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It was a naval battle whose prize was the sway of the Mediterranean Sea.
The forces were 330 ships for the Turks against 101 ships of the
Christians.
But again the arms of men were not to be trusted. There was one soldier
who dwelt far from the watery battlefield, his arms raised in prayer. It was
Pope St. Pius V.
Long before the first cannon shook the shores of Lepanto, he
unsheathed his sword for the battle. Two years before he had ordered all
Christians to say the Rosary daily. Forty Hour processions would throng
city streets. And wooden beads slipped through the fingers of maid and
man, children and aged.
Don Juan ruled the helms of the ships. But Mary reigned over the waves
of the sea. We are told that on the warm October morn of the battle, the
entire Christian army knelt and received Holy Communion. Then for two
hours the men scattered about their ships, Rosaries in hands.
On October 7, 1571, the two fleets crashed.
Across the fields of Italy, in the city of Rome, sat a conclave of Cardinals.
They glanced about peevishly. "Surely His Holiness is a very saintly man,
but business is business. It is very disturbing to see someone stand up
right in the middle of your sentence and gaze out the window. Perhaps he
thinks he can see the battle from here."
Pope Pius turned around, his face glowing with a strange light. "The battle
is won," he announced simply.
He was right. And the Venetian Senate proclaimed: "It was not generals,
nor battalions, nor arms that brought us victory, but it was Our Lady of
the Rosary."
Vienna 1683
The Muslims did not retire to their tents easily. An army of 200,000 began
its sweep across Austria, destroying everything before it like a plague of
locusts. Soon only a thread of hope remained. It was the city of Vienna.
The Mohammedans began the siege. Hunger, pain, sickness, death walked
the streets.
But the Christian once again held up his Rosary. And once again, Mary
heard the call to arms. On September 12, a lone trumpet sounded on a
nearby hill. An army from Poland and Lorraine had arrived! Once, twice,
they charged. A third time and the enemy turned and fled. Vienna,
Austria, Christendom were saved!
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Again and again, Mary's sword has triumphed. And with this sword in our
hands, we too shall conquer.
For there is no sword like it!
Join the 10 Million Rosary Crusade for the consecration of Russia to bring
peace to the world.
Historians are still wondering how it happened that on May 13, 1955,
Soviet Russia agreed to the independence of Austria, and shortly after
removed its troops from Austrian soil.
What Hungary could not accomplish through a frightfully costly revolt in
the fifties and Czechoslovakia could not gain in the sixties through a
"liberalizing" movement within its own socialistic government, Austria
accomplished without, seemingly, any apparent effort.
Moreover, it would seem that Austria would be the least likely country
that the Communist bosses in the Kremlin would be willing to give up,
due to its strategic location, oil wells, and for no better reason than that it
was allied with Germany, against Russia, in the Second World War.
But it is a historic fact that this is one agreement that the communists
made and have even kept (thus far). They pulled their forces out of this
small Republic in 1955 and have never returned. What is the explanation?
There is every reason to believe that Austria owes her freedom to Divine
intervention.
In a letter written by Father Petrus Pavlicek, O.F.M. and published in the
October 13, 1955, Voz da Fatima the full credit is given to Our Lady of
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One of our readers sent this beautiful photo of a portrait she painted of the
Holy Father, depicting the Message of Fatima. Notice he holds in his hands
his strongest weapon, a picture of Mary and the Rosary.
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