Feast of Our Lady of Victory and the Most Holy Rosary

Our Lady of the Rosary, ora pro nobis
Photos by New York Scugnizzo

October 7th is the Feast of Our Lady of Victory, a celebration of the Holy League's victory over the Ottoman Turks at the Battle of Lepanto on this day in 1571. The Christian victory was attributed to the praying of the Rosary. In celebration, I'm posting "Mother of the Rosary" from Prayers and Devotional Songs of Sicily, edited and translated by Peppino Ruggeri.(*) The photo of La colonna spezzata (the broken column), a monument to lost sailers, was taken at Piazza Vittoria (Victory Square) during my 2010 pilgrimage to Naples. The accompanying photo of Our Lady of the Rosary was taken at the Our Lady of Pompeii Church (25 Carmine Street) in New York's West Village.

La colonna spezzata

Mother of the Rosary

Of Heaven you are our Grand Lady
With Jesus our defender you have been
I saw a precious rose and a white lily
Mother and son for ever blessed be.

Oh dear Mother of the Rosary
Give me council and your favor grant
Oh Mother of the Word who is incarnate
From the pains of hell please liberate.

(*) Prayers and Devotional Songs of Sicily, edited and translated into English by Peppino Ruggeri, Legas 2009, p.127