Our Lady of the rosary

St. Pope Pius V made this day a feast day to celebrate that Christians had won a battle over the Turks in a place called Lepanto in Greece on this day in 1571.  This battle allowed Christians the right to cross through the Mediterranean Sea to continue preaching the Gospel all over the world.  Pope Pius had called upon all Christians to pray the Rosary during this battle and he believed that Mary helped them win the battle, through her Son Jesus.  Today, our Pope asks us to pray the Rosary, too, for the intentions of the Pope, the mission of the Church, and for peace in our world.  Praying the Rosary is not just about repeating the Hail Mary and the Our Father; to really pray the Rosary, we have to think about the words we are saying and let those words bring us closer to Jesus.  When we pray the Rosary, we should be thinking about the events in Jesus’ life so we will get to know Jesus better through the help of His Mother (and our Mother) Mary.