By Jeremias Wells
When Saint Pius V ascended the throne of Saint Peter early in 1566,
Christendom faced extreme peril. The Huguenots had been waging a
particularly violent war in France since 1562; the Spanish Netherlands
exploded in revolt later in the year; England, having gone from schism
to heresy, was openly assisting all the anti-Catholic forces; but the
greatest danger came from the constricting tentacles of Muslim
aggression throughout Europe and the Mediterranean.
The
defense of Malta understandably raised Christian spirits, but it was
only a defensive action. The powerful Ottoman fleet, still intact,
continued to raid Christian lands. The year after that strategic
triumph, Ali Pasha, who commanded the naval forces in Malta, captured
Chios, the last Genoese position in the Eastern Mediterranean and
through treachery murdered the ruling Giustiniani family. Then for three
days the Mohammedans roved over the island, massacred all the
inhabitants and destroyed everything Catholic. Two boys in the
Giustiniani family, aged ten and twelve, were martyred. The younger boy,
almost cut to pieces, was told to hold up one finger if he wished to
apostatize and live. He clenched his fists so tight that they could not
be opened even after death.
Some months later, Suleiman led another of those huge armies—always
at his disposal—of 200,000 men and 300 cannons up the Danube River
Valley toward Vienna. But instead of focusing on his main objective, he
allowed himself to be distracted by a minor irritant in southwestern
Hungary. The small, walled town of Szigetvar and its Croatian overlord,
Count Zriny, who was cut from the same cloth as Skanderbeg, continued to
resist occupation. Like most tyrants, Suleiman would not accept what he
saw as insulting behavior and so deviated from his original plan. After
losing several weeks just transporting his cumbersome equipment over
difficult terrain, he was tied down another five weeks by the heroic
resistance of the Hungarians. Zriny died leading a final charge with a
sword in his hand and praise of Jesus on his lips. However, Suleiman
could not enjoy any satisfaction from his misdirected effort, for he had
died the night before. Vienna would have to wait for another day. Selim
II, known as the Sot because of his drinking habits, took over the
throne in Constantinople, having already eliminated all rivals in his
family, and plotted the next attack on Christianity.
The Pope of the Rosary
From
the moment of his elevation, Saint Pius V, through his experience and
extraordinary vision, not only recognized the grave peril to Christendom
but also saw the solution; the Ottoman power could be broken solely by
means of a crusade; and crusades are won not only on the battlefield but
also in the spiritual life, that is, on the supernatural level. Spain
and Venice, as we shall see, viewed the Turks as a threat to their
material welfare—as indeed they were—but the holy Pope also saw them as a
threat to the order that God Himself placed in the world and for that
reason employed the weapons of spiritual warfare.
Saint Pius V increasingly asked for more prayers from pious
Catholics, especially from the monks and nuns in their cloisters. If he
asked for more sacrifices from others, he certainly intended to carry
his portion of the burden by doubling his accustomed exercises of piety
and mortification. A devotion to which he gave special attention was the
Rosary, so much so that he was called the “Pope of the Rosary.”
1 In fact, the great saint secured the uniformity of recitation of the Hail Mary through a Papal Bull published in 1568.
The Holy League
While Saint
Pius V was trying to organize an effective alliance against the
increasing danger, another Muslim provocation illustrated the precarious
situation. During the Christmas season of 1568, the pent-up hatred of
the “converted” Moors, known as Moriscos, burst forth in all its massive
cruelty. Savage tortures were employed against their victims before
they were violently dispatched, especially against humble village
priests and their altar boys. If they called on Jesus or His Blessed
Mother for strength, their tongues were cut out or their mouths were
loaded with gunpowder and ignited. These descendants of the invaders who
had nearly destroyed Christian Spain during an occupation lasting eight
centuries again drenched the country in blood.
Ferdinand Braudel in his acclaimed work on the Mediterranean
2
remarked that there was no doubt about the links between the Spanish
rebels and the corsairs of Algeria, the latter being staunch allies of
the Turks. The Barbary pirates brought men, ammunition, and weapons to
the southern Spanish coast and took Christian prisoners as payment, thus
introducing another thread in the noose strangling Catholic Europe.
Initial attempts to subdue the well-organized revolution met with
failure until Don Juan of Austria was placed in overall command. A
soldier who possessed all the extraordinary abilities of leadership,
including judgment and courage, he vigorously and relentlessly pursued a
campaign that destroyed the enemy strongholds and brought the survivors
to their knees. Meanwhile, all the courts of Europe were informed that
extensive preparations for greater aggression were visibly under way at
Constantinople.
Only a saint who lived daily in God’s presence and His benevolent
power could have assessed the seemingly insurmountable difficulties of
forming an anti-Turkish league and then going forward with such energy
and tenacity.
3
Saint Pius V repeatedly sent out requests to the counts of Europe to
join the crusade; yet, one treacherous or indifferent monarch after
another excused himself. Spain, which could be motivated by Catholic
considerations, and the Republic of Venice, whose territories were most
vulnerable, did not refuse; nevertheless, they sent evasive replies.
Spain, alone among the Europeans, was willing to contribute its
resources in men and material, although it had difficulty in seeing
beyond its narrow interests. On the other hand, Venice, basically
unreliable in any idealistic cause, was willing to fight only when its
commercial interests were threatened. Yet Saint Pius V was finally able
to bring the greatest power in Europe and the possessor of the largest
fleet in the Mediterranean to the bargaining table.
Once there, the skillful and occasionally duplicitous negotiators,
mutually distrustful and desirous of financial advantage, began to
haggle over every possible issue. Throughout the long, agonizing months,
the Pope’s overpowering personality swept aside all obstacles to force a
decision. Although sick and in constant pain, the indomitable Pontiff
finally concluded an agreement with the two shortsighted governments in
March 1571.
According to the treaty, the choice of its supreme commander was
reserved for the Pope. Behind his sumptuous chapel adorned with gold
cloth and silver vessels was a bare, miserable oratory where the
Dominican monk would go in the early morning hours to pray unobserved.
Prostrated on the cold stones before a crucifix and with deep groans,
the holy monk appealed to God for guidance. The Pope then went into the
rich chapel to celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. When he reached
the Gospel of Saint John, he began to read, “Fuit homo missus a Deo,
cui nomem erat Joannes!” (“There was a man from God whose name was
John!”).
4
Turning his face toward the Virgin, he paused and realized that the
commander of the crusade was to be Don Juan of Austria. The choice of
this truly great crusader was of inestimable value, for the lack of
competent leadership caused several scandalous failures during previous
decades.
The Battle
In
the middle of September, the largest Christian fleet ever assembled
sailed out from Messina in Sicily to seek out and destroy the Muslim
fleet commanded by the Sultan’s brother-in-law, Ali Pasha. Saint Pius V
granted all members of the expedition the indulgences of crusaders. Not
one of the 81,000 soldiers and sailors had failed to confess and receive
Holy Communion.
The immense fleet moved eastward across the Ionian Sea in a file
stretching out for nearly ten miles. Ten days later it arrived at Corfu
off the northwestern coast of Greece. The Turks had ravaged the place
the month before and left their usual calling cards: burned-out
churches, broken crucifixes, and mangled bodies of priests, women, and
children.
Here the animosity between the Italians and Spanish that festered
just below the surface almost erupted when the Venetian commander, the
crusty, battle-scarred old Sebastian Veniero, hung four argumentative
Spaniards from his yardarm. Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed. Don
Juan wondered if the Christians would annihilate one another before the
enemy was even sighted.
Then word arrived: “Ali Pasha is in Lepanto!” A long thin body of
water, known as the Gulf of Corinth, separates central Greece from the
Peloponnesus, the southern peninsula. About a quarter of the way into
the inlet from the west sits Lepanto, the fortified headquarters of the
Turkish fleet.
From Corfu the fleet worked its way down the northwest coast of
Greece. On October 5 came the infuriating news that Christendom had
suffered another cruel indignity from the Ottomans. Cyprus, the jewel of
Venice’s far-flung island possessions, had been attacked the year
before. The besieged capital, Nicosia, had fallen quickly, and its
twenty thousand survivors had been massacred. The fortified city of
Famagusta held out for another year due to the courageous leadership of
Marc Antonio Bragadino, its governor. With no hope of relief in sight
and starvation and disease reducing the population, Bragadino agreed to
what appeared to be honorable terms and surrendered. In an act of
unbelievable treachery, the Turkish general, three days later, hacked
the Venetian officers to death. For the next week, Bragadino was
horribly mutilated and then flayed alive.
At sunrise on Sunday morning, October 7, the chaplains on each ship
were celebrating Mass as the vanguard of the fleet cruised south along
the coast, turned the corner at the headlands, and entered the Gulf of
Corinth. Since dawn the Turks had been moving in their direction from
the east, with the advantage of having the wind at their back. While the
ships of the League maneuvered from file to line abreast, Don Juan,
with crucifix in hand, passed by each galley shouting encouragement and
was met, as he made his way through the line, with tremendous applause
and enthusiasm. By using tact and understanding, and forcefulness when
necessary, he had welded many disparate elements into a united fleet.
The young crusader divided his force into four squadrons. On the
left, he placed the soft-spoken but fierce-fighting Venetian Agostino
Barbarigo. Don Juan led the central squadron, ably supported by Veniero
and the papal commander, Marc Antonio Colonna. The cautious Gian Andrea
Doria controlled the fate of the right wing. Only the Christians
displayed their forces in such a way as to create a reserve squadron,
and they had the good fortune of having this under the command of the
Marquis de Santa Cruz, the Holy League’s most respected admiral.
Although the Christian galleys were outnumbered, 274 to 208, they had
superior firepower in cannon and harquebuses, while the Turks relied
mostly on bows and arrows. By nine o’clock the two lines were fifteen
miles apart and closing fast. Just before contact was made, the wind
that had been favoring the Turks shifted around from the east to the
opposite direction. The Christians drew first blood when their huge,
though unwieldy, galleys fired many rounds of cannon shot with
devastating effect. But because of their lack of maneuverability, the
floating batteries quickly passed out of action.
Barbarigo’s
counterpart, Mohammed Sirocco, made a quick dash between the Venetian
commander’s left wing and the shore line, hoping to swing around and
trap Don Juan’s squadron from behind. Barbarigo quickly slid over and
intercepted the Turks, but several galleys had slipped by and attacked
him from the rear. When his squadron closed in to help, Barbarigo,
standing in the midst of fierce struggle, lifted the visor of his helmet
to coordinate their attack. An arrow pierced his eye; mortally wounded,
he was carried below. However, his quick, self-sacrificing action had
prevented Sirocco’s flanking movement. The Christian left then trapped
the Muslim wing of fifty-six galleys against the shore and methodically
destroyed it.
The center of both lines bore down heavily on each other without any
thought of subterfuge or trickery. The Muslims were yelling, screaming,
and banging anything that would make noise. The Christians were in an
ominous silence, weapons in one hand, rosaries in the other. Usually,
the flagships stand off from the heat of battle, but not this time; both
supreme commanders set a hard course for each other. Ali Pasha’s
Sultana gained the initial advantage by ramming into the Reale up to the
fourth rower’s bench. Don Juan grappled the two ships together and
boarded. Instantly, a dozen Turkish ships closed in behind Ali Pasha,
supplying him with thousands of janissaries. Veniero and Colonna hugged
the Reale from either side. Reinforcements arrived from other galleys.
Some two dozen ships became interlocked, thus forming a floating
battlefield. The battle raged back and forth over the blood-soaked,
carnage-strewn decks.
Many in the Christian fleet performed magnificent acts of valor. The
ferocious old Veniero stood at his prow in full view, firing shot after
shot while his young servant reloaded. A Sicilian sergeant, rather than
die of disease, jumped out of his sickbed, went on deck, and killed four
Turks before dying from nine arrow wounds. The duke of Parma, companion
to Don Juan and future military genius, jumped aboard a Muslim galley
and cut down the first twelve men he faced.
Finally, Don Juan, huge broadsword in one hand and an axe in the
other, led an attack across the Sultana that ended in the death of Ali
Pasha. From that point on the spirit and fighting capacity of the Turks
declined.
One last hope for the Ottomans remained. Aluch Ali, the clever
Barbary corsair, out-foxed Doria by dragging him too far to the
Christian right. He then cut back and slipped through the opened hole.
Cardona, with a handful of galleys, attempted to block him but was wiped
out. Santa Cruz, who was giving valuable support to the center
squadron, broke away to intercept Aluch Ali. The latter, seeing his
opportunity for an unhindered attack on the Christian rear disappear,
fled to the open sea with just a few of his ships. Most of his squadron
was destroyed when Doria wheeled about and assisted Santa Cruz in
finishing the weakened Ottoman fleet.
The Holy League had achieved an overwhelming victory in the largest
sea battle fought up to that time. The Ottoman Empire lost about 240
galleys and saw 30,000 killed. The League suffered a trifling 12 galleys
sunk; 7,600 men were killed.
At the time the battle was won, Saint Pius V was studying financial
sheets with the papal treasurer. He rose, went to the window and looked
toward the east. When he turned around his face was radiant with
supernatural joy, and he exclaimed, “The Christian fleet is victorious!”
5
After human agencies verified the news two weeks later, Saint Pius V
added the Feast of the Holy Rosary to the Church calendar and the
invocation Auxilium Christianorum to the litany of Our Lady, since the
victory was due to her intercession.
Notes:1. C. M. Antony, Saint Pius V: Pope of the Rosary (New York: 1911), 77.2. Ferdinand Braudel, The Mediterranean (New York: 1973), 1061.3.
For a complete and accurate account of the difficulties, see Ludwig von
Pastor, History of the Popes (St. Louis, Mo.: 1929), vol. XVIII.4. Father Luis Coloma, Story of Don John of Austria (London: 1913), 215.5.
Robin Anderson, Saint Pius V (Rockford, Ill.: 1978), 78. Several
biographers use a longer quotation. See Antony, op. cit., 91.
The
feast of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary to her cousin St. Elizabeth
was established throughout the Church in the thirteenth or fourteenth
century.
Joan
of Arc’s story is nothing but extraordinary. Born in Domremy,
Champagne, in 1412, she was a peasant girl who received from on high the
mission of leading France militarily against the invading English.
Accompanied
by respectful soldiers, and dressed in a man’s clothing for her
personal protection, Joan traveled to the court of Charles VII who,
wishing to test the visionary maiden, hid himself among his courtiers.
But Joan promptly picked him out, and set at rest for him an intimate
doubt he had secretly prayed about as to his legitimacy as true son of
the king of France, Charles VI.
William
Arnaud, a Dominican, and companions were sent to Toulouse in the South
of France by Pope Gregory IX to combat the Albigensian heresy then
entrenched throughout the region.
Germanus,
one of the glories of the Church in France, was born near Autun, about
496. From his early youth he was exceedingly pious, never missing
midnight vespers at a church a mile from his home, regardless of the
weather.
This
brief encounter in the Roman Forum between the monk Gregory – later
Pope St. Gregory the Great – and the English youths planted in him such a
desire to evangelize England that having secured the blessing of Pope
Pelagius, he immediately set forth with several monk companions. This
ardent missionary desire, however, was not to be fulfilled by himself
but by another.
Philip Neri, known as “The Apostle of Rome,” was Florentine by birth, one of four children born to a notary.
Philip
Neri was ordained on May 23, 1551 and became known for the gift of
reading the thoughts of his penitents. As the number of conversions
increased, he began to give regular conferences.
At
midnight he was seized by a severe hemorrhage. His disciples gathered
around him, and as Baronius besought him for a parting word, unable to
speak, the ardent apostle raised his hand and imparted a last blessing
to his congregation before entering his reward. He was eighty years old.
St. Philip’s body is interred in the Chiesa Nuova, which his sons in
the Congregation of the Oratory serve to this day.
Pope
Gregory VII was born Hildebrand in Tuscany, Italy. Little else is known
of his early life. Hailed, historically, as one of the greatest of the
Church's pontiffs and one of the most remarkable men of all time, his
name, Hildebrand, meant “bright flame”. Those who hated him, which were
many, interpreted the name as “brand of Hell”.
e
confronted Emperor Henry IV head- on about his practice of choosing men
for ecclesiastical positions. On meeting with dogged resistance, the
pontiff finally had recourse to excommunication which drastically
curtailed the proud monarch’s power, ultimately bringing Henry on foot
to the Pope at the Castle of Canossa. Because of Henry’s rebellious
obstinacy, Pope Gregory saw fit to leave him out in the cold for three
days before receiving and reinstating the royal penitent.
St.
Eucherius of Lyons, describes St. Vincent of Lérins as “a man
pre-eminent in eloquence and learning”. Little is known of his early
life, though it seems that he was a soldier before taking the religious
habit on the Mediterranean island of Lérins, now St. Honorat Island,
after its founder.
Saint John Bosco
Giovanni
Battista de Rossi was born in the Piedmontese village of Voltaggio, in
the diocese of Genoa, and was one of four children. His parents, of
modest means, were devout and well esteemed.
Rita
was born in Roccaborena, Italy in 1381 to aged parents who were known
for their charity, and who fervently thanked God for the gift of a
daughter so late in life.
Someone
approaches. She is running. It is Mary Magdalen, and she is still
weeping. Finding the sepulcher open with its stone rolled away and not a
Roman guard in sight, she does not know what to think. Seeing a man
whom she mistakes for a gardener, she asks, “Where is Jesus?” He answers
with a single word: “Mary.” The scales fall from her eyes, and she
responds, “Rabboni!” which means “Master.” However, Our Lord, whose
glorious body can move faster than any rocket, is no longer there. He is
in the Cenacle, where Mary Most Holy has retired to weep for her Son in
the semi-darkness. Suddenly, Christ enters radiantly. She is not
mistaken as Mary Magdalen was for she is His mother after all. Let us
recall Jesus’ last gaze at His Mother from the height of the Cross. She
is the last person He sees before He closes His eyes in death. It is a
look of love that the world has never known— the love of God for His
Holy Mother. Imagine then the first glance exchanged between Mother and
Son after the Resurrection, as the deepest sadness becomes the greatest
joy! In an instant, He returns to Mary Magdalen, for glorified, He is no
longer limited to time and space.
Christopher
Magallanes was born in 1869 in the province of Guadalajara, Mexico, of
devout parents who were poor farmers. As a youth, he worked as a
shepherd, but felt called to be a shepherd of souls. He entered the
seminary at nineteen and was ordained at the age of thirty.
Consequently
accused of trying to incite rebellion, Fr. Christopher was arrested on
his way to say Mass, imprisoned and condemned to be shot without trial.
His few possessions he gave away to his jailer and he was executed on
May 21, 1927 with another twenty-one priests and three lay Catholics.
His last words were, “I die innocent, and ask God that my blood may
serve to unite my Mexican brethren.” He was canonized by Pope John Paul
II on May 21, 2000.
With
great practical sense born of observation, people of those distant
times believed flowers to be symbolic of virtues and qualities that
ultimately reflected the perfections of God, but which could be seen
more directly in that most perfect of all God’s creatures – the Blessed
Virgin.
Some of the flower names make this link easy to trace. The marigold comes from the idea that this bright yellow flower is “Mary’s gold.” Carnation is a corruption of the word “coronation” since the flower was often used to crown statues of Our Lady. The herb Rosemary is said to honor Mary, the Mystical Rose. “Lady’s Slipper,” like many other flowers that now begin with the word “lady,” was originally “Our Lady’s Slipper.”
While
such stories were but mere legend, they spoke of great truths. They
served to enchant, instruct and inspire the faithful to greater devotion
and love of God. They made more human that tender connection between
the Blessed Mother and fallen humanity. In this way, common flowers
united all in virtue, speaking through poetry and song to saint and
sinner, rich and poor, old and young, learned and ignorant.
Bernardine,
“The Apostle of Italy,” was born on September 8, 1380 in the Tuscan
town of Massa Marittima. His father, a member of the noble Sienese
family of Albizeschi, was governor of the region.
In
1417 his fiery eloquence burst forth, inflaming the souls of the
multitudes. He preached fearlessly in cities large and small rebuking
evil in places high and low. After hearing him, penitents of all classes
flocked in droves to the confessionals. His great devotion was to the
Holy Name of Jesus and as he preached, he would hold up a plaque with
the initials "I.H.S." an acronym for the name of JESUS, and had people
place the Holy Name over the gates of towns, and over the entrances of
their houses and businesses. Pope Pius II who listened to Bernardine in
his youth said that people listened to him as to another Apostle St.
Paul. Tirelessly and on foot, he traversed the length and breath of
Italy, launching a true moral reform.
St.
Dunstan, most famous of the Anglo-Saxon saints, was born near
Glastonbury of a noble family closely connected to the ruling house.
Eric
the Holy or Erik the Saint was acknowledged king in most provinces of
Sweden in 1150, and his family line subsisted for a hundred years. He
did much to establish Christianity in Upper Sweden and built or
completed at Old Uppsala the first large church to be erected in the
country. It is said that all the ancient laws and constitutions of the
kingdom were, by his orders, collected into one volume, which came to be
known as King Eric’s Law or The Code of Uppland.
St.
John I was a native of Siena in Tuscany and was one of the seven
deacons of Rome when he was elected to the papacy at the death of Pope
Hormisdas in the year 523.
Paschal
was born in Terra Hermosa, Spain on Pentecost Sunday, May 24, 1540 the
son of Martin Baylon and Isabel Jubera, pious day laborers. The feast of
Pentecost in Spain being called “Pasch of the Holy Ghost,” the child
was named Paschal.
Once,
when Paschal was sent on a mission through France, which was then
undergoing fierce religious convulsions due to Calvinists and Huguenots,
he bravely defended the doctrine of the Eucharistic Presence against a
Calvinist preacher, barely escaping with his life afterwards.
Little
is known of the life of St. Brendan. Though his character is steeped in
misty legend, he did very much exist and it is fairly certain that he
was born near Tralee, Ireland, in County Kerry. He was baptized by St.
Erc and, for five years, was entrusted to the care of St. Ita, the
"Brigid of Muenster," to be educated. Later, in 512, Brendan was
ordained by St. Erc.
PRAYER: O
Virgin Most Holy, powerful help of Christians, I confidently appeal to
the throne of your mercy. Hear the prayers of this poor sinner that begs
your help, so I may always flee from sin and from the occasions of sin.
Behold the first grace that I ask from this novena. Amen 
Taking that sweet Ave, which from Gabriel came, peace confirm within us, changing Eve's name.
Show thyself our Mother by taking our voice to the One Who deigned to be born for us, from you. 
Praise be to God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit now and forever. Amen.
What
Eve had destroyed, was created, through you, Holy Mary, once again in
the Son, opening Heaven’s gate and giving refuge to the downcast.
