The feast was started by Pope St Pius V, who attributed the Christian victory over the Turks at the Battle of Lepanto on the 7th of October 1571 to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Pope had led a campaign asking the faithful in Europe to pray the rosary for the triumph of the Church. The victory was seen as a miracle as the Catholic forces were greatly outnumbered in the battle. The feast name was changed from Our Lady of Victory to Our Lady of the Rosary to recognise the Rosary as a spiritual weapon which the Virgin Mary used to save Catholic Europe from invasion.
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| Image: The Vision of St. Dominic by Bernardo Cavallino (circa 1640-1645) |
