Saint Our Lady of the Rosary

Our Lady of the Rosary (Latin: Beatae Mariae Virginis a Rosario), also known as Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, is a Marian title. The Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, formerly known as Feast of Our Lady of Victory and Feast of the Holy Rosary 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. In the Western Rite Vicariate of the Antiochian Orthodox Church, the feast is optionally celebrated on 7 October, under the title The Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary. According to Dominican tradition, in 1206, Dominic de Guzmán was at the Monastery of Our Lady of Prouille, in France, attempting to convert the Albigensians back to the Catholic faith. The young priest had little success until one day he received a vision of the Blessed Virgin, who gave him the Rosary as a tool against heretics. The story of Dominic's vision was recorded by Alanus de Rupe, a 15th-century Dominican friar who is credited with promoting the Rosary among the faithful in Europe. This traditional origin for the Rosary was generally accepted, including by many popes, until the 17th century, when the Bollandists concluded that the account originated with the account recorded by Alanus, two hundred years after Dominic's death. However, several popes after the 17th century, like Pope Leo XIII and Pope Pius XI, continued to attribute its origin to Dominic in official documents such as encyclicals. Mary had been honored in the West under the title "Our Lady of Victory" from at least the thirteenth century. Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester built the first shrine dedicated to Our Lady of Victory in thanks for the Catholic victory over the Albigensians at the Battle of Muret on September 12, 1213.