Lepanto Revisited: Rosary Mysteries Part Of Vatican's War On Islam?

Rosary Touted As "Weapon" For Peace

First off the headline supposes that there is a "silent war," something that I'm not sure there is, much less so as being silent. But for the sake of playing around with an idea, and to please conspiracy buffs, let's assume that there is indeed an "unstated" conflict, that pits branches of the Islam faith against Christianity.

Some say it's interesting the timing of the new Rosary Mysteries, and suggest that perhaps this is the Vatican's quiet way of preventing the "Muslim" hordes from further spreading throughout the world.

If you believe that, then perhaps the New Mysteries are a call to "re-live" the Battle of Lepanto.

On October 7, 1571, a great victory over the mighty Turkish fleet was won by Catholic naval forces primarily from Spain, Venice, and Genoa under the command of Don Juan of Austria. It was the last battle at sea between "oared" ships, which featured the most powerful navy in the world, a Moslem force with between 12,000 to 15,000 Christian slaves as rowers. The patchwork team of Catholic ships was powered by the Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

For those who want to believe that the Vatican was sending out a message to the Muslim world, perhaps the announcement of the new Rosary Mysteries so close to the date of the Battle of Lepanto is significant ...the mysteries were "leaked" to the press around Oct. 14 - I suppose real conspiracy buffs would find it even more sinister that Pope John Paul went ahead with St. Josemaria Escriva's canonization on Oct. 7

Knowing that the Christian forces were at a distinct material disadvantage, the holy pontiff, St. Pope Pius V called for all of Europe to pray the Rosary for victory. We know today that the victory was decisive, prevented the Islamic invasion of Europe, and evidenced the Hand of God working through Our Lady. At the hour of victory, St. Pope Pius V, who was hundreds of miles away at the Vatican, is said to have gotten up from a meeting, went over to a window, and exclaimed with supernatural radiance: "The Christian fleet is victorious!" and shed tears of thanksgiving to God

That article continues with this further item...

At Lepanto, the Victory over the Moslems was won by the faithful praying the Rosary. Even though they had superior numbers, the Turks really were overmatched. Blessed Padre Pio, the Spiritual Father of the Blue Army, said: "The Rosary is the weapon," and how right he was!

Now jump forward to an article on Zenit news today quoting from an article in L'Osservatore Romano...

Monday's suicide attack in Israel is an urgent reminder of the need to pray the rosary for peace, says the Vatican's semiofficial newspaper.

In a front-page story, L'Osservatore Romano described the Palestinian attack on an Israeli bus as a "New Killing Against Peace." The attack left 14 dead, including two assailants, and more than 50 wounded.

"The massacre makes more urgent John Paul II's appeal to take the rosary again between one's hands with confidence," reads the subtitle of the banner headline in the Italian edition dated Wednesday

The Al Qods Brigades, the armed branch of Islamic Jihad, claimed responsibility for the car bomb attack at the crossroads of Karkur, in the southern border of Pardes Hanna.

"Another massacre has been perpetrated by the enemies of peace," the Vatican paper says. "Following a clear strategy of death, the extremists have struck once again, while international diplomacy is committed to the attempt to relaunch the dialogue."

"The continuous mourning, on one side and the other, makes the renewal of negotiations increasingly difficult," the article adds.

In this kind of crisis, the rosary must become "a poor and powerful weapon that each day builds authentic peace," the article concludes.

My personal thoughts? I think it would be pretty narrow to think the new rosary mysteries are directed just at Islam. Just as in 1571 when Europe was called to prayer when threatened, so are we in this day and age. However, this time it's not necessarily against any one religion, but against a way of life that stresses "work" over "family," "busyness" over "inward introspection," that values "things" more than "humans," and "despair" rather than "hope."