The Feast of the Holy Name of Mary

Through the approved apparitions of Fatima, Akita Japan, Kibeho Rwanda, San Nicolas Argentina and others God and Our Lady have made it absolutely clear that if enough people answer the call and pray the Rosary, souls can be saved, and world events can be altered. When the 3rd Secret of Fatima, a vision which showed a world in ruins and many souls lost, was revealed publicly in the year 2000, then Cardinal Ratzinger who became Pope Benedict the XVI, explained in a press conference that the secret was a vision concerning the future, but not a vision that is unchangeably fixed. No, it was just the opposite, the purpose of the vision and why it was revealed in the year 2000 is that is shows us what the future tragically could hold unless we respond to the requests of Our Lady. If we respond, everything can be changed – none of needs to happen. All the tragedy or at least some of it can be averted. He said: In this way, the importance of human freedom is underlined: the future is not in fact unchangeably set, and the image that the children saw is in no way a film preview of a future in which nothing can be changed. Indeed, the whole point of the vision is to bring freedom onto the scene and to steer freedom in a positive direction. The purpose of the vision is not to show a film of an irrevocably fixed future. Its meaning is exactly the opposite: it is meant to mobilize the forces of change in the right direction. Therefore, we must totally discount fatalistic explanations of the secret…Rather, the vision speaks of dangers and how we might be saved from them.” Time and time again, God and Our Lady appeal to believers to change world events by means of prayer and sacrifice. When people respond, big things happen. The Feast of the Holy Name of Mary, that we celebrate today, stands as a solemn reminder of this Fact. The question is, will we heed the call of Mary and respond?  The Battle of Vienna  In 1571 the Muslim Ottoman invaders were driven back in the Battle of Lepanto, due primarily to innumerable people praying the Rosary because the Christian fleet was badly outnumbered and out gunned. I’ll share that story with you on Oct 7, on the Feast of Lady of Victory.  With the failed sea invasion, the Muslim Ottoman Empire decided upon another strategy, seeking to conquer Europe and Christianity by land. By 1683, the Islamic forces had surrounded and laid siege to Vienna, the gateway to Western Europe. The leader of the Muslim army was Mustafa Pasha, whose army swelled to 140,000, compared to only 11,000 within the city walls. Obviously, the Viennese were no match. If Vienna fell, nothing would stop the Muslims from sweeping through the rest of Europe.  A Religious Sister in Rome named Sister Maria Candida Columba Fachineti wrote Pope Innocent XI on July 19, 1683 of a vision and message she had received from God and Our Lady that 1000’s of Rosaries in honor of Our Lady of Victory must be said in all the Churches in Rome. If this request would be heeded, Mary would save Europe from the invasion of Islam. The Pope and the people responded with countless Rosaries prayed.  Pope Innocent XI then appealed to King Jan Sobieski of Poland. He led the most feared cavalry in Europe, called the winged hussars because they had sown eagles feathers to back of their armor and looked like eagles flying as they rode into battle. More importantly, Sobieski was ardently devoted to Mary and the Rosary. When he received word from the pope, he gathered his cavalry and army, went straight to Czestochowa, where the miraculous Icon of the Black Madonna is kept, consecrated themselves to Mary, then marched more than 400 miles, to Vienna. Sobieski ordered his army to pray the Rosary as they journeyed. At the same time Blessed Marco d’Aviano, A Franciscan monk and Chaplin to the Christian army in Vienna encouraged the army and the people of Vienna to resist the Turks by praying the Rosary on each day of the siege.