The feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, also celebrated as Our Lady of Victory or Victories, was established by Pope St. Pius V in 1571 to celebrate the miraculous victory of the Christian forces over the Ottoman Empire in the Battle of Lepanto on Oct. 7. Previous to the decisive naval battle, St. Pius V had requested all western Christians to pray the rosary; thus he attributed the victory to the power of the Marian prayer rather than the power of ships and cannons.