Our Lady of the Rosary

Thursday 7 October 2010

B. MARIAE VIRGINIS A ROSARIO
Our Lady of the Rosary
also called Our Lady of Victory
2nd Class, White
(commem. of Pope St Mark)

Oremus.

Deus, cujus Unigénitus per vitam, mortem et resurrectiónem suam nobis salútis ætérnæ præmia comparávit : concéde, quæsumus ; ut hæc mystéria sanctíssimo beátæ Maríæ Vírginis Rosário recoléntes, et imitémur quod cóntinent, et quod promíttunt, assequámur. Per eúmdem Dóminum.

Let us pray.

O God, whose only-begotten Son, by his life, death, and resurrection, hath purchased for us the rewards of eternal salvation : grant, we beseech thee ; that by meditating upon these mysteries of the most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we may both imitate what they contain and obtain what they promise. Through the same.

~~*~~

In 1571 Pope St Pius V instituted "Our Lady of Victory" as an annual feast to commemorate the victory of Lepanto. The victory was attributed to Our Lady, as a rosary procession was offered on that day in St. Peter's Square in Rome for the success of the mission of the Holy League to hold back Muslim forces from overrunning Western Europe. In 1573, Pope Gregory XIII changed the title of this feast-day to "Feast of the Holy Rosary". This feast was extended by Pope Clement XII to the whole of the Latin Rite, inserting it into the Roman Catholic calendar of saints in 1716, and assigning it to the first Sunday in October. Pope St Pius X changed the date to 7 October in 1913.


(second image: the Battle of Lepanto, Yogesh Brahmbhatt)