The Role of Our Lady of Guadalupe in the Battle of Lepanto

Please see article by Fr. Robert Fox at:  http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/history/world/wh0065.html

"Pope Pius V called for a rosary crusade among all Christians, as he anticipated the conflict. At the same time, the second archbishop of Mexico, Don Fray Alonso de Montufor, had become a devotee of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the miraculous image of the Mother of God given to a humble Indian convert, Juan Diego, on the newly discovered continent. The archbishop had seen evidence of continuous miracles through the intercession of God's Mother, and he was aware of the crisis in Europe. He had a small reproduction of the holy image of Our Lady of Guadalupe made, then touched it to the original and sent it to King Philip of Spain in 1570. Archbishop Montufor expressed the desire that the king would see that this copy of the sacred image of our Lady was placed in a suitable place in the Christian navy when the battle began.

Archbishop Montufor believed that God's Mother would work a miracle for the Holy League which the Pope had organized, just as she had so often done for the Mexicans. The king agreed and had it mounted in the cabin of Admiral Andrea Doria as the Battle of Lepanto approached. During the battle, Andrea Doria was compelled to separate from the center force of Christians. Uluch Ali then broke through the gap and was prepared to destroy Andrea Doria's fleet. Doria knew he was facing destruction, together with his fleet. His was the ship with the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe in his cabin, and the battle was thus under her intercession.

At this critical moment a tremendous wind came up and blew the Turkish navy into total disorganization. Their squadrons were thrown into panic and, thus stricken, most of their fleet was captured or destroyed.

The historian may record this only as fate, telling us, at the same time, that it was the last sea battle fought with oar propelled vessels and enormous casualties. About 8,000 Christians were killed and 16,000 wounded. Among the Turkish fleet, about 25,000 were killed, and it is not known how many were wounded. About 15,000 Christians, who had been chained to the oars in the Turkish galleys, were freed. This victory of Lepanto ended the Moslem threat to Christians.

The pope ascribed the victory to the Queen of the Rosary, since he had sponsored the rosary crusade for victory. He evidently did not know of the Miraculous image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Pope St. Pius V established the Feast of Our Lady of Victory to celebrate the October 7 victory. His successor, Pope Gregory XIII, changed the title of the feast to Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary and decreed that the month of October should be dedicated to renewing the praying of the rosary.

Our Lady had told Juan Diego and his uncle, Juan Bernardino, that she was the Immaculate Conception. Her image aboard Doria's ship, according to devout Christians, was an instrument of Mary's moral presence as the Warrior Queen and the Mother of the Church, "fair as the moon, bright as the sun, terrible as an army set in battle array."

Until 1811 the small reproduction of the holy image of Guadalupe remained in the Doria family. A descendant, Cardinal Doria, made a present of it to the people of Aveto in Liguria, north of Genoa. There it remains, enshrined to the present day in the Church of San Stefano d'Aveto. Pius VII in 1815 granted that shrine the faculty of a Mass of Our Lady of Guadalupe, as well as indulgences, in answer to the great faith and love inspired by the shrine and the reported miracles. Pope Leo XII granted perpetual privileges to the altar of Our Lady of Guadalupe in San Stefano d'Aveto.

It is little wonder that some devout historians record that after the victory of Lepanto the crews attributed the triumph to Our Lady of Guadalupe. While a secular historian would record such a victory and defeat as the results of chance, the devout Christian will consider the victory due to prayer and divine providence, working in the history of Christianity."