The Battle of Lepanto
Yesterday we celebrated one of my favorite feast days in the Church: The Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary (previous called Our Lady of Victory), which celebrates the 451st anniversary of the victory of the largest galley naval battle ever recorded.
The Christian armada, dubbed “The Holy League” by Pope St. Pius V, was a collection of members from Christian states who volunteered to fight together, despite their shameless quarreling after the fall-out of the Protestant Reformation (1517).
After five years of begging the squabbling Christian nations to come together to defeat the menacing Ottoman Turks threatening to come through their “back door” via the Mediterranean coast, the Holy League fleet was born.
Some, including France and England who openly traded with the Muslim Turks, did not participate. The Venetians and the Knights of Saint John of Malta, however, contributed their fleet to the cause.
Don Juan of Austria
Chosen by the pope to lead the fleet as the naval commander, Don Juan of Austria was hardly qualified on paper. He was twenty-four years old and the illegitimate son of the late Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, and half-brother of Philip II, the King of Spain.
Though he would not be an heir to a throne, Don Juan had already distinguished himself as a leader, beating back pirates along the African coast and diplomatically handling the Morisco uprisings in Spain.
It is said Don Juan was also a talented swordsmen, spoke four languages, and had a pet lion cub and a marmoset monkey.
A leader with Christian boldness
Though young, Don Juan had maturity and piety beyond his years. He forbade women from entering the ships, enacted a three-day fast before battle, issued a Rosary to all his men, provided priests for general absolution and for conducting Holy Mass on board the ship before battle, released the galley rowing criminals from their chains and issued them a weapon and full pardon for their crimes if they assisted in battle, and made blasphemy among his fleet punishable by death.
Victory by Our Lady’s Help
The Christian fleet approached the Muslim armada in a cruciform pattern, with the larger Turkish ships threatening to swallow them in their characteristic crescent formation, measuring a frightening three miles wide from end to end.
By noon, the fog had lifted and the wind direction suddenly changed 180 degrees to favor the Christian fleet. The battle eventually descended into hand-to-hand combat aboard the ships. After the Turkish naval commander, Muezzinzade Ali Pasha was killed, the battle was nearly won.
In a span of just four hours, 30,000 Turks and 7,000 Christians were killed, making it the bloodiest battle ever fought until WWI.
12,000 Christian slaves chained to their ores in the Turkish galleys were liberated.
Weapon of choice
There is a reason the Rosary is the weapon of choice by Catholic Christians. It is effective in spiritual battle, calling to mind the life of Christ through the eyes of His Mother.
Like she interceded on behalf of Christians facing the foes of the 1500’s, she also comes to our aid when we must face the enemies of Christ of today. The first “enemy” we must conquer is our own sinfulness, relying on the sacraments, prayer, and the strength that comes from God.
And like He did with Don Juan of Austria, God also wants to empower us to conquer evil and provide the “grace to fee us from our foes” (Luke 1:74).
Our Lady of Victory, pray for us.
Sources:
G.K. Chesterton, Lepanto (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2004).
Christopher Check. “The Battle that Saved the Christian West.” This Rock vol. 18, #3 (San Diego: Catholic Answers Inc., March, 2007). http://churchinhistory.org/pages/crusades/battle-of-lepanto.htm.