Feast of the Holy Rosary

Lots of church today.  It is not only the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary  -- a.k.a. Our Lady of Victory, commemorating the battle of Lepanto -- but our parish also celebrated our patronal feast of Bl John Henry Newman two days early.  So we had sung Mattins at 10:15, High Mass at 11:00 and recitation of the rosary at about 1:00-ish, or whenever it was the Mass ended.  I didn't look at my watch.  And there was a reception afterward with what looked like a lot of very good food and drink.

But I didn't partake.  The back was acting up again and all I really wanted at that point was to go home and sit in my chair with the perfect lumbar support.  So I did that instead.  But the repast did indeed tempt.

Here's a page on Our Lady of the Rosary.

And here's the best description of the battle of Lepanto you'll ever find.  Although I'm sure you'll have no trouble finding many more ponderous academic treastises.

Fr Hunwicke had something to say about Our Lady of Victory a few years ago.  In part:

That great Pontiff, S Pius V, established the Feast of our Lady of Victories to celebrate the triumph of Christian arms at the battle of Lepanto, October 7, 1571, a victory won by the countless rosaries which clanked through the hands of the Rosary Confraternities of Western Europe. They begged God for the safety of Christendom against the invading Turk. Gregory XIII pusillanimously renamed the feast as 'of the Rosary', and popped it onto the first Sunday of October (a stone's throw from the Feast of the Protecting Robe of the Mother of God in some Byzantine calendars) where it stayed until the reforms of S Pius X. But, to this day, those who follow the Extraordinary Form are allowed, on the first Sunday of October, an External Solemnity of this feast. And, after all, no homilist could be forbidden to refer to this celebration as our Lady of Victories.

The link I had for that has vanished -- mysterious are the ways of Blogspot, its wonders to perform -- but he has two more pieces here and here.   Videlicet.

And as for Bl John Henry, most, if not all that he wrote can be found here, along with a link to a rather lengthy biography and another link to the progress of his canonisation.