Our Lady of the Rosary, also known as Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, is a
Marian title
Mary, the mother of Jesus in Christianity, is known by many different titles (Blessed Mother, Virgin Mary, Mother of God, Our Lady, Holy Virgin), epithets ( Star of the Sea, Queen of Heaven, Cause of Our Joy), invocations (''Panagia'', Mother o ...
.
![Rosariobullense](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1a/Rosariobullense.jpg)
The Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, formerly known as Feast of Our Lady of Victory and Feast of the Holy Rosary is celebrated on 7 October in the
General Roman Calendar
The General Roman Calendar is the liturgical calendar that indicates the dates of celebrations of saints and mysteries of the Lord (Jesus Christ) in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church, wherever this liturgical rite is in use. These celebra ...
. 7 October is the anniversary of the decisive victory of the combined fleet of the
Holy League of 1571 over the
Ottoman navy at the
Battle of Lepanto
The Battle of Lepanto was a naval engagement that took place on 7 October 1571 when a fleet of the Holy League, a coalition of Catholic states (comprising Spain and its Italian territories, several independent Italian states, and the Soverei ...
.
Our Lady of the Rosary
According to Dominican tradition, in 1206,
Dominic de Guzmán was in
Prouille
The Monastery of Notre-Dame-de-Prouille or Prouilhe (from Occitan: Prolha), is the "cradle of the Dominicans", where the first Dominican house, a monastery of nuns, was founded in late 1206 or early 1207. It is located in a hamlet in Languedoc, Fr ...
, France, attempting to convert the
Albigensians back to the Catholic faith. The young priest had little success until one day he received a vision of the Blessed Virgin, who gave him the
rosary
The Rosary (; la, , in the sense of "crown of roses" or "garland of roses"), also known as the Dominican Rosary, or simply the Rosary, refers to a set of prayers used primarily in the Catholic Church, and to the physical string of knots or b ...
as a tool against heretics. While Mary's giving the rosary to Dominic is generally acknowledged as a legend, the development of this prayer form owes much to the
followers of Saint Dominic, including the 15th-century priest and teacher,
Alanus de Rupe
Alanus de Rupe (also Alan, Alain de la Roche, or Blessed Alain de la Roche); (c. 1428 – 8 September 1475) was a Roman Catholic theologian noted for his views on prayer. Some writers claim him as a native of Germany, others of Belgium; but his ...
.
[Foley O.F.M., Leonard. ''Saint of the Day, Lives, Lessons, and Feast'']
Franciscan Media,
Our Lady of Victory
In 1571,
Pope Pius V
Pope Pius V ( it, Pio V; 17 January 1504 – 1 May 1572), born Antonio Ghislieri (from 1518 called Michele Ghislieri, O.P.), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 January 1566 to his death in May 1572. He is v ...
organized a coalition of forces from Spain and smaller Christian kingdoms, republics and military orders, to rescue Christian outposts in
Cyprus
Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...
, particularly the Venetian outpost at
Famagusta
Famagusta ( , ; el, Αμμόχωστος, Ammóchostos, ; tr, Gazimağusa or ) is a city on the east coast of Geography of Cyprus, Cyprus. It is located east of Nicosia District, Nicosia and possesses the deepest harbour of the island. Duri ...
which, however, surrendered after a long siege on 1 August before the Christian forces set sail. On 7 October 1571, the
Holy League, a coalition of southern European Catholic maritime states, sailed from
Messina
Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 inhabitants in ...
,
Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 = Ethnicity
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographi ...
, and met a powerful Ottoman fleet in the
Battle of Lepanto
The Battle of Lepanto was a naval engagement that took place on 7 October 1571 when a fleet of the Holy League, a coalition of Catholic states (comprising Spain and its Italian territories, several independent Italian states, and the Soverei ...
. Knowing that the Christian forces were at a distinct materiel disadvantage, Pope Pius V called for all of Europe to pray the Rosary for victory,
[''Butler's Lives Of The Saints'' (April) by Alban Butler (1999) page 222] and led a rosary procession in Rome.
[
After about five hours of fighting on the northern edge of the Gulf of Corinth, off western Greece, the combined navies of the Papal States, ]Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...
and Spain managed to stop the Ottoman navy, slowing the Ottoman advance to the west and denying them access to the Atlantic Ocean and the Americas.[ If the Ottomans had won, there was a real possibility that an invasion of Italy could have followed so that the Ottoman sultan, already claiming to be emperor of the Romans, would have been in possession of both New and Old Rome. Combined with the unfolding events in Morocco where the Sa'adids successfully spurned the Ottoman advances, it confined Turkish naval power to the eastern Mediterranean. Although the Ottoman Empire was able to build more ships, it never fully recovered from the loss of trained sailors and marines, and was never again the Mediterranean naval power it had become the century before when Constantinople fell.][Ahmed Nazeer. "Lepanto, the Battle of", ''History of Islam'']
/ref>
Our Lady of Fatima
The Marian apparition
A Marian apparition is a reported supernatural appearance by Mary, the mother of Jesus, or a series of related such appearances during a period of time.
In the Catholic Church, in order for a reported appearance to be classified as a Marian a ...
at Fatima, Portugal is formally known as Our Lady of the Holy Rosary of Fátima, since she asked the children Jacinta Marto
Francisco de Jesus Marto (11 June 1908 – 4 April 1919) and Jacinta de Jesus Marto (11 March 1910 – 20 February 1920) were siblings from Aljustrel (Fátima), Aljustrel, a small hamlet near Fátima, Portugal, who with their cousin Sister Lúc ...
, Lucia dos Santos Lucia may refer to:
Arts and culture
* ''Lucía'', a 1968 Cuban film by Humberto Solás
* ''Lucia'' (film), a 2013 Kannada-language film
* '' Lucia & The Best Boys'', a Scottish indie rock band formerly known as ''LUCIA''
* "Lucia", a Swedish c ...
and Francisco Marto
Francisco de Jesus Marto (11 June 1908 – 4 April 1919) and Jacinta de Jesus Marto (11 March 1910 – 20 February 1920) were siblings from Aljustrel, a small hamlet near Fátima, Portugal, who with their cousin Lúcia dos Santos (1907–2 ...
"to pray the Rosary every day, to bring peace to the world and an end to the war".
Feast day
Pius V instituted the feast of Our Lady of Victory in order to commemorate the victory at Lepanto, which he attributed to the Blessed Virgin Mary.[ Dedications to Our Lady of Victory had preceded this papal declaration. In particular, ]Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester
{{Infobox noble
, name = Simon de Montfort
, title = 5th Earl of Leicester
, image = File:Simon4demontfort.gif
, caption = Seal of Simon de Montfort, depicting him riding a horse and blowing a h ...
built the first shrine dedicated to Our Lady of Victory in thanks for the Catholic victory over the Albigensians at the Battle of Muret on September 12, 1213.[Thurston, Herbert. "Feast of the Holy Rosary." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 13. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 2 May 2013]
/ref> In thanksgiving for victory at the Battle of Bouvines
The Battle of Bouvines was fought on 27 July 1214 near the town of Bouvines in the County of Flanders. It was the concluding battle of the Anglo-French War of 1213–1214. Although estimates on the number of troops vary considerably among mo ...
in July 1214, Philip Augustus
Philip II (21 August 1165 – 14 July 1223), byname Philip Augustus (french: Philippe Auguste), was King of France from 1180 to 1223. His predecessors had been known as kings of the Franks, but from 1190 onward, Philip became the first French m ...
of France founded the Abbey of Notre Dame de la Victoire, between Senlis and Mont l'Evêque.
In 1573, Pope Gregory XIII
Pope Gregory XIII ( la, Gregorius XIII; it, Gregorio XIII; 7 January 1502 – 10 April 1585), born Ugo Boncompagni, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 May 1572 to his death in April 1585. He is best known for ...
changed the name of the feast to ''Feast of the Holy Rosary'', to be celebrated on the first Sunday of October. The Dominican friar Juan Lopez in his 1584 book on the rosary states that the feast of the rosary was offered "in memory and in perpetual gratitude of the miraculous victory that the Lord gave to his Christian people that day against the Turkish armada".
In 1671 the observance of this festival was extended by Clement X
Pope Clement X ( la, Clemens X; it, Clemente X; 13 July 1590 – 22 July 1676), born Emilio Bonaventura Altieri, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 29 April 1670 to his death in July 1676. Elected pope at ag ...
to the whole of Spain, and somewhat later Clement XI, after the victory over the Turks gained by Prince Eugene in the Battle of Petrovaradin
The Battle of Petrovaradin also known as the Battle of Peterwardein, took place on 5 August 1716 during the Austro-Turkish War when the Ottoman army besieged the Habsburgs-controlled fortress of Petrovaradin on the Military Frontier of the Hab ...
on 5 August 1716 (the feast of Our Lady of the Snows), commanded the feast of the Rosary to be celebrated by the universal Church.[
]Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-ol ...
raised the feast to the rank of a double of the second class and added to the Litany of Loreto
The Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a Marian litany originally approved in 1587 by Pope Sixtus V. It is also known as the Litany of Loreto (Latin: ''Litaniæ lauretanæ''), after its first-known place of origin, the Shrine of Our Lady of Lor ...
the invocation "Queen of the Most Holy Rosary". On this feast, in every church in which the Rosary confraternity has been duly erected, a plenary indulgence
In the teaching of the Catholic Church, an indulgence (, from , 'permit') is "a way to reduce the amount of punishment one has to undergo for sins". The '' Catechism of the Catholic Church'' describes an indulgence as "a remission before God o ...
''toties quoties'' is granted upon certain conditions to all who visit therein the Rosary chapel or statue of Our Lady. This has been called the "Portiuncula" of the Rosary.
Pius X
Pope Pius X ( it, Pio X; born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto; 2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914) was head of the Catholic Church from 4 August 1903 to his death in August 1914. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing modernist interpretations of C ...
in 1913 changed the date to 7 October, as part of his effort to restore celebration of the liturgy of the Sundays. In 1960 under Pope John XXIII
Pope John XXIII ( la, Ioannes XXIII; it, Giovanni XXIII; born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, ; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death in June 19 ...
it is listed under the title ''Feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Rosary''; and under the 1969 liturgical reforms of Pope Paul VI
Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City, Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his ...
''Our Lady of the Rosary'' is mentioned as a mandatory memorial.
File:Van Dyck - Madonna del Rosario - Palermo.jpg, ''Our Lady of the Rosary'' by Anthony van Dyck
Sir Anthony van Dyck (, many variant spellings; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Brabantian Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Southern Netherlands and Italy.
The seventh c ...
, between 1623 and 1624
File:Bernardo Cavallino - La Visione di San Domenico (anni 1640).jpg, ''The Vision of Saint Dominic'' by Bernardo Cavallino
Bernardo Cavallino (1616–1656) was an Italian painter and draughtsman. He is regarded as one of the most original painters active in Naples during the first half of the 17th century.Ann Percy. "Cavallino, Bernardo." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art ...
, 1640
File:Cathedral Fribourg vitrail Unsere Liebe Frau 01.jpg, Our Lady of Victory by Józef Mehoffer
Józef Mehoffer (19 March 1869 – 8 July 1946) was a Polish painter and decorative artist, one of the leading artists of the Young Poland movement and one of the most revered Polish artists of his time.
Life
Mehoffer was born in Ropczyce, ...
, 1896–1897, stained glass
Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...
window in Fribourg Cathedral
Fribourg Cathedral (french: Cathédrale Saint-Nicolas de Fribourg) is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Fribourg, Switzerland, built in the Gothic style, on a rocky outcrop 50 metres above the river Sarine (Saane), dominating the medieval town below. ...
Patronage
Our Lady of the Rosary is the patron saint of several places around the world. The Diocese of Malaga, Spain (which, however celebrates her patronage on September 8), and the Spanish cities of Melilla
Melilla ( , ; ; rif, Mřič ; ar, مليلية ) is an autonomous city of Spain located in north Africa. It lies on the eastern side of the Cape Three Forks, bordering Morocco and facing the Mediterranean Sea. It has an area of . It was par ...
and Trujillo celebrate Our Lady of Victory as their patroness.
''María del Rosario'' is a common female Spanish name (colloquially abbreviated to ''Rosario'' or ''Charo''). ''Rosario'' can also be used as a male first name, particularly in Italian.
Churches dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary
The Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary in the Sanctuary of Fátima
The Sanctuary of Fátima ( pt, Santuário de Fátima), officially titled Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fátima (''Santuário de Nossa Senhora do Rosário de Fátima''), is a Marian shrine dedicated to Our Lady of Fatima located in Fáti ...
(or Marian Shrine of Our Lady of Fátima
Our Lady of Fátima ( pt, Nossa Senhora de Fátima, ); formally known as Our Lady of the Holy Rosary of Fátima) is a Catholic title of Mary, mother of Jesus, based on the Marian apparitions reported in 1917 by three shepherd children at the Cov ...
) in Cova da Iria
Cova da Iria is a quarter in the city and civil parish of Fátima, Santarém District, Portugal. Several of the reported Marian apparitions of Our Lady of Fátima witnessed by the three small children-shepherds of Fátima in 1917 took place ...
, in the city of Fátima, Portugal
Fátima () is a city in the municipality of Ourém and district of Santarém in the Central Region of Portugal, with 71.29 km2 of area and 13,212 inhabitants (2021). The homonymous civil parish encompasses several villages and localities of ...
, is dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary.
The Chapel of the Virgin of the Rosary in Puebla City
Puebla de Zaragoza (; nah, Cuetlaxcoapan), formally Heroica Puebla de Zaragoza, formerly Puebla de los Ángeles during colonial times, or known in English simply as Puebla, is the seat of Puebla Municipality. It is the capital and largest city ...
, Mexico, is a chapel that was described in its time as the Eighth Wonder of the World
Eighth Wonder of the World is an unofficial title sometimes given to new buildings, structures, projects, designs or even people that are deemed to be comparable to the seven Wonders of the World.
Candidates for the Eighth Wonder of the World
...
in a print of 1690, regarded like this for a long time in the New Spain
New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the Am ...
. It was built between 1531 and 1690.
The cathedral for the Diocese of Toledo in Toledo, Ohio, is under the patronage of Our Lady Of the Rosary as well as the cathedral of Duluth, Minnesota and the Diocese of San Bernardino.
The church of Our Lady of the Rosary on State Street in New York City began in 1883 as the Mission of Our Lady of the Rosary for the protection of Irish immigrant girls; it houses the shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton. A new Sanctuary was erected in the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina in honor of Our Lady of the Rosary of San Nicolás and apparitions and locations were approved "worthy of belief" by the local ordinary in May 2006. Our Lady of the Rosary church is in Jashpur, Chhattisgarh
Chhattisgarh (, ) is a landlocked state in Central India. It is the ninth largest state by area, and with a population of roughly 30 million, the seventeenth most populous. It borders seven states – Uttar Pradesh to the north, Madhya Prade ...
, India. It is the second largest church in Asia, by seating capacity
Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...
which can accommodate 10,000 worshippers.
The Metropolitan Cathedral of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary or Holy Rosary Cathedral is located in Vancouver, Canada.
St Dominic's Priory Church in north London houses the Diocese of Westminster Diocese of Westminster may refer to:
* Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster, since 1850, with seat at Westminster Cathedral
* Diocese of Westminster (Church of England)
The Diocese of Westminster was a short-lived diocese of the Church of Engl ...
's Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary.
Churches named for Our Lady of Victory
Although the title Our Lady of Victory has been superseded to some extent by that of Our Lady of the Rosary, the former is still in popular use at a number of parishes and schools.
* Notre-Dame-des-Victoires, Paris
Located at 6, rue Notre-Dame-des-Victoires, in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris, The Basilica of Notre-Dame-des-Victoires is one of ten minor basilicas located in the Île-de-France region of France. It was begun as an Abbey church, and constructed ...
is an historic Marian shrine and place of pilgrimage. Augustinian friars built it between 1629 and 1740 with financial assistance from Louis XIII, who named the church Notre-Dame des Victoires in gratitude for the victory of French forces over the Huguenots at the Siege of La Rochelle (1627-8).
* The Church of Our Lady of Victory (''Kostel Panny Marie Vítězné'') in Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
houses the 16th-century Infant Jesus of Prague
The Infant Jesus of Prague ( cs, Pražské Jezulátko: es, Niño Jesús de Praga) is a 16th-century wax-coated wooden statue of the Child Jesus holding a '' globus cruciger'' of Spanish origin, now located in the Discalced Carmelite Church o ...
.
* Notre-Dame-des-Victoires, San Francisco
Église Notre Dame Des Victoires is a Catholic church in San Francisco, California. The church was founded in 1856 to serve the French Catholic immigrants during the Gold Rush. The architectural model for the church is the Basilique Notre-Dame de ...
was founded in 1856 to serve French Catholic immigrants to California. In 1887, Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-old ...
signed the decree putting l'Eglise Notre Dame des Victoires in charge of the Marists, and making it a French National Church. The church was rebuilt in 1915 after the earthquake and fire of 1906, and was declared an historical landmark in 1984.
* Our Lady of Victory National Shrine and Basilica is located in Lackawanna, New York.
*Our Lady of Victory is the cathedral church for the Diocese of Victoria, Texas.
* The church of Our Lady of Victory, also known as the War Memorial Church, in the financial district of Manhattan, New York City, was dedicated to Our Lady of Victory by Francis Cardinal Spellman, archbishop of New York and apostolic vicar for the U.S. Armed Forces on June 23, 1947 " ... in Thanksgiving for Victory won by our valiant dead, our soldiers' blood, our country’s tears, shed to defend men’s rights and win back men’s hearts to God."
* The chapel at St. Catherine University, St. Paul, Minnesota, is named for Our Lady of Victory, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
* St. Mary of Victories Hungarian Catholic Church is located in St. Louis, Missouri. St. Mary's was built in 1843, and is the second oldest Catholic Church within the city limits. Originally home to German immigrants, the parish became home to the Hungarian Community in 1957 and is the official Hungarian Church for the Archdiocese of St. Louis
The Archdiocese of St. Louis ( la, Archidiœcesis Sancti Ludovici) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church that covers the City of St. Louis and the Missouri counties of Franklin, Jefferson, Lincoln, Perr ...
.
* Our Lady of Victories, Kensington
Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London.
The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...
is located in London, England. The Church was at one point the Pro-Cathedral in the Archdiocese of Westminster, and was heavily bombed in World War II.
*The Chapel of Our Lady of Victory
The Chapel of Our Lady of Victory ( pt, Capela de Nossa Senhora do Vencimento) is an abandoned 18th-century Roman Catholic chapel located in São Francisco do Conde, Bahia, Brazil. It was dedicated to Our Lady of Victory. The chapel was once adja ...
, an abandoned 18th-century chapel located in São Francisco do Conde
São Francisco do Conde is a municipality in the state of Bahia in the North-East region of Brazil. São Francisco do Conde covers , and has a population of 40,245 with a population density of 150 inhabitants per square kilometer. It is located f ...
, Bahia
Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (sta ...
, Brazil
See also
* Churches named for the Rosary
* Holy Rosary Church
* Shrine of the Virgin of the Rosary of Pompei
The Pontifical Shrine of the Blessed Virgin of the Rosary of Pompei ( it, Pontificio Santuario della Beata Vergine del Santo Rosario di Pompei) is a Roman Catholic cathedral, Marian pontifical shrine and minor basilica commissioned by Bartolo L ...
References
External links
Information on the feast day of Our Lady of the Rosary
{{Madonna styles
Catholic holy days
October observances
Rosary
Titles of Mary
Catholic Mariology
Marian feast days
Marian devotions