Dear Worthy and Brother Sir Knights,
Pope John Paul II often referred to the month of October as the month of the Holy Rosary. On the 7th of October we celebrate the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, a feast that was instituted to honor Mary for the Christian victory over the Turks at Lepanto on October 7, 1571. Pope St. Pius V and all Christians had prayed the rosary for victory.
At Lepanto the combined Christian fleets achieved a significant naval victory over the Turks in the Straits of Lepanto. Thousands of Christians were liberated and the Turkish fleet was destroyed. In gratitude to God and Our Lady, Pope Saint Pius V ordered an annual commemoration to be made of Our Lady of Victory.
Pope Benedict XVI invites all families to pray the rosary for the intentions of the Pope, the mission of the Church, and peace. The rosary, a “contemplative and Christocentric prayer, inseparable from the meditation of sacred Scripture,” is “the prayer of the Christian who advances in the pilgrimage of faith, in the following of Jesus, preceded by Mary,” said the Pontiff.
All Knights should have a devotion to our Blessed Mother. We can especially express that devotion through a daily recitation of the rosary. During the month of October, the month of the Holy Rosary, and a month set aside to reflect upon the many ways that Mary can intercede for our needs, we should consider setting aside time to do one or more of the following:
May Mary, our Mother, bring you peace and joy throughout the month of October.
God bless,
Father John J. Borcic
Faithful Friar