The other day in Madrid, I got to see the Juan of Austria’s personal pendant which flew on his ship at the Battle of Lepanto, 7 October 1571.

That victory, under the aegis of the Mother of God, was a turning point in world history.

For your Just Too Cool file.

From Breitbart:

A Million Christians to Pray Rosary on Poland’s Border Commemorating Historical Defeat of Islam

Poland’s bishops have urged the nation’s Catholics to join a massive rosary prayer crusade along the country’s 2,000-mile border to pray for the salvation of their country. [God love the bishops of Poland! They are not letting the memory of John Paul II’s Magisterium be snuffed out. Also, the conference paid to have translated and published in Polish the super-important book Remaining in the Truth of Christ: Marriage and Communion in the Catholic Church – US HERE – UK HERE]

Organizers say they expect up to a million people to participate in the “Rosary on the Borders” event on October 7, the anniversary of the Battle of Lepanto, where “the Christian fleet overcame the Muslim armada, saving Europe from Islamization.” [Do I hear an “Amen!”?]

[…]“We believe that if the rosary is prayed by about a million Poles along the borders of the country, it may not only change the course of events, but open hearts of our compatriots to the grace of God,” the organisers say on their website.

“The powerful prayer of the Rosary can affect the fate of Poland, Europe, and even the whole world,” it reads.

The “Rosary on the Borders” event will also mark the end of the Fatima centenary, celebrating 100 years since the apparitions of the Virgin Mary to three shepherd children in Fatima, Portugal, in the spring of 1917.

The Polish bishops’ conference has endorsed the event, and asked all Catholics to join the rosary prayer for “the intentions of Poland and the whole world,” even if they are physically unable to make it to the border.

“Families may pray in their homes, sick in hospitals, and parish communities in their churches,” they said.

“A hundred years ago, Mary gave these three Portuguese children a message of salvation: repent, give reparation for sins against my Immaculate Heart and pray the rosary,” the bishops said. Rosary on the Borders is a “special opportunity” to fulfil that calling.

Every January, the Church in Poland celebrates an annual Day of Islam, organised by the Joint Council of Catholics and Muslims and the Committee for Dialogue with Non-Christian Religions of the Polish Bishops’ Conference.

Auxiliary Bishop Henryk Ciereszko of Bialystok, whose diocese hosted the event this year, said that the day “would be first and foremost a prayer meeting” and would also be “an opportunity to counter violence together” in “the context of the terrorist attacks and the Middle East war.”