pius V, who had urged all Christians to say the rosary daily on behalf of the brave crews on the Christian galleys. At the hour of victory, the Pope, hundreds of miles away at the Vatican, is said to have gotten up from a meeting, and exclaimed: "The Christian fleet is victorious!"
One of three admirals commanding the Christian forces at Lepanto was Andrea Doria, who carried a small copy of Mexico's Our Lady of Guadalupe into battle. That image is now enshrined in the Church of San Stefano in Aveto, Italy.
(Our Lady of Guadalupe)
The Christian victory was seen by many as nothing short of miraculous, and victory was immediately attributed to Our Lady Queen of the Rosary, who received a new title: Our Lady Queen of Victory. Church bells rang out all over Europe on the day of the victory, and October 7 has since been celebrated by the Catholic Church as a feast day. Later, the feast of October 7th was renamed "Our Lady of the Rosary" and extended throughout the Universal Church by Pope Clement XI in 1716.
Osama bin Laden cites the Battle of Lepanto and the amazing victory by Jan Sobieski’s Polish cavalry over the Turks outside the gates of Vienna on September 11-12, 1683, as battles for which he is still seeking revenge. Note the dates of the two battles. There are no coincidences.
