My Brothers and Sisters in the Lord:
Every year, the Church celebrates the Feast of the Holy Rosary on October 7. Because this observance falls in October, that month has always been dedicated to praying the Holy Rosary and encouraging others to do so. This is therefore an excellent time to become reacquainted with this devotion.
Although all of us are familiar with the Holy Rosary, we may not realize how this feast was instituted. In the late seventeenth century, Christian Europe was living under the threat of invasion from the Ottoman Empire. Christian society had been further weakened by the rise of Protestantism in the north, a series of events that had divided the Church and
caused havoc and disunity in Christian society.
In the midst of this disarray, Pope Pius V (later St. Pius), hobbled together a military coalition of small nations, together with Spain. They formed a modest fleet that set out to defend central Europe from invasion from the East. The leader of the armada was Andrea Doria, who had been entrusted with an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, who had appeared in Mexico just a few decades before.
Pope Pius asked that all of Catholic Europe join in praying the Holy Rosary for victory. Although the Christian fleet was greatly outnumbered, they vanquished the enemy, fatally crippling the capacity of the Ottoman Empire to wage war in Europe and on the Mediterranean Sea.
The date of the battle was October 7, 1571.
In thanksgiving for the intercession of the Mother of God, Pope Pius established the Feast of Our Lady of Victory, the name of which was later changed to the Feast of the Holy Rosary.
There is no doubt that the Virgin Mary is a powerful intercessor for us. Let us ask her to help us fight our battles against temptation and sin, so that through her Son, we may always emerge victorious.

Sincerely Yours in Christ,
Fr. Stephen B. Reynolds