October 4, 2026 | A Gift from God
Jesus Christ: Yesterday, Today, and Forever ~
On October 7, the Church will celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. It was on that date in 1571 that a Catholic navy defeated a Muslim one at the Battle of Lepanto. For more than a generation the Muslim Turks had conquered all before them in Europe and in the Mediterranean. With no local Christian power able to stop them, Pope Saint Pius V worked very hard over the previous year to unite the divided Catholics of Western Europe to meet the Muslim threat. A navy was assembled under the leadership of Don Juan of Austria to take on the much more powerful and experienced Muslim navy—a Muslim navy that carried 120,000 soldiers meant to sack Rome.
From the time the Catholic navy set sail to find and attack the Muslim navy, Pope St. Pius V asked all Catholics throughout Western Europe to ask the Blessed Virgin Mary to intercede for their navy by praying the Rosary for victory; and pray it they did. When the battle commenced in the Gulf of Patras, Greece, called Lepanto at the time, the Christian fleet was able to miraculously defeat the Muslim fleet. At the moment victory was assured at Lepanto, by a word of knowledge from God, Pope St. Pius V back in Rome declared that the Catholic fleet had defeated the Muslim one and credited the prayers of the Rosary. In gratitude for the miraculous intervention by the Blessed Virgin, Pope St. Pius V instituted a new feast day. He ordered that, on the anniversary of the battle, all the bells of Rome be rung and the Rosary be prayed publicly, establishing the feast of the Holy Rosary (originally “Our Lady of Victory”) to be celebrated on the first Sunday of October. In time it was transferred to the actual date of the battle, October 7.
Today, we live in a spiritual “Dark Age” that eclipses anything the Muslims of the 16th Century could throw at us. In this time of unprecedented evil at home and abroad, we need supernatural help—prayer—a spiritual way to fend off evil, and receive the consolation, hope, and miracles we need to survive. To that end, God has given us a gift from heaven: the Rosary—a light in the darkness even if all other lights have gone out.
God, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and I love the Rosary and want you to pray it daily. When the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to Saint Bernadette at Lourdes, she prayed the Rosary with her on each of her 14 visits. When the Blessed Virgin Mary visited the children at Fatima, it was always after the children had prayed the Rosary. She told the children to pray the Rosary daily. Simply put, heaven wants us to pray the Rosary daily. If all the Catholics in the world prayed the Rosary daily, Satan’s power would be broken, and the world would be converted to Jesus Christ. The Rosary is a gift from God, a superpower in our hands.
While the Church dedicates the month of May to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Church dedicates the month of October to the Rosary. Most Catholics don’t know how to pray the Rosary, and many just don’t know where to begin. Don’t be embarrassed. I know priests who can’t say a whole Rosary from memory (pray for priests!). Fortunately, my parents prayed the Rosary with my siblings and I throughout our childhoods, even when we didn’t want to. For that I am eternally grateful. Yet, despite that experience, it wasn’t until my conversion at the age of 26 that I deliberately set out to memorize the various prayers and mysteries of the Rosary, for I had never quite nailed it as a kid.
The Rosary is a prayer to the Holy Trinity through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Through it, prayers are answered, people healed, relationships strengthened, virtue fostered, consolation found, wisdom and understanding gained, battles won, disaster averted, protection granted, and hardened souls converted. The miracles brought about by praying the Rosary are countless. Take the time to do an internet search for miracles of the Rosary, you’ll see thousands. Maybe you have your own Rosary story to share? If you have ever prayed the Rosary, I can assure you that it has helped you in ways you don’t realize.
Yet, just as important as having our prayers answered is the relationship the Rosary fosters. In a way it is like spending time with someone we love—the more time we invest with someone, the more we bond. Jesus, who is God, wants all of us to love His Mother as He does. He wants us to adopt her as our beloved mother too, for she has already adopted us. The Blessed Virgin Mary is the greatest of all of God’s creation and the greatest intercessor before God in heaven; and like a good mother, she desires our wellbeing and a personal relationship with each one of us. To these ends, the Rosary cannot be beaten.
For these reasons, eleven years ago, I started having the Rosary prayed in the final twenty minutes before all the Masses at Holy Redeemer. I attribute the conversion of Holy Redeemer into the special parish that it is today to the Rosary being prayed before Mass. Objectively speaking, for a parish its size, Holy Redeemer is truly remarkable. That is to say: it is faithful, spiritual, engaged, and fruitful. I think St. Thomas Aquinas and Star of the Sea are too, yet those things are much harder to achieve in a large parish. I sincerely believe the key to this conversion was having the Rosary prayed in the final 20 minutes before Mass begins. Satan hates it.
At the time I was discerning having the Rosary prayed up to the start of Mass in 2015, some prominent parishioners let me know how much they didn’t want that to happen. They had numerous reasons. After hearing those reasons out, much prayer, and even sleepless nights, I decided to give it a try. Some parishioners left the parish, some prominent ones at that. But something amazing began to happen. Some people started to come earlier to Mass to pray the Rosary beforehand. People who had never prayed the Rosary before started giving it a try. Some started to learn it and pray it on their own. The atmosphere in the church began to change into a more prayerful and reverent space. Finally, people started joining Holy Redeemer Parish for these reasons.
Currently the Rosary is prayed in the church in the final 20 minutes before all Masses at Holy Redeemer and Star of the Sea. St. Thomas Aquinas (Camas) will begin doing this before the start of the 5pm Mass on Saturday, October 10, and then prior to all subsequent Masses. The reason for this timing, 20 minutes before Mass, is so that the Rosary can be prayed up to the start of Mass. If it is prayed 30 minutes before Mass begins, then it would end ten minutes before Mass begins, and half the Mass-goers who enter the church in the ten minutes before Mass begins, would never even hear a Hail Mary. The Rosary prayed before the start of Mass isn’t just for the people who arrive early to pray the Rosary. It is for those who arrive at the last minute as well, to prepare everyone spiritually for Mass, and to inspire people to learn and pray the Rosary outside of a church.
It is heartening to see so many of you pray at least a little bit of the Rosary in the final minutes before Mass begins. It has been even more heartening to see so many coming early enough to Mass to pray the whole Rosary. I encourage all of you who don’t do so already—especially families with kids—to start getting yourself and the kids ready 30 minutes earlier on Sundays for Mass, so that you can all be settled in a pew before Mass begins to pray the whole Rosary. You and your family will be eternally grateful.
If you don’t know how to pray the Rosary, please take home enough “how to” brochures from the churches for each member of your family. That way, everyone at home can have one to learn with or follow along with as well. Of course, you can always go online to find “praying the Rosary” guides. Like me I did at age 26, make a point of learning the Rosary and strive to pray it daily for the rest of your life: for you, your family, the Church, and the whole world.
May Almighty God and His Blessed Mother Bless You,
Fr. Thomas Nathe
Fr. Nathe
