Our Lady of the Rosary: Defender of Life and Faith

by Fr. John Granato  |  10/05/2025  |  Words from Fr. John

My Dear Friends,

October is the month of the Rosary (the feast day of Our Lady of the Rosary is Oct. 7th), and it also respect life month. The rosary of our Blessed Mother is arguably the second greatest weapon we have, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass being the first. Pope St. Pius V in the 1570’s was the pope that asked all of Europe to pray the rosary in order to defeat the Muslims at the Battle of Lepanto, a battle in which the European Christians were outmatched in numbers. Pope Pius attributed the victory to Our Lady and inaugurated the feast day of Our Lady of Victory.

Today the feast day is has been changed to Our Lady of the Rosary, but Catholics should still remember the beginnings of this feast. In Nigeria, the Militant Muslims are killing Christians and burning churches at an alarming rate. Muslims are also against abortion and encourage their women to have many children. They will soon be a majority of the population in many countries, especially those countries where the Christians are not having children. This is not a surprise since in many Christian countries, including our own United States, Christian women and Christian men are some of the biggest supporters of abortion rights.

Every child conceived is a precious gift from God, because every child conceived begins life at the moment of conception, and the baby’s DNA is present at that moment. Each person has a unique DNA, which determines everything about the person, even the child while still in the womb. Catholics are encouraged at a young age to learn the rosary and to pray it every day. And every year in October, it is a good reminder to every Catholic to bring their rosary out of their pocket or off the table and to pray it every day, not just in October but every day of the year every year. It is through the offering of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the intercession of Our Lady that will not only protect us from evil but it will also bring an end to abortion through the changing of hearts and minds. We are in a crisis in our Church concerning vocations to the priesthood.

With no priests we will have no Sacrifice of the Mass. Sadly, from 1973 to the year 2000, millions of babies were aborted. How many of those babies, if they were born, would have been priests? How many would have been religious sisters? And how many might have been doctors or scientists and would have found cures for a variety of diseases, including viruses such as COVID? Again, each child conceived is loved by God, for at the moment of conception that child is made in the image and likeness of God. God himself, in the person of Jesus Christ, was conceived in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary and began his life at that first moment, and lest we forget, Jesus at that first moment of the incarnation when Mary said yes to St. Gabriel, was also consubstantial with the Father in is humanity just as he is consubstantial from all eternity in his divinity.

God bless!