Our Lady of the Rosary
Feast Day: October 7th
When the Holy League fleet of Christian allied forces (the Papacy, Spain, the Republic of Venice, Knights Hospitaller and several others) defeated the Ottoman Empire’s war ships in the Mediterranain on October 7th 1571, the victory was attributed to Our Lady of the Rosary. During the crucial naval battle, Roman confraternities said the rosary in the streets as the fighting at sea began. According to Dominican tradition, the rosary originated from St. Dominic after a vision of Our Lady revealed it to him. This belief has been debated for over two hundred years, since the tradition of prayer beads is much older than St. Dominic. There is evidence that the devotion developed in Rhineland, where it was called “rosary” to signify a garland of roses.
