Feast of Our Lady of Victory  is celebrated on 7 October in the General Roman Calendar.  7 October is the anniversary of the decisive victory of the combined fleet of the Holy League of 1571 over the Ottoman navy at the Battle of Lepanto.

The Battle of Lepanto

For those who know little history, today’s battle with the Islamic State in the Middle East may seem new and unprecedented. It is not. In a.d. 622, Mohammed set out from Medina to conquer the whole Christian world for Allah by force of arms. Within a hundred years, his successors had occupied and pillaged every Christian capital of the Middle East, from Antioch through North Africa (home of Saint Augustine) and Spain. All that remained outside Allah’s reign was the northern arc from Southern France to Constantinople. What we are seeing in 2014 has a history of more than 1,300 years — a very bloody, terror-ridden history. Except that today the struggle is far, far more secular than religious — a war over political institutions and systems of law, with almost no public argument over religious doctrine.

Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/389697/october-7-feast-our-lady-victory-michael-novak

1571, October 7th.

The Battle of Lepanto.  After decades of attacks on coastal cities in Greece, the Balkans, Italy, France and Spain; the great Islamic fleet that was assembled for conquest was brought to battle by a Christian Fleet from many nations and city-states.

The British are justifiably proud of what they did in 1588 and the Battle of Britain.   But if the Christians had lost at Lepanto, very likely it would have been a Muslim Europe in 1940.

Anyone who clings to the historically untrue-and thoroughly immoral-doctrine that, ‘violence never settles anything’ I would advise to conjure the ghosts of Napoleon Bonaparte and the Duke of Wellington and let them debate it.

The ghost of Hitler could referee…

Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than has any other factor, and the contrary opinion is wishful thinking at its worst. Breeds that forget this basic truth have always paid for it with their lives and freedom.

Let us this day salute the courage, blood and sacrifice of our Christian forbearers.  But for them we would be slaves to a demon cult of slavers.

Later this week, The Battle of Tours!