{"id":90077,"date":"2018-10-06T12:16:24","date_gmt":"2018-10-06T19:16:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/?p=90077"},"modified":"2019-03-07T15:32:17","modified_gmt":"2019-03-07T23:32:17","slug":"our-lady-queen-of-the-most-holy-rosary-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/our-lady-queen-of-the-most-holy-rosary-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"Our Lady, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>

Rose Window, Church of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, Tacoma<\/p><\/div>
\nT<\/span>omorrow is the feast of the Most Holy Rosary. For most of the Catholic world, this is a memorial of various sorts. Since, however, my parish is dedicated to Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, for us it is a Solemnity. Huzzah!<\/p>\n

If you are in the Tacoma area, please head over for the Mass of the feast, either tonight at 5pm or tomorrow at Noon. We’ll have refreshments after both Masses, courtesy of the Altar Society and the Holy League. I’m sorry to be missing it.<\/p>\n

But why a feast of the Rosary at all?<\/p>\n

Back in high school<\/a>, a group of us did an extensive report on the events of this day for my freshman history class. We had flip chart maps, reenactments, and gave three separate papers. It was glorious.<\/p>\n

For on 07 October 1571, the naval forces of a Holy League, consisting of several maritime Catholic countries, met the main Ottoman fleet at the Battle of Lepanto<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

The Battle of Lepanto (contemporary paining)<\/p><\/div>The Ottoman Turks were on the warpath in eastern Europe, and their ships basically had the run of the Mediterranean, pillaging the coastal lands and taking many thousands of Christians as slaves. <\/p>\n

Pope Pius V organized the league to challenge Ottoman naval supremacy. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

The Original Don Juan<\/p><\/div>The Holy League had a total of 208 ships to the Ottoman 251<\/a>, and they were vastly outnumbered in terms of manpower, which on the Ottoman side included Christian slaves as oarsmen. <\/p>\n

The Spanish, who provided the bulk of the Christian naval forces, put the fleet under the command of the bastard son of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, the famous Don Juan de Austria<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As the two fleets sought each other in the eastern Mediterranean, the Pope called for all of Christian Europe to pray the Rosary<\/a> for victory against the Ottomans.<\/p>\n

To make a long story short, the Battle of Lepanto was a decisive victory for the Holy League. Some ten thousand Christian slaves were freed, and Ottoman naval power was broken forever. It was the beginning of the end of the Ottoman military advance in Europe. Although their high-water mark was undoubtedly the Siege of Vienna almost a century later, it was Lepanto that brought the idea of inevitable Ottoman hegemony to a sudden stop. After Vienna, that stop became a collapse.<\/p>\n

\"Our<\/a>

Our Lady of Victory<\/p><\/div>The Church, and indeed the victorious fleet commanders themselves, attributed the victory at Lepanto to God through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary.<\/p>\n

The Feast of Our Lady of Victory was established for this day in grateful thanksgiving. I’ve been to the small Chiesa di Santa Maria della Vittoria<\/em> in Rome. It contains Bernini’s incomparable statue of the Ecstasy of Saint Teresa, as well as a small museum. <\/p>\n

While the victory for which this particular church was dedicated was that of White Mountain<\/a> in 1620, the museum does have several captured Ottoman naval banners on display. I remember thinking with awe that these were the very flags under which the Turks intended to conquer Christendom.<\/p>\n

Eventually, the feast was renamed Our Lady of the Rosary.<\/p>\n

True story: more than thirty years after my high school report on Lepanto, Francine and I became parishioners<\/a> at Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Church in Tacoma.<\/p>\n

The Rosary is a powerful, moving prayer. Many of my Protestant friends don’t understand it, or even treat the very idea of it with disdain. Some point to what they imagine to be an admonition against repetitive prayer in Matthew 6:7. Some just object to the “Hail Mary” (Ave Maria) in general, even though its origins may be found in Luke’s Gospel.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I don’t really know how to answer these objections, as they seem to largely miss the point. <\/p>\n

The “verbal” prayers of the Rosary are clearly meant to put our minds into a prayerful state where we can better contemplate the Mysteries, which are after all the true object of the Rosary. With the Rosary, we are training our minds to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17), the same way that some Eastern Christians use the Jesus prayer.<\/p>\n

The Rosary is a prayer in which we simultaneously use all the faculties God has given to us, so engaging our whole selves in prayer. It physically engages the body (the movement of our fingers across the beads), it verbally engages the intellect (the recital of the Aves<\/em>, Paters<\/em>, and doxologies), and it spiritually engages our imaginations (the contemplation of the mysteries). In the Rosary, we give ourselves over to God, body, mind, and soul.<\/p>\n

How can that not be a good thing?<\/p>\n

Its origins are in the Divine Office – instead of 150 psalms those without recourse to (very expensive) books would pray 150 beads. But the gift has been returned: the antiphons for monastic Lauds of the Feast are the Glorious Mysteries.<\/p>\n

\n
    \n
  1. Rejoice, O Virgin Mother; Christ hath risen from the grave.<\/li>\n
  2. God ascendeth amid shouts of triumph, the Lord with the sound of trumpets.<\/li>\n
  3. The Spirit of the Lord hath filled the whole world.<\/li>\n
  4. Mary has been taken up into heaven; the Angels rejoice; praising they bless the Lord, alleluia.<\/li>\n
  5. The Virgin Mary has been exalted above the choirs of Angels, and on her head is a crown of twelve stars.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/blockquote>\n

    So on this day dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary, in this month of October dedicated to praying<\/i> the Rosary, I call on every Christian to give themselves over to this amazing prayer.<\/p>\n

    Pray for your own intentions, pray for the intentions of others, pray for those who have no one else to pray for them. Pray for Christian unity. And pray for victory – for a share in Christ’s final victory over death is ours for the asking.<\/p>\n\"\"<\/a>\n

    Photo by Peter Lemieux (source<\/a>)<\/p>\n

    \nO<\/span> God,<\/em> Whose only-begotten Son
    \nby His life, death, and resurrection
    \nhath purchased for us the reward of eternal salvation,
    \ngrant, we beseech Thee,
    \nthat meditating on these mysteries
    \nin the most holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
    \nwe may both imitate what they contain
    \nand obtain what they promise. <\/p>\n

    Through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord,
    \nWho with Thee liveth and reigneth
    \nin the unity of the Holy Ghost, God,
    \nworld without end. Amen. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Tomorrow is the feast of the Most Holy Rosary. For most of the Catholic world, this is a memorial of various sorts. Since, however, my parish is dedicated to Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, for us it is a Solemnity. Huzzah! If you are in the Tacoma area, please head over for the Mass of the feast, either tonight […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2347,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[46,8,7,90,31,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-90077","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-annual","category-francine-my-love","category-history","category-holy-rosary-parish-tacoma","category-mary","category-pray"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/window.jpg?fit=1920%2C2560&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1aGBK-nqR","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":109863,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/vespers-of-our-lady-of-the-holy-rosary-2025\/","url_meta":{"origin":90077,"position":0},"title":"Vespers of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary","author":"Thom","date":"07 October 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"October 7 is the Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary. For those of us who were once parishioners of Holy Rosary parish in Tacoma, it was our patronal feast. In years past, we could celebrate this on a Sunday. I thought it would be nice to mark the feast\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Annual"","block_context":{"text":"Annual","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/annual\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/OLHR.png?fit=1004%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/OLHR.png?fit=1004%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/OLHR.png?fit=1004%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/OLHR.png?fit=1004%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":109018,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/vespers-of-our-lady-of-the-holy-rosary-2024\/","url_meta":{"origin":90077,"position":1},"title":"Vespers of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary","author":"Thom","date":"07 October 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"October 7 is the Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary. For those of us who were once parishioners of Holy Rosary parish in Tacoma, it was our patronal feast. In years past, we could celebrate this on a Sunday. 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For those of us who were once parishioners of Holy Rosary parish in Tacoma, it was our patronal feast. In years past, we could celebrate this on a Sunday. Altar servers for our patronal feast of Our Lady of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Annual"","block_context":{"text":"Annual","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/annual\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/OLHR.png?fit=1004%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/OLHR.png?fit=1004%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/OLHR.png?fit=1004%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/OLHR.png?fit=1004%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":106569,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/vespers-of-our-lady-of-the-holy-rosary\/","url_meta":{"origin":90077,"position":3},"title":"Vespers of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary","author":"Thom","date":"05 October 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"October 7 is the Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary. For those of us who were once parishioners of Holy Rosary parish in Tacoma, it was our patronal feast. In years past, we could celebrate this on a Sunday. Altar servers for our patronal feast of Our Lady of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Annual"","block_context":{"text":"Annual","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/annual\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Screen-Shot-2020-10-04-at-13.37.49.png?fit=895%2C668&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Screen-Shot-2020-10-04-at-13.37.49.png?fit=895%2C668&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Screen-Shot-2020-10-04-at-13.37.49.png?fit=895%2C668&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Screen-Shot-2020-10-04-at-13.37.49.png?fit=895%2C668&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":105874,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/photos-of-the-feast\/","url_meta":{"origin":90077,"position":4},"title":"Photos of the Feast","author":"Thom","date":"07 October 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"This is the first year since 1891 that no Mass will be celebrated for this feast at what was once the parish of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary in Tacoma. I'm feeling melancholy today, so I thought I'd post some photos from past celebrations of what was our patronal\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Bishop Eusebio Elizondo MSpS"","block_context":{"text":"Bishop Eusebio Elizondo MSpS","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/bishop-eusebio-elizondo-msps\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/window.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/window.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/window.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/window.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":105866,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/praying-vespers-for-the-feast\/","url_meta":{"origin":90077,"position":5},"title":"Praying Vespers for the Feast","author":"Thom","date":"04 October 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"October 7 is the Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary. For those of us who were once parishioners of Holy Rosary parish in Tacoma, it was our patronal feast. In years past, we could celebrate this on a Sunday - today, in fact. Altar servers for our patronal feast\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2020 - the end of Holy Rosary"","block_context":{"text":"2020 - the end of Holy Rosary","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/2020-the-end-of-holy-rosary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Screen-Shot-2020-10-04-at-13.37.49.png?fit=895%2C668&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Screen-Shot-2020-10-04-at-13.37.49.png?fit=895%2C668&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Screen-Shot-2020-10-04-at-13.37.49.png?fit=895%2C668&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Screen-Shot-2020-10-04-at-13.37.49.png?fit=895%2C668&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90077","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90077"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90077\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":90689,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90077\/revisions\/90689"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}