The Devotion to Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary became widespread because of the victory

of the Christian army (consist of Spanish forces ang some Papal legates) over the Moors during
the battle of Lepanto on October 1571 During the said battle, Pope Leo V, the Pope ond the
Father of the crusade that time, asked all the faithful to pray the Rosary. The cross, won over
the crescent and they attributed this victory to the Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary, This is the
reason why the celebration of the feast of the Holy Rosary is on October 7- to commemorate
the Virgin’s protection during the battle.

The Devotion to Our Lady of of the Holy Rosary or La Naval de Manila had been part of the
Filipino Nation for almost 400 years, this was after the Victory of the Spanish-Filipino Forces
against the Protestant Dutch invaders during a naval war on 1646. It was considered a
miraculous victory since the battleships and weapons of the Filipino-Spanish are inferior to
those of the Dutch. Their secret in victory is their devotion to our Lady of La Naval expressed
through praying the Rosary which had been under the custody of the Dominicans. But before
the battle started, they prayed to God through the Blessed Mother’s intercession, and solemnly
made a vow that, should they win the battle, they would walk barefoot to the Santo Domingo
Church to thank God and pay homage to the image of Our Lady of the Rosary. After receiving
the victory, they did as they have promised.

On April 9, 1662, a commission created by the Archdiocese of Manila to inquire into the event
declared that the naval victories of 1646 were “granted by the Sovereign Lord through the
intercession of the Most Holy Virgin and the people’s devotion to her Rosary.”

Nick Joaquin beautifully puts it:

“The Battles of La Naval was not just the bloody naval wars between the Dutch and the Filipino-
Spanish forces. The battles were not a fight for supremacy of one religion over another. Those
various battles were really one, concerned with the same eternal conflict between fate and freedom,
and in each of those wars won through Our Lady’s intercession, the Rosary has always been wielded
against the same enemy: hopelessness and despair.”

Aside from this,